Utilitarian and deontological approaches

Utilitarian and deontological approaches

Introduction

Evidently, medical ethics is one of the most sensible branch of moral philosophy and which determines the quality and the manner in which medical services are delivered.  There are two central philosophical approach that are used in medical related decision making and which include utilitarian and deontological approaches. Notably, ethics is a crucial branch in medicine and it help in dealing with moral dilemma that arise due to conflicts and the accrued consequences.  The fundamental principles that guide medical ethics include autonomy, beneficence, justice and nor-maleficence.  In this regard, ethical approach in medicine and healthcare is an approach towards the institutionalization of the stated approaches to ensure the correct and most appropriate decisions are made.  In utilitarian ethics, outcomes of a certain decision is the major focus of the approach and it justify the means. On the other hand, deontological ethics focuses on the obligation of the medical practitioner thus the outcome might not justify the means.  The major objective of this essay is to explore utilitarian and deontological approaches in medical ethics by reviewing some of the issues such as euthanasia, autonomy and allocation of medical care.

Many scholars have tried to debate on  which ethical theory between utilitarian and deontology best fits the decision that are made in healthcare due to the large number of variables that affect the short long term decision  in the healthcare system. However, on the question of which ethical theory I will prefer to be applied in solving a medical dilemma and making decisions, i will prefer the deontological approaches. Deontological theory focuses on the morality of an action as dependent on the nature of the action. In this regard, this theory in medical perspective asserts that harm is unacceptable irrespective of the consequences. This theory was pinned by Philosopher Immanuel Kant. He asserted that human beings have the ability to understand universal moral laws which are effective can be applied in all situations.  Therefore, it is relatively wrong to focus on the consequences of a given moral action as long as the initial guide of the action was positive and was intended to help.

There various reason why i choose deontological theory as the best approach that should be applied in the medical profession. In this regard, I will prefer all the healthcare professionals to be deontologists.  One of the central reasons is that the approach encourages a good and natural relationship between the medical practitioner and the patients.  Notably, all the medical practices inculcate deontological traditions, and in most cases when this traditions are breached it results in patients’ negligence and gaps in delivery of healthcare services. Notably, the doctor-patients bond is strengthened by the deontological traditions of the doctors to do good to the patients. The deontological notion of the medical practitioners is negatively affected by the  utilitarian ideologies of individuals such as  hospital managers and politicians whose ideas are much inclined to the general outcome of given action rather than the welfare of the patient.  it is worth noting that, the basic construct of medical ethics  is to take care of the patients through all the available venues and if this aspect is demeaned  by  ideologies that allow gaps in the healthcare system then the ethical tradition of the medical practitioners will be  lost within the wider politics. The moral obligation of doctors cannot be separated from their practice, thus, deontological ideologies should be applied to the letter to avoid losing the actual meaning of healthcare.

The second reason why i choose deontological theory as the best approach is because it gives a space for the medical doctors to give special concerns to the patients and their families. In this regard, the approach reduces the alienating aspect that is created by utilitarian approach and accord more with the notion of moral duties of the medical practitioners. In this regard, deontology has a strong advantage of being able to account for the strong and widely shared moral intuitions in healthcare about the duties of the medical practitioners. Therefore, it makes the doctors more flexible and dynamic in the decision that they make towards the welfare of a given patient as their decisions are not guided by a set of predetermined outcomes but rather with the immediate welfare of the patient. Notably, use of deontological ideas enables the doctors to be able to explain the course of their action despite the nature of the outcome.  In this regard, the healthcare system can be able to hold to account those medical practitioners who breach their moral duties.

The relevance of deontological i medical care and welfare of the patients can further be deduced from the notion of euthanasia. Markedly, there has been a moral and ethical conflict on the issue of euthanasia and whether it should be allowed as one of the medical practice. Euthanasia is a concept where a patient or other closely relate people choose to terminate the life of a patient due to the accrued struggles.  It is a concept which greatly goes against the basic moral principle of medical practitioners and which is to preserve life at all cost.  Notably, euthanasia is premise that can only be acceptable in utilitarian ideologies which are much inclined to the outcome rather than the welfare of the patients.  It is a concept that reduces the extent that a doctor is willing to go to save life. Most deontologists in the health sector have no space for euthanasia as they have both the understanding of their moral obligations to the patients and the mental inclination of patients and this helps them to have minimal levels of negligence.  Notably, in deontology, acting accordingly is acting according the principals rather than the final outcome of our action.  The main obligation of the hospitals is to preserve life but not to terminate it and this kind construct can only be derived by inclining on deontology.    it is worth noting that, many patients due to their pain and suffering can feel more inclined to suicide  and might feel it is more  morally justifiable. In this regard, it is true to imply that failure to apply deontology has the tendency of diluting to the moral obligations and the basic guiding principles of the doctors by compromising death over life.

Conclusion

Though deontological and utilitarian approaches are applicable in the healthcare systems, it is good to choose an approach that makes hospitals less political by upholding the basic moral principle of the doctors. This can only be achieved by the use of deontological ideologies which help to develop a good relationship between the doctors and patients and enables the doctors to make decision based on the complexity of the problem.