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Theories of moral development essay
Abstract on moral development theory
Theories of moral development essay
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In the moral dilemma of Heinz, the husband of his sick, dying wife is in desperate need of the single cure available, which is her only chance for survival. The researcher who developed this medicine invested money and time in order to create such a cure for this rare case of cancer and wants to make money off of his creation. Heinz does not have the amount of money the researcher is demanding and it is his wife’s only chance to live, so Heinz steals the cure from the researcher’s lab. The question at hand is, did the husband do the right thing by breaking into the lab to steal the drug.
Kohlberg’s three levels of moral thinking provide different responses to what is considered morally right or wrong in this circumstance. The first level Kohlberg discusses is preconventional morality, where a person would respond to the dilemma by stating that performing the necessary action to save the life in danger would be a heroic deed, however it would entail breaking the rules to do so, so it would be morally wrong to steal the drug. The second level is conventional morality, where an individual would come to the conclusion that stealing the drug would be a criminal act and put the individual’s social
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The other doctor saw what the one doctor was doing and said you could just tell the little girl the truth that her lizard died, but the first doctor responded by saying that the girl does not even know what death is yet. The little girl is ten years old and cares deeply about her pet lizard, Abracadabra. So the moral dilemma in question is whether it is morally right for the doctor to switch out the dead pet lizard with a different one and then to deceive the little girl by telling her that the new lizard is her
Timothy E. Quill in “Case of Individualized Decision Making”, described his patient Diane who was a vaginal cancer survivor, overcome alcoholism and depression. Dr. Quill diagnose her with Leukemia. He explained to Diane that the chemotherapy has only a 25% chance of survival and there were some complications involves in this process. Diane refused to take the treatment and decided to live the remaining of her life in a most enjoyable way possible, by avoiding all the pain of the treatment. Furthermore, when Diane heath condition deteriorate, Dr. Quill gave her some prescription that was primarily used to sleep assistance. He gave her information of the dose necessary to commit suicide. Diane decided to commit suicide and Dr. Quill diagnosis of death was Leukemia. Therefore, Diane did not do what she should be consider moral actions under the Kantian perspective because her maxim cannot become a universal law. Likewise, Dr. Quill did and did not did his best decision by
One day while doing his job, a physician used a used swab that was possibly infected with HIV on another patient. When looked at by certain people, the doctor did the correct thing by telling his patient that he roused a swab on him/her. However, the chances of this patient getting HIV was substantially low, and he should have waited for the patient to develop symptoms, which would have been rare, before telling the truth. As stated by Michael Greenberg, “he might have done better by keeping his mouth shut.” If the doctor did lie, he could have lied to protect himself, the quality of life of the patient, and his ability to help others with their lives. If he had not told the patient that he used the swab on him/her, he/she would not have had to live in fear of getting HIV. Because of this decision of truth telling, the doctor lost his job, money, confidence, and also affected someone’s quality of life.
moral decisions, we will be analyzing why this scenario poses a dilemma, possible actions that
Douglas N. Husak's A Moral Right to Use Drugs In Douglas N. Husak’s A Moral Right to Use Drugs he attempts to look at drug use from an impartial standpoint in order to determine what is the best legal status for currently illegal drugs. Husak first describes the current legal situation concerning drugs in America, citing figures that show how drug crimes now make up a large percentage of crimes in our country. Husak explains the disruption which this causes within the judicial system and it is made clear that he is not content with the current way drugs are treated. The figures that Husak offers up, such as the fact that up to one third of all felony charges involve drugs, are startling, but more evidence is needed than the fact that a law is frequently broken to justify it’s repeal.
We are introduced to the story of Matt Schoonover, a young man who had recently obtained his masters degree from Yale. He had grown up “attending a Christian private school, and a prominent church” (2). Matt had begun abusing pills, though he was originally prescribed them by a doctor. Even after undergoing detoxification and then rehab, Matt could not curb his addiction. “Unable to afford street Oxycontin, Matt switched to black tar heroin, brought in from Mexico” (3). We are told how this is unfortunately quite common. People who are prescribed pills often end up abusing them; and once they can no longer afford the high prices of OxyContin they switch to black tar heroin. This transition is often what leads to overdoses, as black tar heroin is extremely deadly and overdoses like Matt’s are common. This is just one story out of tens of thousands of similar stories that all have the same ending. The opiate crisis is a problem that few recognize because it crept up on a majority of Americans. Young people throughout the nation were not using drugs in public, but privately in their own
Slosar, J. P. (2004). Ethical decisions in health care. Health Progress. pp. 38-43. Retrieved from http://www.chausa.org/publications/health-progress/article/january-february-2004/ethical-decisions-in-health-care
There are various ethical dilemmas surrounding Josie's Story. "An ethical dilemma is a situation in which an individual is compelled to choose between two actions that will affect the welfare of a sentient being, and both actions are reasonably justified as being good, nether action is readily justified as being good, or the goodness of the actions are uncertain" (Beckford, 2012). The ethical dilemmas involved in Josie's Story are the lesser of two evils in which both choices are bad. The ethical dilemma in this case involves that the nurse withholds the methadone based on Mrs. Kings wishes, causing serious complications of withdrawal such as diarrhea and an upset stomach. On the other hand, the nurse administers the methadone and follows the orders of the pain management team even though Josie is severely de...
Addiction is one of the hardest difficulties to overcome, yet people often find themselves caught in the world wind of addiction. We all ask the question to what makes a person an addict, or why is it so hard for drug addicts to overcome this problem. However, can we say that getting a hold of drugs is much easier in today’s society, or is it made available to easily. In this day and age, heroine seems to be a major epidemic; furthermore, opiates have been around for centuries. Therefore, people have been battling addiction for as long as opiates have been around. In Drugstore Cowboy, the film takes a look into the life of four people who rob drugstores in order to support
Today, there are so many legal dilemmas dominating trial for the courts to make a sound legal decision on whose right in a complicated situation. Despite the outcome of the case, the disagreement usually has a profound effect on the healthcare organization, and the industry as a whole. Many cases are arguments centered around if the issue is a legal or moral principle. Regardless what the situation maybe, the final decision is left to the courts to differentiate between the legality issues at hand opposed to justifying a case based on moral rules. According to Pozgar (2012), an ethical dilemma arises in situations where a choice must be made between unpleasant alternative. It can occur whenever a choice involves giving up something good and suffering something bad, no matter what course of action is taken (p. 367). In this paper, I will discuss cases that arose in the healthcare industry that have been tried and brought to justice by the United States court system.
Having an abortion is a moral choice. The essay “A Moral Choice” by Mary Gordan discusses many issues concerning abortion, the author clearly favors pro-choice. The debate about when a fetus is alive (437) is a concern as to when it is acceptable to get an abortion. As well as the morality of abortion judged in the media, religion, society, and by self. The women who get abortions are critiqued as cold and technological (441). These normal everyday women have made this moral decision for centuries. Although society needs to be realistic our world is over populated and some women are not designed to have children. How do women make this moral decision?
"ETHICAL DEBATE: On the horns of a dilemma." Chemist & Druggist. 03 Dec. 2005: 30. eLibrary. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
What would you do if you had the opportunity to take and raise an innocent little girl whose mother is a drug addict? That was the dilemma Doyle, a sheriff, faced in the move Gone Baby Gone. Two detectives, Patrick and Angie, are on the case of finding a missing little girl, and they finally stumble on her at Doyle’s house. Doyle had assisted with parts of the case, and had said nothing. He took the little girl, so that she would have a better life. In the end, Patrick turns Doyle over to the authorities, and the little girl is returned to her mother. Who was moral in this situation? Patrick or Doyle? Patrick is a perfect example of Kant’s standard for morality by his action from and in accord with duty. In this essay, Kant’s theory will be explained and then applied to the actions of both Patrick and Doyle.
Lawrence Kohlberg conducted research on the moral development of children. He wanted to understand how they develop a sense of right or wrong and how justice is served. Kohlberg used surveys in which he included moral dilemmas where he asked the subjects to evaluate a moral conflict. Through his studies, Kohlberg observed that moral growth and development precedes through stages such as those of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. He theorized that moral growth begins at the beginning of life and continues until the day one dies. He believed that people proceed through each stage of moral development consecutively without skipping or going back to a previous stage. The stages of thought processing, implying qualitatively different modes of thinking and of problem solving are included in the three levels of pre-conventional, conventional and post conventional development. (2)
The chemist refused saying he worked numerous long, hard hours to develop this drug and he was going to make money from it. Heinz was desperate to save his wife, so later that night he broke into the chemist’s laboratory and stole the drug. I asked my interviewees if Heinz should have stolen the drug and their responses were diverse. Connor and Jessica both agreed that Heinz did the correct thing. Connor stated that he would have done the same thing for love, law no longer becomes a concern; however, if it were anyone else he would obey the law. Jessica said that a human’s life holds more value than the million the chemist would have made for the drug. Katie and Dave agreed that Heinz did wrong, stating that stealing is against the law. While the both understood that it would lead to the wife’s demise without the drug, they stood firm that stealing is a sin. Katie then went into the risks of being caught, that Heinz would be thrown behind bars, his wife would die, and it would leave the children’s life shattered. I then asked each of them, what if your close knit community was bound to find out about the theft and looked upon you disapprovingly and if that would change their answer. Connor
A man’s fight against the laws of the American Food and Drug Administration to save AIDS patients. Dallas Buyers Club is a movie directed by Jean Marc Vallée, which illustrates a minority’s struggle to access illegal, but non-toxic drugs that improve significantly their health. This raises the following moral dilemma: Can it ever be considered morally permissible to break the law? Given the moral implications, it is morally permissible to break the law when certain conditions are met.