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The Importance Of Kant's Deontological Ethics

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Doctors have always been crucial to well-being of society. Although they did not have the technology advancements in the past, they always attempted to save the patient’s life in the best and briefest way possible. In order to become a doctor, students are required to study four years at a college or university to acquire a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. Afterwards, it is mandatory for students to attend a medical school certified by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education for four years in order to receive a Doctor of Medicine degree. Lastly, doctors must enter a program called the residency program (“Requirements for becoming a physician”). As in any other career field, doctors usually face ethical dilemmas in a daily …show more content…

Deontology is Deon on Greek, which means duty. Kant’s theory does not focus on the consequences of the action, it only focuses if the action is right or wrong. There are two types of obligations. There are actions that we should not perform towards anyone, for example, we should not lie nor kill. The other obligations are on a more personal level and vary on every person. People have to act accordingly to their obligations regardless of the positive or negative outcome of their actions. According to deontologists, it is wrong to kill, to steal, to lie, and it is right to keep promises and to help people. One should not lie about anything even though that lie could save a lot of lives. In addition, one should not perform a prohibited action even though it could bring uncountable benefits to society (Kant’s Deontological ethics). Deontology is the opposite of consequentialism. Deontology only focuses on an action that is right or wrong without regarding the consequences On the other hand, consequentialism consists on having the most positive outcome on every situation. (“Deontological Ethics”). The patient and doctor relationship should be based around trust and honesty. Every patient should tell the truth when they are asked about if they have changed their lifestyle and how they have progressed with medicine. …show more content…

The doctor does not have the right to hold information from the patient or their family. In addition, holding information about a diagnostic goes against the principles of being a doctor and looking for the well-being of patients. Patients are the ones that decide how to face the bad news. On the other hand, the doctor should speak with total honesty because it is the patients right to know about their medical status. As every person in this earth, patients have goals and dreams that they want to achieve before their death. A person might want to travel to a certain place or meet their idols before passing away. By knowing of their conditions, patients would hurry up on achieving their goals and dreams in this life. On the contrary, a patient that is not notified of their health won’t hurry up the process as they would think that they could do it in the future (“Honesty in Medicine: Should Doctors tell the

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In Joseph Collins article, “Should Doctors Tell the Truth?” he states that doctors shouldn’t tell the truth to their patients that deals with their life and death. Collins argued that doctor should withhold the truth on any circumstances. For example, when Collins blamed himself because of the death of a lawyer who suffered from kidney disease, only if he had lied to the lawyer about his health issue, the lawyer still could have been alive. However, I believe that doctors should always tell the truth to their patients regardless of the circumstances because withholding information violates patient’s autonomy and harms the doctor-patient relationship.

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Deontology which is derived from the Greek words Deon (meaning obligation/duty) and logia (science/study) combined to be also known as duty or rule-based ethics or the study of duties or obligations. It is a branch of ethical theories that deals with ethics of conduct, which theories are based on the sort of actions people must perform. It is based on non-consequentialism where the ends do not justify the means and thus deontology is an approach to ethics in which a sense of duty or principle prescribes the ethical decision (Preston, 2007). Deontology affirms duties must be obeyed regardless of the consequences. The theory of Deontology has its flaws as well and this essay will present three criticisms of deontology namely that deontology relies on moral absolutes, allows acts that make the world a worse place, two permissible duties that are right can conflict with each other and will demonstrate these flaws with relevant case studies and dilemmas.

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However, even though these are two opposing philosophies, with very different ideas governing their conclusions, we should look to learn from both and apply the knowledge we identify with, thus creating our own philosophies. In this essay I wish to do exactly that; to compare and contrast these two ideologies in order to better understand them and help others do the same. First we must understand what is Deontology. The word deontology when broken down to its roots literally means, the study of the nature of duty and obligation.

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As a Kantian, the ultimate goal is to focus on our maxims and not on how much pain or pleasure the act could possibly produce. So as a result, Kant would argue that Jim should not kill the Indian man, even if it would save the other Indian men. The reason why is because Kant does not believe in using people as mere means, it wouldn’t be considered a conceivable maxim, and it would be betraying a perfect duty. The definition of deontology is having the belief that you do what’s right because you have a moral duty.

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The distinction between right and wrong has been a matter of discussion for centuries, whether expressed through philosophical essays, social organisation or artistic creation. Deontological ethics is a philosophical theory which dissects acts into right and wrong on the basis of the adherence of an act to a specific rule. One of the many formulations of deontology is Kantianism, a view introduced by Immanuel Kant, which argues that the basis for morality are motives for one’s action rather than the consequences of it and searches a justification for one’s duty to behave in a certain manner. One of the critiques or counter positions of Kant’s ethics is Sartrean existentialism as it denies the possibility of an absolute moral system and focuses on the individual morality rather than social one and bases on one’s commitment to his chosen values. Yet drawing parallels between the two positions is far from impossible, despite Sartre’s strong opposition to Kantian moral theory.

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