Lesson 2: Reason and Impartiality As Minimum Requirement For Morality

LESSON 2: REASON AND IMPARTIALITY
AS MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR Part 2: THE ACT
MORALITY
REASON AND IMPARTIALITY DEFINED
 Moral judgement is true if it is espoused by better reasons
REASON
 the basis or motive for an action, decision or conviction
 capacity for logical, rational and analytic thought
 for consciously making sense of things, establishing and verifying facts, applying
common sense and logic, and justifying
 Reason spells the difference of moral judgement from mere expressions or personal
preference.
 absence of sensible rationale = capricious and ignorable
 Reason commends what it commends regardless of our feelings, attitudes, opinions and
desires.
REASON AND IMPARTIALITY DEFINED
IMPARTIALITY
 each individual’s interest and point of view are equally important
 evenhandedness or fair-mindedness
Decisions, ought to be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis
of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another for
improper reasons
THE 7 – STEP MORAL REASONING MODELS
SCOTT B. RAE, PH.D.
1. GATHER THE FACTS
 “What do we know?”
 “What do we need to know?”
2. DETERMINE THE ETHICAL ISSUES

 Correctly state the competing interests/ conflicting interests that practically make
for a moral dilemma
3. IDENTIFY THE PRINCIPLES THAT HAVE A BEARING ON THE CASE

 Biblical principles will weigh more; constitutional principles or from the Natural law
that supplement the biblical principles
SCOTT B. RAE, PH.D.
4. LIST THE ALTERNATIVES
 come up with various alternative courses of action as part of the creative
thinking included in resolving a moral dilemma
5. COMPARE ALTERNATIVES WITH PRINCIPLES

 eliminate alternatives according to the moral principles that have a bearing
on the case
 purpose of this is to determine whether there is a clear decision that can be
made without further deliberation
 in most cases, the case may be resolved at this level.
SCOTT B. RAE, PH.D.
6. WEIGH THE CONSEQUENCES
 if the principles do not produce a clear decision, then a consideration of the
consequences of the remaining available alternatives is in order.
 both positive and negative consequences must be considered
7. MAKE A DECISION
 it must be realized that one common element to moral dilemmas is that
there are no easy and painless solutions.
 normally, the decision made is the least number of problems or negative
consequences
CASE
A 20 year old Hispanic was brought to a hospital emergency room, having
suffered abdominal injuries due to gunshot obtained in gang violence.
“He had no medical insurance, and his stay in the hospital was somewhat
shorter than expected due to his good recovery. Physicians attending to him
felt that he could complete his recovery at home just as easily as in the
hospital and he was released after only a few days in the hospital.
During his stay in the hospital, the patient admitted to his primary physician
that he was HIV positive, having contracted the virus that causes AIDS. This was
confirmed by a blood test administered while he was hospitalized.
When he was discharged from hospital, the physician recommended that a
professional nurse visit him regularly at home in order to change the
bandages on his still substantial wounds and to ensure that an infection did not
develop.
CASE
Since he had no health insurance he was dependent on Medicaid, a government
program that pays for necessary medical care for those who cannot afford it.
However, Medicaid refused to pay for home nursing care since there was
someone already in the home who was capable of providing the necessary care.
That person was the patient’s 22 year old sister, who was willing to take care of
her brother until he was fully recovered. Their mother had died years ago and
the sister was accustomed to providing care for her younger siblings. The patient
had no objection to his sister providing this care, but he insisted that she may not
be told that he had tested HIV positive. Though he had always had a good
relationship with his sister, she did not know that he was an active homosexual. His
even greater fear was that his father would hear of his homosexual orientation
and lifestyle Homosexuality is generally looked upon with extreme disfavor
among Hispanics.

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LESSON 2: REASON AND IMPARTIALITY

AS MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR Part 2: THE ACT

2. DETERMINE THE ETHICAL ISSUES

3. IDENTIFY THE PRINCIPLES THAT HAVE A BEARING ON THE CASE

5. COMPARE ALTERNATIVES WITH PRINCIPLES

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