I'll be coming from the library today (you're welcome to join us if you like), in case I'm a little late.
Perspectives (Basics 3); Premonition 3. Share your thoughts, questions (etc.) in the comments section below.
1. Chapter 3 begins by asking if our bioethical perspective ("vision") is skewed by _____... (a) cultural assumptions, (b) gender bias, (c) religious faith, (d) all of the above
2. What's the leading global cause of death among women of reproductive age?
3. (T/F) The "feminist critique" says bioethics has been dominated by culturally masculine thinking.
4. What ethical perspective did Nel Noddings (supported by Carol Gilligan's research) describe as the "feminine approach"?
5. What's a furor therapeuticus?
6. Does Campbell consider the outlawing of female genital mutilation culturally insensitive?
7. What's allegedly distinctive about "Asian bioethics"?
8. What western ethical preconception is "somewhat alien" in the eastern dharmic traditions?
9. What gives Buddhists and Hindus a "whole new perspective" on bioethical issues?
10. What does Campbell identify as a "tension in the Christian perspectives" on bioethics?
Premonition
1. What book "more of less" led to the invention of U.S. pandemic planning? Have you read it? Will its lessons again be forgotten before the next pandemic?
2. Who is Richard Hatchett? Do you think many people in health care possess the souls of poets?
3. What did Hatchett not know about "social distance"? Is that the best term for what it purports to describe?
4. What did Carter Mecher "notice" about most medical students? Would you expect a higher percentage of those who choose a medical career to be calm and collected in a health emergency than the general population, or better at learning from their mistakes?
5. What did Mecher think was a good way to reduce medical error?
6. What was the gist of Mecher's Lessons Learned report to the VA?
- How do you think your own attitudes and assumptions about gender, religion, etc. influence your Bioethical perspective?
- What do Plato's Euthyphro and the Biblical story of Abraham & Isaac suggest to you about the place of religion in addressing biotethical issues? (61-2)
- What is Buddhism's bioethical relevance? (69)
- How should medical professionals treat and care for children whose parents object to medical intervention on religious grounds?
- Is it best for caregivers to try and limit their personal knowledge of patients' particular perspectives, beliefs, identities (religious, political, cultural etc.) so as to avoid conscious or unconscious bias in treatment, or does this unduly sacrifice the humane dimension of medical practice?
- Post your DQs
What do Plato's Euthyphro and the Biblical story of Abraham & Isaac suggest to you about the place of religion in addressing bioethical issues?
ReplyDeleteThe answer to Euthyphro's dilemma or Abraham's dilemma lays the foundation for many other answers in bioethics. The book gave a great example to illustrate this. If you believe God's command takes precedence over what your human faculties perceives as good, then the request of the Jehovah's Witnesses to not use a blood transfusion on their dying kid seems reasonable. However, if you believe that good exists independently of a god/ then this request might seem evil to you.
Is it best for caregivers to try and limit their personal knowledge of patients' particular perspectives, beliefs, identities (religious, political, cultural etc.) so as to avoid conscious or unconscious bias in treatment, or does this unduly sacrifice the humane dimension of medical practice?
ReplyDeleteI don't believe so. I think healthier targets would be to work on eliminating the conscious and unconscious biases that caregivers have that could cause a difference in care and making it a virtue to give the same level of care in spite of a person's differing beliefs.
I'm not convinced that limiting a carers personal knowledge of a person's beliefs would lead to better care. Having a deep understanding of a person, in my personal experience, leads to better care of that person. There may be particular elements of those practices that relate to a person's health and should not be ignored.
Lastly, this deeper understanding of their patients could lead to a more fulfilling career for the caregiver. Certainly, there is a line that should not be crossed between the person giving and receiving care. The relationship should never come in conflict with the duties the caregiver has, but bonding with patients could make the work more fulfilling for everyone involved.
I agree; the limiting of personal knowledge can become a dangerous game. Furthermore, in the book Premonition that we are reading, one of the central ways that Dr. Hoseas analyzes his patients is by understanding the basic social environment they are in. Through this, he is able to pinpoint specific causes for the issue. It is important to understand the patient in their entirety.
DeleteI also agree that a more holistic understanding of a patient can lead to more favorable health outcomes for that patient. Beyond this, I believe that patient comfort is a topic worthy of discussion. If someone feels like you want to know them and that you care about them, then that someone is less likely to withhold any information or to be aggravated towards you.
DeleteHow should medical professionals treat and care for children whose parents object to medical intervention on religious grounds?
ReplyDeleteI think medical professionals should proceed to treat and care for children even if their parents have an objection. Respecting the parent's wishes for their children ends in life and death circumstances. The choice to end ones life by refusing medical services should be one made out of personal autonomy. Children do not have the capacity to make fully autonomous decisions. Once into adulthood, a person should have the right to deny life saving medical treatment, but to refuse it for their kid denies that child the chance to make it to autonomy and decide for themselves.
We would not entertain this theory if religious people wanted to allow their children to die in other ways. Lets say their tradition was to want them to handle poisonous snakes to see if they are truly pure in the eyes of god (a tradition the Pentecostals practice where I'm from). We immediately recognize this as unacceptable and requiring of intervention, but this is a genuinely held belief for some people. Religious beliefs are not a defense to allowing your child to die.
Snake handling is such a wild thing that some churches did. I think I would tend to agree that the child should receive treatment regardless of the parents religious beliefs in cases of life and death. Regarding more mild cases do you think the wishes of the parents should be respected? I tend to think so.
Delete1. What book "more of less" led to the invention of U.S. pandemic planning? Have you read it? Will its lessons again be forgotten before the next pandemic?
ReplyDeleteThe book that led to the invention of US pandemic planning was the book known as The Great Influenza. While I have not read the book, looking back at a historically similar situation to COVID-19 would be a very logical way to go about setting up a plan to fight a pandemic. Although I would argue that the differences in modern technology as well as urbanization have made The Great Influenza harder to compare to COVID-19; this was the best thing plan from. Unfortunately, as Premonition talks about, the plan for COVID was to simply create a plan. Although I beleive history has a tendency to repeat itself, I feel that the government has many more solid plans in order to combat pandemics due to the catastrophic effects of COVID-19.
What's allegedly distinctive about "Asian bioethics"?
ReplyDeleteThe distinctive feature of Asian bioethics is its emphasis on communitarian support over the individual. Rather than focusing on individual autonomy as we do in the west, important decisions of an individual are often based off of communitarian needs where the family itself is valued more than the person.
I think we're lucky to live in a world with a wide array of ethical beliefs and standards so that we can find what tends to produce good outcomes and what does not. And every perspective has blind spots which must be accounted for.
DeleteWhat ethical perspective did Nel Noddings (supported by Carol Gilligan's research) describe as the "feminine approach"?
ReplyDeleteNel Claims that the feminine approach to ethical dilemmas is resolved based upon a "commitment to specific personal relationships." He goes on to say that this leads to a feminine approach being very situational and case dependent. The masculine approach is defined as more analytical and relating to universal principals. I think gendering a way of thinking is perhaps not the greatest thing to do, surely there exist men who are emotional and women who are analytical. I agree with the Basics here that the best approach is in-between these two ideas.
What's furor therapeautics?
ReplyDeleteThis is an approach to healing somebody that involves throwing a bunch of treatments at them in a desperate attempt to cure them. This highlights a need for the distinction between "cure" and "care", because if the only goal is to cure the patient, we may find that we have actually hurt them more than helping them if they can't be cured and we haven't been caring for them at the end of their life.
What do Plato's Euthyphro and the Biblical story of Abraham & Isaac suggest to you about the place of religion in addressing biotethical issues?
ReplyDeleteI think religion should be completely detached from a bioethics conversation, not only because I have no reason to recognize religious authority, but because using religion to justify actions can be taken down extremely dark roads. People can and have used religion to justify many things such as slavery, genocide, subjugation of other races, etc. So I tend to not listen to ethical arguments that rely on religious assumptions.
1. I think my perspective on things like gender make me think more openly about bioethics, leading to me being able to think about things in a different light. I used to think of gender and sex immediately being direct influences of each other, but after thinking inward to myself I can sort of see that gender and sex aren’t necessarily completely linked. It made me more accepting.
ReplyDelete2. I think medical professionals, as much as I want to say they should have the immediate ability to treat children of parents who are religiously objected, should refrain from going against the parents’ wishes. This, however, should not come without consequence to the parents who do object, as I think they should have a detailed explanation on how medicine works and perhaps be charged with child endangerment.
3. A question I pose: Do you think it’s healthy to pose a view that we should all get along? Do emotions such as hate have a benefit in any way? How could this apply to bioethical communications?