Application of Ethics and Morality Theory in Healthcare (Essay Sample)

Application of Ethics and Morality Theory in Healthcare
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Application of Ethics and Morality Theory in Healthcare
John Stuart Mill theory on ethics and ethical decisions
John Stuart Mill developed the utilitarianism theory, which states that the actions a person takes are correct as long as the actions geared towards promoting general happiness or pleasure among the greatest number of people and the actions are considered to be wrong if they make a great number of people unhappy. This theory focuses mostly on the consequences of actions rather than the rights or ethical sentiments. According to the theory, actions taken by individuals should be guided by a desire for sympathy for fellow human beings, thus the goal of utilitarianism is to maximize the happiness of others. Morality comes before the rules. For example, if there is a person who kills and makes a society unhappy, it is morally right to kill that person if killing the person will make the society happy (Mill, 2018).
Lawrence Kohlberg theory of personal ethics and moral development
Under Kohlberg theory, the morality of a person develops either negatively or positively depending on how that individual accomplishes the various tasks before him or her during various stages of moral development in an entire lifespan. He grouped the moral development into pre-conventional morality stage, conventional morality stage, and post-conventional moralitystage (Walrath, 2011).
In pre-conventional morality stage, use of punishment is important in determining the moral value of a person. People do what is right for fear of being punished. For example, people obey laws and rules for fear of being jailed. Also under this stage, people judge morality based on how it satisfies the individual's need (Walrath, 2011).
In conventional stage, a person moral morality judgment is based on the roles they play in the society and social expectations of the society. Finally, under the post-conventional stage, a person makes moral decisions by relating them to the universal principles. They collect opinions and views from other persons before making a decision. A person also will consider universally agreed ethical principals in making a decision. The judgment is usually innate and there is a very high probability that they might violate the set rules and laws if they are convinced that their actions are right (Walrath, 2011).
Comparison of John Stuart mill and Kohlberg theories on morality and ethics
Mill's theory focuses on the good of every person and his view of the moral action is premised on what the person thinks is the best actions for a majority of the persons while Kohlberg believes that what a person did through various developmental stages determines their moral actions. Mill's theory depicts that a moral action is dictated by circumstances in which a person finds himself or herself while Kohlberg believes that it is innate and developed throughout the entire lifetime. However, both theories agree that people act morally for the good of the others and in line with society expectations. Rules and laws should not be the basis for moral judgment rather actions that are for the good of others in moral decision ma...