+1 862 207 3288 The case study will be attached.
This essay should be written in third person. The subject to be addressed is Moral theory which is covered in the following sources: Lecture: Introduction 2 (will also be attached) and the Video: “Moral Status,” by Jeff Sebo, located on the Khan Academy website.
Write a strong introduction demonstrating your understanding of the idea of moral theory and how you will display that knowledge based on the story of Jessica, Marco, Maria and Dr. Wilson in the “Case Study: Fetal Abnormality”
In the following paragraphs you will want to select each of the characters in the story and explain how that character in the story is viewing the pregnancy and how they are determining moral status. You will state the name of the character, what the story says they think or are doing regarding the baby, then explain how that behavior is reflective of one or more of the theories presented in the lecture or Khan video. Make sure you explain how that theory or their thoughts on how a person achieves moral status as a human is influencing their behavior. Here is an example: In this story it appears Joe wants to abort the fetus based on the theory of Cognitive properties as he does not see the fetus to have yet achieved moral status or the status of human being until it can function in terms of memory and understanding (GCU, 2015). Joe does not believe the fetus can remember or understand and thus feels it is the best decision to abort.
You will explain Jessica, Marco, Maria and Dr. Wilson’s actions and connect those actions with a theory. It must be clear that you understand the theory so feel free to define it in your own words as well as give examples of how that theory is evident in the behavior of the character. Use in text citations to note where you have learned the information about the theory.
You will then explain how you view the moral status of the baby and how your view influences your recommended action in this story. All paragraph must be 3-8 sentences and all information from outside sources must be cited in text and be connected to a reference on the reference page. Both the lecture and video MUST be used as references for the paper.
Case Study: Fetal Abnormality
Jessica is a 30-year-old immigrant from Mexico City. She and her husband Marco have been in the U.S. for the last 3years and have finally earned enough money to move out of their Aunt Maria’s home and into an apartment of their own. They are both hard workers. Jessica works 50 hours a week at a local restaurant, and Marco has been contracting side jobs in construction. Six months before their move to an apartment, Jessica finds out she is pregnant.
Four months later, Jessica and Marco arrive at the county hospital, a large, public, nonteaching hospital. A preliminary ultrasound indicates a possible abnormality with the fetus. Further scans are conducted and it is determined that the fetus has a rare condition in which it has not developed any arms, and will not likely develop them. There is also a 25% chance that the fetus may have Down syndrome.
Dr. Wilson, the primary attending physician is seeing Jessica for the first time, since she and Marcodid not receive earlier prenatal care over concerns about finances. Marco insists that Dr. Wilson refrain from telling Jessica the scan results, assuring him that he will tell his wife himself whenshe is emotionally ready for the news. While Marco and Dr. Wilson are talking in another room, Aunt Maria walks into the room with a distressed look on her face. She can tell that something is wrong and inquires of Dr. Wilson. After hearing of the diagnosis, she walks out of the room wailing loudly and praying out loud.
Marco and Dr. Wilson continue their discussion, and Dr. Wilson insists that he has an obligation to Jessica as his patient and that she has a right to know the diagnosis of the fetus. He furthermore is intent on discussing all relevant factors and options regarding the next step, including abortion. Marco insists ontaking some time to think of how to break the news to Jessica, but Dr. Wilson, frustrated with the direction of the conversation, informs the husband that such a choice is not his to make. Dr. Wilson proceeds back across the hall, where he walks in on Aunt Maria awkwardly praying with Jessica and phoning the priest. At that point, Dr. Wilson gently but briefly informsJessica of the diagnosis, and lays out the option for abortion as a responsible medical alternative, given the quality of life such a child would have. Jessica looks at him and struggles to hold back her tears.
Jessica is torn between her hopes of a better socioeconomic position and increased independence, along with her conviction that all life is sacred. Marco will support Jessica in whatever decision she makes, but is finding it difficult to not view the pregnancy and the prospects of a disabled child as a burden and a barrier to their economic security and plans. Dr. Wilson lays out all of the options but clearly makes his view known that abortion is “scientifically” and medically a wise choice in this situation. Aunt Maria pleads with Jessica to follow through with the pregnancy and allow what “God intends” to take place, and urges Jessica to think of her responsibility as a mother.
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Topic&2&– Personhood&!” Contemporary&Thought&and&Theological&
Anthropology
The&Goals&of&Medicine&and&Healthcare.
While!healthcare!utilizes!some!of!the!most!advanced!technology!and!is!
dependent!upon!scientific!advancement,!the!goals!of!healthcare!and!medicine!are!
fundamentally!different!from!that!of!science.!While!science!has!its!fundamental!goal!
the!acquisition!of!knowledge!through!research!and!experimentation,!the!
fundamental!goal!of!healthcare!and!medicine!is!healing!and!care.
Dissecting&the&concept&of&“care”
The!concept!of!“care”!that!undergirds!and!is!assumed!by!the!healing!professions!
itself!presupposes!a!certain!conception!of!the!subject!(as!opposed!to!a!mere!object)!
upon!which!care!is!directed!towards.!The!oftEdebated!topic!of!personhood!is!not!
merely!an!accretion!of!American!culture!wars,!but!has!been!a!topic!of!philosophical!
and!religious!debate!for!millennia.&&&&
What&does&it&mean&to&be&a&human&being?
While!there!has!been!an!explosion!of!scientific!knowledge!regarding!homo!sapiens!
(consider!for!the!example!the!Human!Genome!Project),!!the!question!of!human!
personhood!and!dignity!remains!an!irreducibly!philosophical!and!theological!
question.!Implicit!in!a!naïve!scientism!is!not!only!a!form!of!epistemic!reductionism!
(reducing!all!knowledge!to!only!that!which!“science”!can!tell!us),!but!also!a!general!
metaphysical!or!anthropological!reductionism!(reducing!human!beings!or!human!
nature!to!nothing!but!their!physical!components!or!that!which!can!be!measured!by!
science.!
Anthropological!axiology,!(the!basis!upon!which!human!beings!are!assigned!value!in!
relation!to!other!kinds!of!beings)!contra!relativism,!cannot!be!simply!dependent!
upon!culture!or!personal!preference!but!rooted!in!the!nature!of!what!it!means!to!be!
a!human!being.!Contra!scientism,!the!value!and!dignity!of!human!beings!stands!over!
and!above!that!of!other!species!and!cannot!be!simply!reduced!to!a!persons!abilities!
or!function,!or!their!physical!constituents.
While!it!has!a!been!a!perennial!challenge!for!secularism!to!find!a!basis!upon!which!
to!assign!human!beings!intrinsic!worth!and!dignity,!the!concept!of!human!“dignity”!
and!intrinsic!value!(including!its implied!ethical!principles!such!as!respect!for!
persons,!etc.)!is!inherent!Biblical!teaching!and!Christian!tradition!.!An!appreciation!
and!grasp!of!this!question!is!fundamental!for!understanding!the!contemporary!
religious!context,!and!the!goals!and!virtues of!medicine.
Moral&Status
A!related!and!central!concept!in!contemporary!biomedical!ethics!is!the!concept!of!
moral!status.!Briefly,!the!concept!of!moral!status!concerns!which!sorts!of!beings!or!
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entities!have!rights!(in!the!sense!that!a!moral!agent!has!obligations!toward!this!
being!or!entity).!Human!rights,!for!example,!are!considered!to!be!a!prime!example!of!
descriptions!of!obligations!a!moral!agent!has!to!any!human!being.!Furthermore,!
human!beings!are!taken!to!have!these!obligations!due!to!them!simply!in!virtue!of!
being!human!beings.!Another!way!to!describe!the!concept!of!a!beings!moral!status!is!
to!talk!about!its!value!or!worth.!Thus,!to!talk!about!a!beings!moral!status!is!to!talk!
about!a!beings!value,!as!well!as!why!it!has!that!value.!
The!video!lecture!entitled!“Ethics:!Moral!Status”!from!the!Khan!academy!illustrates!
this!nicely.!We!might!begin!by!asking,!“why!is!it!that!I!have!obligations!to!my!
neighbor,!but!not!to!this!rock?.”!Any!answer!one!gives!will!describe!certain!
characteristics!or!capacities!that differentiate!my!neighbor!from!a!rock,!in!virtue!of!
which!my!neighbor!has!moral!status,!and!the!rock!does!not.
The!video!lecture!distinguishes!several!views!or!theories!of!moral!status.!While!
they!might!be!categorized!in!different!ways,!we!will!break!them!down!into!the!five!
following!view!or!theories!commonly!used!by!bioethicists:!(1)!a!theory!based!on!
human!properties,!(2)!a!theory!based!on!cognitive!properties,!(3)!a!theory!based!on!
moral!agency,!(4)!a!theory!based!on!sentience!and!(5)!a!theory!based!on
relationships.!!Each!of!the!above!theories!takes!a!selected!characteristic!or!set!of!
characteristics!and!views!it!as!that!which!confers!moral!status!upon!a!being.!Thus,!a!
theory!based!on!human!properties!holds!that!it!is!only!and!distinctively!human!
properties!that!confer!moral!status!upon!a!being.!It!follows!that!all!and!only!human!
beings,!or!Homo!sapiens,!have!full!moral!status.!Some!of!the!characteristics!that!
would!endow!a!being!with!moral!status!under!this!view!would!include!things!like,!
being!conceived!from!human!parents,!or!having!a!human!genetic!code.!Whatever!
property!(i.e.!characteristic)!the!particular!theory!picks!out!is!considered!that!which!
confers!moral!status!upon!a!being!or!entity.!
The!theory!based!on!cognitive!properties!holds!that!it!is!not!any!sort!of!biological!
criteria!or!species!membership!(such!as!the!theory!based!on!human!properties!
holds)!that!endows!a!being!with!moral!status.!Rather,!for!this!theory!it!is!cognitive!
properties!that!confer!moral!status!upon!a!being.!In!this!context!“cognition!refers!to!
processes!or!awareness!such!as!perception,!memory,!understanding,!and!
thinking…[and]!does!not!assume!that!only!humans!have!such!properties,!although!
the!starting!model!for!these!properties!is!again!the!competent!human!adult.”!!Notice!
carefully!that!this!is!claiming!that!if!a!being!does!not!bear!or!express!these!
properties,!it!follows!that!such!a!being!does!not!have!moral!status.!The!theory!based!
on!moral!agency!holds!that!“moral!status!derives!from!the!capacity!to!act!as!a!moral!
agent”!in which!an!individual!is!considered!a!moral!agent!if!they!“are!capable!of!
making!judgments!about!the!rightness!or!wrongness!of!actions!and!has!motives!that!
can!be!judged!morally”!.!
The!theory!based!on!sentience!holds!that!the!property!of!sentience!is!that!which!
confers!moral!status!on!a!being.!Sentience!in!this!context!is!“consciousness!in!the!
form!of!feeling,!especially!the!capacity!to!feel!pain!and!pleasure,!as!distinguished!
from!consciousness!as!perception!or!thought.”!!According!to!this!theory!the!capacity!
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of!sentience!is!sufficient!for!moral!status!(i.e.!the!ability!to!feel!pain!and!pleasure!
confer!upon!a!being!moral!status).!The!final!theory!holds!that!relationships!between!
beings!account!for!a!beings!moral!status.!Usually!these!are!relationships!that!
establish!roles!and!obligations,!one!example!being!the!patientEphysician!
relationship.!!Of!course,!there!are!many!types!of!relationships!(family,!genetic,!legal,!
work,!etc.),!even!ones!in!which!one!party!in!the!relationship!does!not!desire!or!value!
the!other!party.!In!such!a!case,!a!person!who!holds!this!theory!may!be!forced!to!
concede!that!a!beings!moral!status!may!change,!depending!on!the!other!party.!!
Consider!also!that!the!particular!shape!that!each!of!these!theories!takes!will!be!in!
the!context!of!a!broader!worldview!framework.!Thus,!the!way!in!which!Christianity!
and!Buddhism!would!apply!a!theory!based!on!human!properties!or!a!theory!based!
on!sentience!would!be!very!different.!Furthermore,!there!may!be!worldview!
considerations!that!would!not!allow!one!to!hold!to!one!or!more!of!the!theories.!It!
should!be!noted!that!while!the!video!lecture!covers!a!variety!of!views,!it!is!not!
exhaustive!(there!a!clearly!more!theories!covered!here)!and!furthermore!seems!to!
implicitly!assume!or!be!working!in!the!framework!of!a!particular!worldview.!What!
worldview!could!it!be!and!what!are!some!of!the!assumptions!being!made!in!the!
background?
Conclusion
The!point!is!simply!this;!while!there!seems!to!be!an!innate!sense!of!what!it!means!to!
be!a!human!being!that!most!people!have,!one!needs!to!stop!and!actually!think!about!
what!this!means.!It!might!be!assumed!that!healing!and!caring!are!good!things!
because!human!beings!are!valuable!and!ought!to!be!respected,!but!the!question!is!
whether!ones!worldview!provides!an!adequate!explanation!for!these!beliefs?!Or!are!
they!in!some!sense!simply!relative?!How!does!the!Christian!narrative!answer!these!
questions?!How!would!other!worldviews!answer!these!questions?
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