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Ethical case deliberation and decision making
1Department of Public Health and History of Science, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain. dmgg@med.ucm.es
Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy
|November 19, 2003
Summary
Deliberation is key for resolving clinical ethics dilemmas. This process ensures moral decisions are reasonable by considering diverse viewpoints, emotions, and values, leading to wiser outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Bioethics
- Clinical Ethics
- Moral Philosophy
Background:
- Various methodologies exist for managing clinical ethical quandaries.
- These include Decision-making theory, Principlism, Hermeneutics, Narrativism, Casuistry, and Pragmatism.
Purpose of the Study:
- To advocate for deliberation as the essential component of ethical decision-making methodologies.
- To highlight the importance of incorporating emotions, values, and beliefs into moral decisions.
Main Methods:
- Defining deliberation as a process where all stakeholders are moral agents.
- Emphasizing the obligation to provide and consider reasons from all perspectives.
Main Results:
- The primary goal of deliberation is not consensus, but the enrichment of individual viewpoints.
- This process enhances decision-making maturity, leading to wiser and more prudent choices.
- Confronting differing reasons modifies participants' perception of the ethical problem.
Conclusions:
- Moral decisions, while influenced by emotions and values, must be reasonable (wise and prudent).
- Deliberation is the principal method for achieving reasonable moral decisions in clinical ethics.
- This approach respects diverse beliefs and values, aligning with historical Western clinical medicine practices.