Option 2: Normative Ethics, Metaethics and Methods in Healthcare: In chapters 12-17, the Kelly book focuses on questions about ethics in general. Normative ethics concerns itself with the questions about human freedom (can we actually be moral agents?). This question is where we can talk about the human ability to sin or not. The second question focuses on the rightness or wrongness

Option 2: Normative Ethics, Metaethics and Methods in Healthcare: In chapters 12-17, the Kelly book focuses on questions about ethics in general. Normative ethics concerns itself with the questions about human freedom (can we actually be moral agents?). This question is where we can talk about the human ability to sin or not. The second question focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions, and two general theories are discussed-Deontology and Consequentialism. The third question under normative ethics has to do with what is of Ultimate Value. Metaethics then turns to the question of whether or not we can actually verify anything about ethics. Is ethics based on how we feel about something (emotivism); is it based on what most people tend to think about something (relativism); or is it based on some other “absolute” authority—God, the Bible, the Pope, our legal system (i.e., abortion is legal so therefore it must be ethical). Catholicism opts for Natural Law theory. Another theory to consider is Proportionalism (Simply put, if the only way to cure me of my cancer is to cut off both my arms and legs, I may think that “proportionally” being cured is not worth the reduced quality of life I would have to endure. I may choose to live out a higher quality of life with both arms and legs even if that life may be drastically shortened.) None of these definitions necessarily make health care decisions easier, given the complexity and variety of human illnesses. So, normative ethics and metaethics can be categorized in certain principles—Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice. So, the student should see that healthcare ethics is based upon ethical foundations which have been studied, observed, and experienced over centuries, and that there has always been a rational basis for how we talk about ethics. In other words, according to Christian tradition, how we make ethical decisions has always transcended personal beliefs and emotions.
For this option, the student will use the above summary and the text (Kelly) to reflect upon the value of moral methodology for healthcare. In other words, how can these principles help us to arrive at fairly rational decisions about how we provide healthcare and also how we as patients or loved ones can make difficult but ethically justified decisions. If the student recalls, the instructor used his own father as an example. Students are encouraged to reflect on actual experiences (again, please, no actual names), experiences you’ve had as a healthcare provider, or experiences you have had as a loved one who has had to help make ethical decisions concerning the healthcare of a relative.