BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING:

BIOETHICS
COURSE MODULE COURSE UNIT WEEK
1 4 4

Source of Ethics and Morality, Divine Command Theory and Virtue Ethics

✔ Read course and unit objectives

✔ Read study guide prior to class attendance
✔ Read required learning resources; refer to unit
terminologies for jargons
✔ Proactively participate in classroom discussions
✔ Participate in weekly discussion board (Canvas)
✔ Answer and submit course unit tasks

At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:

Cognitive:
1. Differentiate the source of ethics and morality
2. Explain the factors affecting the morality of a person

Affective:
1. Listen attentively to the discussions and opinions in the class
 2. Initiate asking questions that challenge class thinking
3. Express freely the personal opinion with respect to others opinion

Psychomotor:
1. Participate actively during class discussions
2. Confidently express personal opinion and thoughts in front of the class

Lachman, V (2008), Making ethical choice: Weighing obligations and virtues. Website
https://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=817321&Journal_ID=54016&Issue_ID=81
7271

Wierenga, E. (1984). Utilitarianism and the Divine Command Theory. ​American Philosophical
Quarterly,​ ​21(​ 4), 311-318. Retrieved April 29, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/20014061

Exodus 20 in the Bible

Sources of Ethics and Morality

● Divine Command Theory

- Divine Command Theory (DCT) an ethical theory that says anything that is moral and
good are God’s command, therefore anything that is immoral and bad are not God’s
command (Morgan, n.d). The Divine theory are viewed differently among the followers of
the three Abrahamic traditions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam (​Taylor and
López-Farjeat, 2016)​.. The theory is also known as “theological voluntarism” which can
be associated to Christian theism (Quinn as cited by Copp, 2005) and “theistic
subjectivism” that is found in Islam theism (Hourani as cited by Ozkan, 2016)

- The context of Divine Command Theory is simple and these can be rooted from the set
of rules known as the Ten Commandments taken from Judeo-Christian traditions (Edge
and Groves, 2019). Which implies that anything beyond what is written is not God’s
commandment and can be considered unethical and immoral actions or behavior.

o Criticisms of Divine Mandate Theory (Edge and Groves, 2019)

 ▪ Command theories assumes belief in either divine beings or exemplary
individuals. This may not be applicable and challenging to accept to people
who do not have religion or no faith.
▪ Command theories generally have “no exceptions” clause in which it cannot
cover all possible cases of moral decisions. Since the theory is based in the
ancient time and comparing it to our time there are more ethical concerns
nowadays that causes ethical dilemma.
▪ Command theory has what may be called the “Euthyphro Problem or
Dilemma” from the Platonic dialogue. This philosophical problem ask “​do the
gods love good action because it is good, or is good action good because it is
loved by the gods?” ​challenges the person on the ground of Divine Command
Theory.

- Divine command ethics often provides a basis for decision making for those who believe
and have faith in a higher power.

● Virtue Ethics
- Mainly, virtue ethics is the heart of making rightful decision making than reasoning.
Virtue ethics is primarily not about a particular action rather on our personal character
and moral development (Edge and Groves, 2019).
- In virtue ethics it is said that when we human being are confronted with complex
dilemmas and in a situation where our moral or ethics is challenge, we are to choose the
right course of action because doing the right thing comes from a virtuous person’s
fundamental character (Rich and Butts, n.d).
- In the discussion of virtue ethics, the ethics of care as popularized by Carol Giligan
contribute on the practice of nursing. When resolving issues were moral are involve it is
important that we ask ourselves “how do I respond?” (Edge and Groves, 2019) and in
responding critical thinking must be use to understand the circumstances and the
problems (Rich and Butts, n.d).
- The figure below shows how decisions are made using virtue ethics reasoning adapted
from Edge and Groves, 2019.
 Figure 1. Virtue-Oriented Reasoning

Morals – ​Refer to beliefs, principles and values about what is right and what is wrong and what is
considered appropriate behavior.

Morality – ​Is the conformity to the rules of right conduct or a system of ideas that fall into those
same categories

Theism​ – Is the belief on the existence of a supreme being or divine being regardless of religion

Omnipotence​ – Is the ability to do things limitless and beyond what man can do

Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics. Website:

https://press.rebus.community/intro-to-phil-ethics/chapter/can-we-have-ethics-without-religion-on-di
vine-command-theory-and-natural-law-theory/#navigation

The Euthyphro. Website:

http://www.faculty.umb.edu/adam_beresford/courses/phil_100_11/reading_euthyphro.pdf

The Ethical Considerations of Physician-assisted Suicide. Website:

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e41f/a875b26d197760247dc899d23842ac46db9a.pdf
Virtuous Practice in Nursing: Research Report. Website:
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/research/SocialSciences/15426-Jubilee-Centre-Report-
–-Nursing-Stage-5.pdf

Study Questions

● Why does the Euthyphro dilemma pose a problem for God’s omnipotence?
● Use your Bibles to look up Exodus 20. Look at these commandments and decide how a
follower of Divine Command Ethics would approach the ethical dilemma of abortion.
● In the context of Divine Command Theory and Virtue Ethics answer the 7 questions on the
case of “Prenatal Diagnosis and parental Choice” posted on
https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/prenatal-diagnosis-parental-choice

Copp, David (2005), The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory ​Oxford Handbooks, ​Oxford University
Press. Retrieved May 13, 2020 from https://books.google.com.ph/books

Edge, R. and Groves J. (2019), Ethics of Health Care: A guide for Clinical Practice, 4​th edition
Cengage Learning Asia Pte. Ltd
Morgan, J. (n.d), Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics. Retrieved May 13, 2020 from
https://press.rebus.community/intro-to-phil-ethics/chapter/can-we-have-ethics-without-religion-on-di
vine-command-theory-and-natural-law-theory/#navigation

Ozkan, Tubanur Yesilhark (2016), A Muslim Response to Evil: Said Nursi on the Theodicy
Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World​. Routledge. Retrieved May 13, 2020 from
https://books.google.com.ph/books

Rich, K. and Butts, J. (n.d) Foundations of Ethical Nursing Practice, Jones & Bartlett Learning,
LLC. Retrieved May 13, 2020 from
http://samples.jbpub.com/9781449691509/81982_CH04_Pass1.pdf

Taylor, R. (Ed.), López-Farjeat, L. (Ed.). (2016). The Routledge Companion to Islamic Philosophy.
New York: Routledge. Retrieved May 13, 2020 from https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315708928