INTRODUCTION TO

BIOETHICS
 Definition of Terms
What is Ethics?

 A set of principles of right

conduct.
 Motivation based on ideas of
right and wrong.
 Definition of Terms
What is Biology?
 Scientific study of life and
living organism.
What is Bio?
 is derived from the Greek word "bios,"
which means life. In the context of
bioethics, "bio" refers to biology.
 Definition of Terms
What is Bioethics?
 The study of the ethical and moral implication of
new biological discoveries and biomedical
advances, as in the field of genetics engineering
and drug research.

 The study of ethical and moral implication of

medical practice and research.
Some issues and concerns…..
1. Informed Consent
2. Genetic Engineering
3. End-of-Life Care/ Assisted Suicide
4. Allocation of Limited Resources
5. Reproductive Technologies
6. Animal Research and Animal Rights
7. Privacy and Genetic Information
Significance of BIOETHICS for medical
practice…
• Medical policies and patients rights legislation
are ever-changing.
• Health care system function differently than
before.
• Clinical Practices now involves decision making
about many issues.
Types of Ethics

A. General Ethics or Normative Ethics

 Raises the problem of moral norm and attempt to formulate and
defend system of fundamental ethical perceptions that settle which
acts are good and evil.
Does not only apply general moral concepts and principles but
specifies the particular situation in life which they are valid and
legitimate .
Applied in an attempt to resolve specific moral problems.
Types of Ethics
B. Applied Ethics
Branches are…………………
1. Professional Ethics- Deals with certain moral precepts or rules by
which person behave and act in the exercise of their calling or
prefession.
Example: Nursing Ethics
Teacher’s Code of Ethics.
2. Biology- A natural Science concerned with the study of life and living
organism including structure, function, growth, origin, distribution and
taxonomy .
Types of Ethics
3. Bioethics
 Ethics of Life

A branch of applied ethics which investigates practices and

developments in the life sciences and biomedical fields.

Its primary and major predicaments are those concerning life, health
and death that have resulted from modern biological technology,
particularly the way they have affected human values.
EVOLUTION PHASES OF BIOETHICAL
STUDIES
A. Medical Ethics
Oldest Phase
 A formulation of ethical norms for the conduct of health care
professionals in the treatment of patients.
Code of Ethics were written by and for physician as early as the 3rd
century BC.
HIPPOCRATIC OATH
 Oldest known formulation of medical ethics.
Named after Hippocrates
He set the stepping stones for the foundations of
medicine, developing medical terms and definitions,
protocols and guidelines for the classification of diseases.
To be kept from harm and injustice (physicians should
not prescribe fatal drugs nor should suggest fatal drugs
to be taken. Father of modern medicine

Rules out any form of abortifacient ( any drug or

chemical preparation that induces abortion) and sexual
relations between doctors and patients. (Professional
Misconduct)
Confidentiality (Medical Secrecy)
EVOLUTION PHASES OF BIOETHICAL
STUDIES
B. Research Ethics
 Refers to the use of human as
experimental specimen. E.g. prisoner, poor
patients, children, and foetuses.
Example: Third Reich- dictatorial Regime of
Adolf Hitler- superman concept as the
culmination of the philosophy will to
power; experiment using humans without
consent was done .
Nuremberg Code
 a symbolic location as the site of
Nazi rallies in America.
 Attempted to humanize the cruel and
barbaric nature of experiments using
human species in German
concentration camps.
 It take into account the experimental
subjects’ consent, informed consent,
informed decision or informed
choice.
Medical Ethics
•The rules or standards governing the
conduct of a person or the members of a
profession relating to the study or
practice of medicine.
EVOLUTION PHASES OF BIOETHICAL
STUDIES
C. Public Policy
 Accentuates the participatory aspect of decision making
in a democratic set-up with regard to the formulation of
public policies for the benefit of all.
Refers to the people’s efforts or involvement in
formulating public guidelines for both clinical cases and
biomedical research.
THE PERSONHOOD
• A man is man by his intellect and by his rational will.
• Man is responsible for his action.
• He alone is aware of what he is doing and free to act or not to act.
• When he does not know what he is doing or when he is no longer free
to act, the responsibility is no longer blamed to him.
• Acts of irrational animals and insane person are devoid of moral
significance.
HUMAN ACTS
• Are done with knowledge and full consent of the will.
• One knows what one is doing and does it freely and willingly.
ACTS OF
MAN
• Are performed in the absence of either both knowledge and full consent of
will.
• Actions committed by unconscious and insane person, by infants or by those
who are physically forced to do something.
• Actions which merely happen in the body or through the body without the
awareness of the mind or the control of the will.
THE THREE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN
ACTS
A. KNOWLEDGE- awareness or consciousness of the conditions and
meaning of our action.
Note: An act performed during sleep or when a person is insane is not a
human act.
B. FREEDOM- power to choose between 2 or more courses of action
without being forced to take one or the other by anything except your
own will.
C. VOLUNTARINESS- occurs when man knows the purpose of his action.
It is a will-act.
IGNORANCE
 Absence of knowledge in an individual who supposed to know it.
1. Vincible- can be overcome by exerting some effort.
2. Invincible- can hardly be removed even if one were to exert effort to
overcome it.

Conscience
 the moral faculty of a man which tell him subjectively what is good
and evil.
Sensitivity with regards to choosing our actions.
The last arbiter of one’s moral decision.
THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
A. ETHICAL RELATIVISM
Moral Relativism
Claims that there are no universal or absolute moral
principles.
Standards of right and wrong are always relative to a
particular culture or society.
THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
B. RELATIVISM
The most widely held moral view in our culture.
Holds the societies and/or individuals decide what is right
and wrong.
There are no objective moral truths, just behaviors created
by peolple., and they are subject to change.
THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
B. SITUATION ETHICS
Consist of 3 approaches to Morality
Proposed by Joseph Fletcher who is an American Protestant
Medical Doctor.
1. Legalistic/Normative
 Prescribes certain general moral prescriptions , laws, norms
by which to judge, determine and settle the rightness and
wrongness of human judgement or decision.
Fletcher finds this too restrictive.
2. Antinomian
Frees the Christian from the obligations of the moral law.
 There are no absolute precepts or moral principles by which to be
guided in making decision.
Fletcher finds it too liberal and unconventional which may lead to
anarchy and chaos.

3. Situation
 Refers to human condition or any state of moral affairs and issues
that demand a moral judgement or action.
The moral norm depend upon a given situation.
Whatever the situation may be, one must always act in the name
of Christian love.
3. Situation Ethics
 Fletcher preferred approach.
Situationism is a theory that changed in human behaviour
are factors of the situation rather than the traits a person
possesses.
Behavior is believed to be influences by external, situational
factors rather than internal traits or motivations.
This means external factors play more important role to
determine individual differences.
TAKE NOTE IN MEDICAL CONTEXT
 COMBINE LOVE AND JUSTICE IN TREATING ILL PATIENTS.

AGAPEIC LOVE SERVES TO CHECK SELFFISH MOTIVE AS WELL AS

UNCARING HEALTH PERSONNEL.

IT MAKES MORAL DECISION FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTIVE TO VARYING

SITUATIONS.
TAKE NOTE 3 TYPES OF LOVE ACCORDING
TO FLETCHER
 Eros- sexual love.
Philia- affection that binds a parent to a child, a brother to a sister,
etc.
Agapeic- one’s care concern and kindness to others; characterized by
charity, respect and responsibility towards the others; Christian Love.
THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
D.PRAGMATISM
 Charles Peirce and William James Peirce who are
philosophers, physicists and mathematician.
They are the founder and inventor of the term
PRAGMATISM.
More of a theory of knowledge, truth and meaning than of
morality.
Holds that the true and valid form of knowledge is one
which is practical, workable, beneficial and useful.
THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
D.PRAGMATISM
 Derives its origin from a greek word meaning “ to do”, “ to
make”, to accomplish.
So, the use of words like “ action or Practice” or activity.
Actions get priority over thought.
Experience is at the center of the universe.
Everyone is tested on the touch-stone of experience.
Beliefs and ideas are true if they are workable and profitable
otherwise false.
 TAKE NOTE: KEY POINTS
 THE TRUTH HAPPENS TO IDEAS AND IS NOT A QUALITY OR PROPERTY
OF IDEAS.
TRUTH IS MADE BY THE TRUE EVENTS OR HAPPENING

Argument…..
Materialistic- it claim that the truth is cast value of an idea.
 True and valid form of knowledge
according to Pierce
1. Practical- one that we can practice and produces
practical results.
2. Workable- one that we can put to work, it can be
worked out and it works.
3. Beneficial- it benefits people . Useful one that can be
used to attain good results.
THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
E.UTILITARIAN
 JEREMY BENTHAM and JOHN STUART MILL
English Philosophers
It claims that there is one and only moral principles- the
principle of utility.
States that the rightness or wrongness of actions is
determined by the goodness and badness of their
consequences.
The utility of an action is determined by the extent to which
it promotes happiness rather consequences.
THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT
E.UTILITARIAN
 Promote the Principle of Greatest Happines.
Believes that the purpose of morality is to make life better
by increasing the number of good things. Such, pleasure and
happiness and decreasing number of bad things such pain
and unhappiness.
They reject moral codes or system that consist command or
taboos .
The Principle of Greatest Happiness
AN ACTIONIS GOOD (RIGHT) IN SO FAR AS IT PRODUCES HAPPINESS
FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE.

AN ACTION IS BAD (WRONG) IN SO FAR AS IT PRODUCES MORE

HARM THAN BENEFIT FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL.
 Rule of Utalitarianism
Absolutistic
 Once a rule or policy is formulated . It must be followed given the
same set of circumstances.

Key points in the medical….

 Provide a system for formulating, testing and evaluating hospital
policies and regulation which give rise to the enactment of laws,
directives, guidelines and codes of conduct.
Arguments…
It justifies the imposition of discomfort or suffering on a few for the
sake of the many.
Lesson 2: DUTY ETHICS
also known as deontological ethics.
 is a philosophical approach to ethics that focuses on the inherent
moral obligations or duties associated with certain actions.
It is concerned with determining the rightness or wrongness of an
action based on whether it conforms to certain moral rules or duties
The primary proponent of deontological ethics, also known as duty
ethics, is the philosopher Immanuel Kant.
He believed that moral actions should be guided by rational principles
and moral duties, rather than solely focusing on the consequences of
those actions.
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
 is a command or maxim that enjoins a person to do such and such an act without
qualification; it thus lays down a universal rule which is followed, will ensure that
the person is acting from a sense of duty.
The act’s universality must be tested by means of the CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE,
the kernel of Kant’s theory.
It serves as a guiding principle for determining moral obligations and evaluating
the morality of actions.

Categorical Imperative formulation includes:

1. ”Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time to become a universal
law”.
2. “Always act so as to treat humanity, either yourself or others, as an end and
never as only a means”.
CHRISTIAN ETHICS
Also known as the natural law ethics, for the natural law ethicist, the source of the
moral law is reason itself, which directs us to do good and avoid evil; this is called the
voice of reason or voice of conscience, and the voice of reason is the norm of morality.

Christian ethics also identifies the 3 Determinants of moral actions:

● Object
● Circumstances
● The end of an agent

With these determinants, will determine the rightness or wrongness of a concrete

individual act
ROSS’S ETHICS
 In Ross’s view, rightness belongs to acts independent of motives; hence,
we speak of right acts or wrong acts.
 According to Ross, moral goodness belongs to motives, and so we speak of
good or bad motives. He also proposes to resolve conflicting questions, he
created a distinction between an actual duty and a prima facie duty and the
benefits from a Twofold Principle.
 A rule-deontological theory
Presented by William David Ross, a British Aristotelian scholar, and moral
philosopher
Recognized that there are exceptions for every rule and in some situations,
rules must be set aside.
RIGHT ACTS
• rightness belongs to acts independent of motives

GOOD MOTIVES
• moral goodness belongs to motives

• ACT
• that which is don
ACTION
• the doing of an act; the carrying out or the execution
• The doing of a right act can be the result of a morally bad motive or
the doing of a wrong act can originate from a good motive.
• In considering the rightness of an act as well as the goodness of a
motive, we have to determine the non-moral properties or
circumstances surrounding the act (the what, why, and why it is being
done).
ACTUAL DUTY AND PRIMA FACIE DUTY
• To resolve the question which one should apply when moral rules
come in conflict in particular situations
ACTUAL DUTY
• one’s real duty in a given situation; the action
• one ought to choose from among many other actions
PRIMA FACIE DUTY
• (Latin: “at first view” or so far as it appears); one that directs or
commands what one ought to perform when other relevant factors
are not taken into account.
2 PRINCIPLES TO RESOLVE CASES OF CONFLICTING DUTIES
1. Act in accordance with the stronger, more stringent or more severe
prima facie duty.
2. Act in accordance with the prima facie duty which has a greater
balance of rightness or wrongness compared to other prima facie duties.

PROBLEM WITH ROSS’S TWOFOLD PRINCIPLE

● It does not tell us how can we identify which of the prima facie duties is
more stringent
● It does not give us a rule to settle the balance of rightness or wrongness
between two conflicting duties.
INTUITIONISM
● we have to rely on our moral intuitions as the ultimate guide when
faced with such situations.
What to do:
1. Learn and discern the facts in the case
2. Consider the possible consequences of our actions.
3. Reflect on our prima facie duties
4. Decide on the best course of action under the
circumstances
7 TYPES OF PRIMA FACIE DUTIES
1. Duty of Fidelity
• Being faithful to our duties, obligations, vows or pledges; loyalty to a
worthy cause, telling the truth as the situation demands it, keeping
actual and implicit promises and not representing fiction as truth
2. Duty of Reparation
• also known as duty of compensations duty to make amends for injury
that we have inflicted on others an act of making amends, righting the
wrongs we have done to others
• “sorry” is not enough, something good must be done for that person
to compensate for the wrongdoing
7 TYPES OF PRIMA FACIE DUTIES
3. Duty of Gratitude
➔ duty to appreciate and recognize the services others have done for us
which may either be a favor, kindness, god fortune, a great help or saving
one’s life
4. Duty of Justice
➔ proper distribution of social benefits and burdens
5. Duty of Beneficence
➔ encourages us not only to bring about what is good for others but also
to help them better their conditions with respect to virtue, intelligence or
comfort
➔ duty to confer benefits and to prevent and remove harm
7 TYPES OF PRIMA FACIE DUTIES
6. Duty of Self-improvement
➔ duty to improve and develop ourselves with respect to virtue,
intelligence and Happiness unless one performs or carries out one’s
duty to oneself, the fulfillment of one’s other duties would be less
effective
7. Duty of Non-maleficence
➔ synonymous with “not injuring others” we ought to avoid inflicting
evil, harm or injury which encompasses pain, suffering, disability and
death upon others as we would avoid doing so to ourselves
Key Points in Medical Context
● Discernment and sensitivity must be evident with regard to the
unique aspects of varying situations before making a moral decision
● Our moral guide should be not what is useful but what is right.
● The list of prima facie duties may serve as moral guidelines for
healthcare professionals including researchers.

ARGUMENT
● Persons differ in their moral perceptions so that Ross’s “more
stringent duty principle”varies from one individual to another.
RAWLS’S ETHICS
• John Rawls's concept of social morality on the ultimate dignity of
human beings.
• He talks about what he calls “the original position” in trying to explain
his concept of justice and further introduces the concept of social
justice wherein we must recognize our duties to ourselves and to
others.
• A noted Harvard philosopher has attempted a brilliant synthesis of
the strengths of utilitarianism and of the deontological views of Kant
and Ross.
RAWLS’S ETHICS
• had built on both Kant’s and Ross’s fundamental notion of the
ultimate dignity of human beings in his concept of social morality
which serves as the basis of social justice.
• He also perceives the need to rank our duties to prioritize them
according to higher and lower categories in order to resolve any
possible conflict.
• He introduced the concept of an order of priority with regard to
equal access to health care (equal opportunity and equal distribution
of socio-medical resources)
RAWLS’S ETHICS
• Rawls’s talks of a hypothetical situation which he calls “the original
position” in trying to elucidate his concept of justice.
● individuals under the veil of ignorance
● self-interested and rational
● choices and decisions are fair
● Justice is fairness
THEORY OF JUSTICE INCLUDES:
1. Every individual is inviolable
• Not even the general welfare of the society can override or supersede it
• The greater good to be shared by all members should not be used to justify the loss of
freedom of others.

2. Erroneous theory is tolerable in the absence of a good one

• When given 2 erroneous laws, one should choose the better and the less erroneous
one
• An act of injustice can be tolerated if and only if it is necessary to avoid an even
greater injustice.
• It must be remembered that in a case of tolerable erroneous theory, it is the only one
available at hand, so it follows that it must be carried out for the sake of those who
are supposedly benefited or affected by it.
• A wrong or an unjust law is better than no law at all.
THEORY OF JUSTICE INCLUDES:
3. Individual liberties should be restricted in order to maintain equality
of opportunity.
➔ Restrictions of individual liberties serve as safeguards against abuses
and misuses of one’s freedom against others.
 TWO-FOLD PRINCIPLE OF JUSTICE
1. Equal access to the basic human rights and liberties.
• Guarantees a system of equal rights and liberties for every citizen; prohibits
the bartering away of liberty for social and monetary considerations.
➔ e.g. No citizen may sell his/her right to vote

2. Fair equality of opportunity and the equal distribution of socioeconomic

inequalities
➔ Deals more with the distribution of social goods and or medical resources
than with liberty. A just society is not one in which everyone is equal
but is one in which inequalities must be demonstrated to be legitimate.
In order to promote justice in human relations:
4 TYPES OF DUTIES
1. fairness in our dealing with others
2. fidelity
3. respect for persons
4. beneficence
NATURAL DUTIES
1. the duty of justice
2. the duty of helping others in need or in jeopardy
3. the duty not to harm or injure others
4. the duty to keep our promises
Key Points in the Medical Context
• Rawls recommends the legitimacy of paternalism which other should
act or decide in one’s behalf whenever we are unable to make the
decision by and for ourselves.
• Exploitation which is deliberately intended to benefit one person or a
group of persons is not morally legitimate.
• Rawls justified the allocation of social resources for the training of
medical personnel by the benefits it will give to the society.
• sanctions the voluntary consent of an individual to become a research
subject by virtue of his basic right to decide on what risks he is willing
to take with his own life.
ARGUMENT
• Rawls does not permit the people in the original position to know
their goals, plans, interests and purposes but only their self-respect,
wealth and rationality which contradicts his notion of justice is
fairness.

• If the people in the original position are rational beings just as we

are, it is impossible for them not to be able to know their se, race,
social position or personal endowment.

• In contrast with his objection against utilitarianism, Rawls’s concept of

justice(liberties of individuals should be restricted provided that such
restrictions are for the benefit of everyone) refers to the utility
principle of the greatest number.
KANT’S ETHICS
• Immanuel Kant, a brilliant German thinker of great renown
• sometimes called “deontologism”
• its emphasis on duty or obligation.
• Others regard it as a form of intuitionism
• it claims that morality is exclusively within the human personality.
• What is morally right or wrong is solely a matter of intent, motive, and
will.
• Intuition means internal motive or intention also called motivist
theory.
 Main Points of Kant’s view: Assignment
1. What makes an act moral as distinguished from a non-moral one?
2. What is the difference between a person who acts morally and one
who does not?
Question: Assignment
➔ What is that an individual is obliged to do?
Answer:
• Question: Assignment
In order to act appropriately, how can a person know his/her duty in a
given situation?

• Answer:
 ACT DONE IN ACCORD WITH DUTY
VS ACT
DONE FROM A SENSE OF DUTY
• Acting in accord with duty
Person performs his/her function merely out of the desire to do so or
out of fear of being accused of negligence, such action is non-moral;
has no moral significance
• Act done from a sense of duty
A person recognizes the presence of special obligation which is brought
about by the existence of a relationship
TYPES OF DUTY
Perfect
● one which must always be observed irrespective of time, place and
circumstances
Imperfect
● one which must be observed only on some occasions
 CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
VS
HYPOTHETICAL IMPERATIVE

• Categorical Imperative
• mandates an action without any condition whatsoever and without
regard to the consequences that such an action may yield
• Hypothetical Imperative
• a command with a corresponding condition or limitation
NATURAL LAW ETHICS (OTHER NAMES)
THOMISTIC ETHICS
• after St. Thomas Aquinas, a profound Italian
• philosopher and theologian who gave this doctrine its most influential
formulation and articulation in the 13th century.
• certain moral principles are objective and can be found in the nature
of things through reason and reflection
• believes that the moral law is the dictate of the voice of reason which
is expressed in the moral principle, “The good must be done and evil
avoided”.
• view the voice of reason as the voice of conscience, refers to the
immediate judgment of practical reason applying the general principle
of morality.
• the natural moral law is founded in human nature
(that is man’s being rational and free) which is
regarded as unchangeable ,hence, natural law itself is
unchangeable.
• The natural moral law is universal, seen as the same
for all people at all times and in all places in so far as
every individual is endowed with reason and freedom.
• The ultimate source is divine wisdom and God’s
eternal law. So, natural law is the divine law expressed
in human nature.
 3 Determinants of Moral Action
1. The Object
➔ that which the will intends directly and primarily. It may be either a
thing or an
• action.
e.g. The nurse injecting a drug into an ailing patient.
Object – injecting a drug
2. The Circumstances
➔ conditions which when superadded to the nature of the moral act
will affect its morality; will either mitigate or aggravate the goodness or
badness of a particular act
7 Circumstances:
1. Who – has something to do with the special quality, prestige, rank or
excellence of the person involved in the moral act
2. What – refers to the quantity or quality of the moral object
3. Where – denotes the place where the act occurs
4. By what means – refers to the means used in carrying out the act
5. Why – the end or purpose of the action
6. How – indicates the manner in which the action is done
- complete willingness, prerequisite of imputability
7. When – refers to the time element involved in the performance of an
action
3. The End of the Agent
➔ the end or purpose of the doer or agent
• For a given act to be truly morally good, it must be good in all is three
elements.
Key Points in the Medical Context
● Natural law ethical principle

• it is morally wrong to allow babies suffering from serious birth deformities to die;
• hasten the death of a person as direct and primary
• intention and to perform acts that terminate the lives of the incurable either by taking
steps to bring about their death or by failing to take steps to prolong their lives through
ordinary treatment.
• The principle of procreation considers abortion and the use of positive methods of
contraception to be morally wrong.

• From the moment of conception, the conceptus is considered to be a person with all
the rights of a person, hence, abortion at any stage of pregnancy is morally wrong.
Argument
• Everything has a goal or purpose. Nature does nothing in vain.
Bacteria or germs have their reason for being. Once this is rejected,
the natural law theory collapses.
• Concept of conscience – by product of one’s upbringing and
development, so, it differs from one person to another.
SCHOLASTIC ETHICS
• after the brilliant moral teachings of a group of scholars known as
Scholastics or Schoolmen headed by St. Thomas Aquinas in the
University of Paris during the middle ages

Christian Ethics and/or Roman Catholic Ethics

• in so far as the church’s contemporary versions of the theory are
mostly elaborations and interpretations of St. Thomas’ basic ethical
and precepts.
NATURAL LAW ETHICS
• because it claims that there exists a natural moral law which is
manifested by the natural light of human reason demanding the
preservation of the natural order and forbidding its violations.
• the source of the moral law is reason itself which directs us towards
the good as the goal of our action and that good is discoverable
within our nature
• Reason recognizes the basic principle “Do good, avoid evil.”

Question: How do we know if we are acting rightly or wrongly?

Answer: We know we are acting rightly if we follow the voice of reason

and we are acting wrongly if we act against it
SYNDERESIS

• the term used by STA to describe the inherent capacity of every

individual, lettered or unlettered, to distinguish the good from the
bad.
MAN’S THREEFOLD NATURAL
INCLINATION
• the good is built into human nature and we are directed by our
natural inclination as both physical and rational creatures
1. Self-preservation
➔ urges us to care for our heath, not to kill ourselves or put ourselves
in danger.
➔ Any act that violates this basic inclination is wrong and contradicts
human nature.
➔ anything that will endanger man like suicide and even smoking are
evil; anything hat will promote health like physical exercise is by nature
good.
2. Just dealing with others
➔ Reason by nature leads us to treat others with the same dignity and respect we give
ourselves,
➔ the basis of justice which arises out of human relations.
➔ Any act of injustice like exploitation, seduction, abduction, deception, cheating,
kidnapping, etc. are by nature evil.

3. Propagation of our species

➔ We are naturally inclined to perpetuate our species which is viewed as a natural
good.
➔ The reproductive organs are by nature designed to reproduce and to perpetuate the
human species.
➔ Anything that would prevent reproduction of human specie is considered unnatural,
hence, evil.
LESSON 3: HUMAN SEXUALITY AND
REPRODUCTION
SEXUALITY
- central aspect of being human throughout life which encompasses
sex, gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure,
intimacy and reproduction
- experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs,
attitudes, values, behaviors, practices, roles and relationships
GENDER IDENTITY
Gender identity is inside us; it’s how we feel about our own gender.
Gender is the way someone identifies internally and how they choose
to express themselves externally.

GEDER EXPRESSION
Gender expression is what’s visible about your gender to other people.
Gender expression refers to the ways that people present their gender
identity to the world. This may be through clothing, haircuts,
behaviors, and other choices.
SEX ASSIGNED AT BIRTH
The sex (male, female, intersex) assigned to a child at birth, most often
based on the child's external anatomy. Also referred to as birth sex,
natal sex, biological sex, or sex.

PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL ATTRACTION

Physical attraction refers to the characteristics of a person that might
make you physically or sexually attracted to them. Physical attraction
can come from a variety of factors, including someone’s gender
identity, gender expression, or the sex they were assigned at birth.
Emotional attraction relates to the characteristics of a person that
might make you emotionally or romantically attracted to them.
GENDER ROLES
• social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are
generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a
person based on that person's biological or perceived sex. A guy who
is attracted to girls is considered heterosexual while someone who is
attracted to the same sex is called a homosexual.

SEXUAL ETHICS
• ethics concerned with issues from all aspects of human sexuality
including human sexual behavior
SEXUAL CONSERVATISM
• group of beliefs that emphasize the acceptance and/or affirmation of
social and normative conventions regarding sexuality, respect to
traditions, and the maintenance of society.
• Sex is permissible between a legally married man and woman.
• Sexual behavior must have a morally significant goal, such as
procreation

SEXUAL LIBERISM
• Group of beliefs that emphasize the acceptance and/or affirmation of
individual sexual freedom and respect for one’s sexual autonomy. Any
sexual activity between consenting adults is morally fine.
SEXUALITY: MORAL THEORIES
NATURAL LAW
• moral actions follow the natural course of human nature
• procreation is natural and other acts considered non-procreational are immoral
supports the conventional view

KANTIAN ETHICS
• the basis of his general conception of morality is that actions are wrong when
we treat people disrespectfully as mere objects or instruments. It is traditional
and conservative.

UTILITARIANISM
• any sexual act is moral based on the overall good it creates for everyone.
MORAL ISSUES ON SEXUALITY
HOMOSEXUALITY
• sexual interest in and attraction to members of one's own sex
• some hold the view that homosexuality is related to a mental
disorder
• most religions discourage homosexual activities
• homosexuality in the Philippines is increasingly being tolerated
• 49% view homosexual relations between consenting adults as morally
wrong or unacceptable
PRE-MARITAL SEX
• sexual relations between two people prior to marriage
• sex before marriage is a sin against the body

EXTRAMARITAL SEX
• consensual sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other
than their lawful spouse

CONTRACEPTION
• deliberate use of artificial methods or other techniques to prevent
pregnancy as a consequence of sexual intercourse
• opposes the traditional view of sex as a means of procreation
• sterilization violates the principle of totality and its integrity
ARTIFICIAL REPRODUCTION
• creation of new life by other than the natural means available to an
organism.
1) Artificial Insemination
• assisted method of reproduction in which the sperm is provided
typically by means of masturbation and is injected into the woman’s
reproductive tract through a catheter.
• excludes the marital act from procreation.
• distorts the meaning and purpose of procreation.
ARTIFICIAL REPRODUCTION
2) In-Vitro Fertilization
• a medical procedure whereby an egg fertilized by sperm in a test tube
or elsewhere outside the body
• ethical issues: disposal of spare embryos, and use of embryonic tissue
in medical research
3) Surrogacy
• an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a
woman (the surrogate mother) agrees to bear a child for another
person or persons, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth
ARTIFICIAL REPRODUCTION
4) Abortion
• ending of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus
Types of abortion:
Spontaneous abortion
induced abortion
• motivation
personal
societal
 maternal and fetal health
• ethical issues
 sanctity of life
 autonomy (Independence)
pro-life vs pro-choice
 DIGNITY IN DEATH AND DYING
• Dying with Dignity- movement that promotes the ability to meet
death on your own terms.

1. Suicide- assisted suicide, which is also called physician-assisted

suicide, is when a doctor gives a person the means to commit
suicide when requested for it.
2. Euthanasia- a doctor is allowed by law to end a person’s life by
painless means, as long as the patient and their family agrees
• Voluntary: When euthanasia is conducted with consent. Voluntary
euthanasia is currently legal in Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands,
Switzerland, and the states of Oregon and Washington in the U.S.

• Non-voluntary: When euthanasia is conducted on a person who is

unable to consent due to their current health condition. In this scenario
the decision is made by another appropriate person, on behalf of the
patient, based on their quality of life and suffering.

• Involuntary: When euthanasia is performed on a person who would be

able to provide informed consent, but does not, either because they do
not want to die, or because they were not asked. This is called murder,
as it's often against the patients will.
• EUTHANASIA- “ MERCY KILLING”
It is the intentional taking of the life of an ailing person, for any of the
following reasons: Incurability of illness, Unbearable intensity of physical
or emotional pain, unbearable financial burden arising from the illness.

Types:
1. By Reason of the manner of attaining death
• Active or Direct Euthanasia- the active taking of steps by the physician
or the caregiver to end the life of the patient.
• Passive or Indirect Euthanasia- the intentional omission or non-
administration of medical treatment to cause or hasten the death of the
patient.
2. By reason of patient’s consent
• Voluntary Euthanasia- the patient consciously and directly requests
the health care provider to take the steps to put an end to the patient’s
life.
• Involuntary Euthanasia- the act of seeking the
death of the patient is without the patient’s
consent or knowledge.
➢ Argument favoring Euthanasia:
• compassion for the patient and shortening the period
• of suffering of the patient
➢ Argument disapproving Euthanasia:
• it is intrinsically wrong since it rejects life.

PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE

The patient requests from the physician to provide the means to end
his life.
 INVIOLABILITY OF HUMAN LIFE
• The concept of inviolability is an important fie between the ethics of
religion and the ethics of law, as each seeks justification for its
principles as based on both purity and natural concept, as well as in
universality of application.
• DYSTHANASIA
• is a term generally used when a person s to be kept alive artificially in
a condition where, otherwise, they cannot survive; sometimes for
some sort of ulterior (intentionally hidden/future) motive.

• ORTHOTHANASIA
• A normal or natural manner of death and dying. Sometimes used to
denote the deliberate stopping artificial or heroic means of
maintaining life Passive euthanasia, see there.
ADMINISTRATION OF DRUGS TO THE
DYING
In Medicine, specifically in end-of-life care, palliative sedation (calm) is
the practice of relieving distress in a terminally ill person in the last
hours or days of a dying patient's life.
Palliative sedation is an option of last resort for patients whose
symptoms cannot be controlled by any other means. It's not a form of
euthanasia, as the goal of palliative sedation is to control symptoms,
rather than to shorten the patient's life.