Abstract

This dissertation offers a program for critically analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas that arise within the practice and delivery of medical care. Fundamental principles that ought to ground moral and rational decisions in the doctor-patient relationship will be explored. A recommended model for the doctor-patient interaction will be argued for, including the limits of justified paternalistic interference by the physician. Then, a framework for analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas in health care will be presented. The framework will be divided into five elements that are constitutive of all ethical decision making: ethical theory, data base, action constraints, values, and decision theory. To demonstrate the pragmatic nature of this methodology, the dilemma of deciding whether to withhold and/or withdraw life-prolonging interventions in a seriously ill patient will be used as a paradigmatic example in the discussion on ethical decision making