You are called to consult in the Critical Care Unit of your local hospital. 53-year-old JoEllen was admitted after taking an overdose of prescription medications with alcohol. On admission, she said, “Not supposed to be here . . . ,” but soon became uncommunicative, and her condition is deteriorating rapidly. Her son has arrived with a notarized advance directive in which JoEllen specifically asks not to be placed on life support. What should you recommend to the attending health professionals?
Write a paper addressing this topic, supporting your position with credible research. You may begin your research with suggested Resources, but you are also expected to conduct your own independent research into the scholarly and professional resources of the field. The Capella library is recommended as a source for reliable materials.
*****Very Important******
In explaining your position, address each of the following questions:
•What features of the situation are relevant for making a moral decision?
•What would a deontologist like Immanuel Kant recommend?
•What would a consequentialist like John Stuart Mill recommend?
•How do you justify your own decision about what to do?
Additional Requirements
•Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
•APA formatting: Include a title page and a references page, formatted according to APA (6th edition) style and formatting.
•References: A typical paper will include support from a minimum of 3–5 references. You may use some of the materials recommended in the Resources, but you should also include support from your independent research of scholarly or professional materials.
•Length: A typical paper will be 4–6 typed, double-spaced pages in length.
•Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.
Write 4–6 pages in which you address a complex ethical dilemma, applying various ethical theories to the problem.
Philosophical reasoning about human conduct aims first to discover a clear difference between right and wrong and then to apply this distinction to specific situations.
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By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
•Competency 1: Explain the nature of ethical issues. ◦Explain ethical issues in complex scenarios.
•Competency 2: Critically examine the contributions of key thinkers from the history of ethics. ◦Apply Immanuel Kant’s ethical theory to a contemporary ethical issue.
◦Apply John Stuart Mill’s ethical theory to a contemporary ethical issue.
•Competency 4: Develop a position on a contemporary ethical issue. ◦Justify an ethical position on a contemporary issue.
•Competency 5: Communicate effectively in the context of personal and professional moral discourse. ◦Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professional communities.
***Resources to use***
•Benn, P. (2001). Ethics. London, GBR: University College London Press.
•Kant, E. (2002). Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals (A. W. Wood, Ed. & Trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
•Hill, T. E., Jr. (Ed.). (2009). The Blackwell guide to Kant’s ethics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
•Mill, J. S. (1998). Utilitarianism (R. Crisp, Ed.). Oxford, GBR: Oxford University Press.
•West, H. R. (2004). An introduction to Mill’s utilitarian ethics. West Nyack, NY: Cambridge University Press.