Abstract
It is important to understand the basic of the ethical theories and how to utilize them to deal with the ethical dilemma in the medical practice. This article presents a brief review of three of famous philosophical theories of ethics, which may enrich our understanding and guide our behaviour in medical practice. Conclusion: There is no fully adequate moral theory which can singly explain all ethical or moral dilemmas and none of them also can singly explain all ethical or moral dilemmas.
Highlights
Clinicians have specific duties of care to their patients and to society
Teleology and Utilitarianism, deontology, and principlism, these theories can be applied in several procedures of ethical analysis, such as in analysis of cases and in different settings, moral or ethical theory may consider the application of rules or the consequences of actions [3]
Teleology comes from the Greek for goal and theory; teleological theories stress the consequences of actions as the first step in analyzing moral activity; consequentialism is another name given to this class of theories [4]
Summary
It is generally held that clinicians should always act in the best interest of their patients; but sometimes there is a conflict between obligations to a patient and those perceived to be owed to the community or to other patients. It may not always be the case that what the clinician believes is in the best interest of the patient or is what the patient wishes or will consent to [1]. The ethical theories provides an ordered set of moral standards to be used in assessing what is morally right and what is morally wrong regarding human action in general [2]
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