Discussion - Discuss John Rawls' idea of the Veil of Ignorance

Discussion Questions

Week 13,  

1. From  Chapter 9: Last Resort Options (Curlin & Tollefsen): For this question, please offer some personal reflections (i.e., a few short paragraphs) on which argument(s) or point(s) stood out to you the most or that you found most intriguing.

2. A Real-Life Case Study +  Chapter 6: Beneficence (Beauchamp & Childress): Suppose that you are a clinical ethicist at a local hospital. You get an ethics consultation from an observation unit nurse whose patient has a self-sanctioned DNAR code status (Do Not Attempt Resuscitation) and is also on suicide watch. The nurse has contacted you because, on the one hand, she knows that she is observing the patient in order to prevent acts of attempted suicide. Yet, on the other hand, she also knows that the patient has a self-sanctioned DNAR status because of their terminal condition and deteriorating health. The nurse's questions to you in the consult are as follows: "What should I do if the patient engages in an act of attempted suicide? Do I stop them? And what if I'm too late and their act is successful? Do I resuscitate them despite their DNAR code status?" Utilizing what you've learned from the Beauchamp and Childress reading (e.g., their definition of paternalism, the distinction between soft and hard paternalism, the conditions under which B&C think hard paternalism is justified, the relationship B&C see between paternalistic intervention and acts of attempted suicide, etc.), what would you say in response to this ethics consult? What recommendations would you give to the nurse? Explain.