Moral Status: Obligations to Persons and Other Living Things

This book explores the theoretical problem at the center of practical ethics: What is the standard of moral status? In other words, what are the standards of entities that have moral obligations? Some philosophers believe that there are inherent wealth, such as life, perception, humanity, and moral institutions. Others believe that the attributes of relations such as belonging to human society are more important. In the first part of this book, the author believes that we can not use property as the sole standard of moral status.

In 1997's book "The Moral Status: Human and Human Duties", Warren proposed a practical approach to determine the "multi-standard" theory, common sense, moral status and attract readers' morality Did. Intuition She pointed out that it is this universal and good intuition that leads to moral reflection and judgment. Warren believes that the burden of showing social moral flaws - wrong reasoning or inappropriate empirical data depends on those who challenge it

As a person's condition, it gives the doctor personal moral values ​​and a superior moral status as a person's condition. (2) As a doctor's autonomy, it provides a moral status as a doctor's knowledge and duty and uses it wisely ; (3) Ethical community with collective responsibility for autonomous patients and society as professionals. I have written moral obligations and medical autonomy as moral communities elsewhere, but as the first two structures of individuals it is limited to the autonomy of doctors.

Autonomy is extremely important in certain moral frameworks as a model of moral persons, that is, as a characteristic of morally obliged persons and as an aspect of taking over others' duties to their own persons. For Kant, voluntary taxation of universal moral law is the basis of general moral obligation and respect for others (we are responsible for ourselves). In short, the real reason - the ability to choose your own actions using rationality - assumes that you understand yourself as free. Although freedom demands us to use the law to guide our decisions, we mean that our actions have no barriers beyond our will I will. See Hill 1989). This autonomous moral law is autonomous. Furthermore, since this law should not have the meaning or content provided by a wish, or other incidental aspect of our situation, it must be universal.