Beneficence (ethics)
Beneficence, in the realm of ethics, refers to actions that are intended to promote good and benefit others. It is a key principle within various ethical theories that evaluates moral conduct and the significance of doing good. Typically associated with altruism, beneficence encompasses a wide range of actions, from charitable deeds to everyday acts aimed at enhancing the well-being of others. The concept is particularly vital in fields like healthcare, where medical professionals are guided by beneficence to provide treatments that help patients and the community.
Philosophers have diverse interpretations of beneficence. For example, David Hume viewed it as a natural human instinct essential for moral living, while John Stuart Mill emphasized its role in achieving the greatest happiness for the most people. In contrast, Immanuel Kant held that beneficence is a moral duty, intertwined with the obligation to care for others. The discussion around beneficence also raises questions about the extent of one's obligations to different individuals and communities, prompting considerations of equity in altruistic actions.
Furthermore, beneficence plays a crucial role in medical ethics, guiding healthcare professionals to act in ways that maximize patient welfare while adhering to the principle of non-maleficence, which mandates avoiding harm. This ethical framework extends to various sectors, including social work, education, and corporate practices, highlighting its relevance in promoting societal welfare and addressing the needs of those in distress.
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Beneficence (ethics)
Beneficence is the term used in ethics to describe actions that are meant to help or promote good for other people. Beneficence is an important concept in ethics, and many different ethical theories analyze the morality and importance of beneficence. Acts of beneficence are generally seen as morally good actions. Beneficence is an important factor in applying ethics to real-life situations such as in healthcare.
Background
The point of studying ethics is to develop and analyze theories about right and wrong. Philosophers, theologians, and other thinkers have developed principles to help people choose ethical behaviors. Beneficence plays an important role in ethics as it promotes good, which is one of the main goals of some of the branches of ethics. Promoting the good of others is seen as a morally right behavior. Beneficence is studied under normative ethics, which is the main branch of ethics that examines and tries to determine morally sound actions.
Deontology and consequentialism are two main branches of normative ethics. Deontologists believe that a situation is morally right or wrong depending on the action that advanced it. To deontologists, actions are either right or wrong. Deontologists do not consider the outcomes of their actions, only the actions themselves. Therefore, a deontologist may believe that murder is always evil, so any act of murder is morally wrong. However, a consequentialist may believe murder is usually evil because the outcome is the death of a person. Yet, the same consequentialist may believe murder could be the morally correct choice if the murder somehow led to the saving of many people's lives. Therefore, deontologists would view acts of beneficence as the morally right option because a specific set of rules (e.g., the laws of a particular religion) mandated that they were. Consequentialists, however, believe that acts of beneficence are morally right because of their results (e.g., people are happier, the world has less suffering).
Overview
Beneficence is often related to altruism, which is doing acts in service to others rather than in service to one's self. People often associate beneficence with acts of mercy or charity. Yet, beneficence in ethics is more broadly defined. Any action that benefits others is an act of beneficence. Beneficence is seen as a moral good under most ethical theories.
Different philosophers and groups view beneficence differently. For example, philosopher David Hume believed that beneficence is an important part of human nature. He believed that beneficence is important to a moral life, but it is also a natural thing for humans to do. John Stuart Mill, a philosopher who subscribed to a utilitarianism theory of ethics, had different beliefs about beneficence. Utilitarianism states that moral acts are those that bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Therefore, Mill believed that performing acts of beneficence is not just important to morality but also fundamental to it. Immanuel Kant—a famous sixteenth-century philosopher—claimed that beneficence is a duty. He also believed that it is part of a larger duty to love and care for others. Kant believed this duty exists not because people have to do good things for others, but because people have a duty not to ignore those in need or be unkind.
Another important aspect of the duty of beneficence is the requirements it puts on people who want to act morally. If beneficence is doing good for others, including society at large, the implication is that people must be good to all different groups of people. Philosophers and theologians have thought and written about whether a person has an obligation to all people equally or a deeper obligation to those people close to that person. For example, one might consider whether a person should use free time to clean a family member's house or to volunteer at a local food bank. Both actions would be considered beneficence. Cleaning a family member's house helps only one person, and that person is a relative. Volunteering at a food bank is beneficial for more people, and those people are not (in this example) friends or family. Some theologians believe that people do have more of an obligation to the people to whom they are connected. Other philosophers do not make distinctions among different people. Most philosophers agree, however, that people who are in more need should be given preference for acts of beneficence. In the example, if the family member is wealthy and employs a housecleaner, the person doing the acts of beneficence should most likely volunteer time at the food bank. That act of beneficence is aiding people who most need help.
A similar example of beneficence is whether beneficence is obligated or is a moral ideal. If one is obligated by morality to do acts of beneficence and help others, a person could give up all else other than helping people. Philosophers have questioned whether this is what is required for people to act morally. Does a person have to give up all worldly goods and help the poor to act morally? Many philosophers believe that beneficence is a moral ideal. In other words, people should try to achieve beneficence whenever they can, but they are not required to give up their entire lives to be moral. Yet, some philosophers—notably Peter Singer—believe that people, governments, and institutions with more money and time than others are required to sacrifice a great deal to help the poor and struggling.
Beneficence is an important aspect of medical ethics. Medical professionals use ethical theories and principles to help guide their decision-making. In medical ethics, the idea of beneficence is doing actions that help patients or the general public. Examples of beneficence in the medical field include treating a victim of a car crash, counseling students about the dangers of injection drug use, and vaccinating children against deadly diseases. These actions are beneficence because they are examples of medical professionals helping their patients and society. A related concept in medicine is non-maleficence. This is the idea that medical professionals are expected to "do no harm" to their patients and others. Therefore, a medical professional practicing non-maleficence should end treatments that cause more harm than benefit. Similarly, beneficence is an important ethical principle for people conducting research studies. Outside of healthcare and research, modern applications of beneficence can be found in social work and education. Corporations practice beneficence through charitable giving, eco-friendly design, and exploring products that improve quality of life. Technology can also be seen an industry sector incorporating contemporary applications of beneficence through designing assistive technologies, creating altruistic platforms, and considering the ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence.
Bibliography
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