The Deontology Theory: A Conceptual Perspective

Today's health care providers are continually innovating the way health care services are provided, thanks to such things as increased education and technological advancement. But on the other hand there are some challenges, new and old, they must face. Probably the most notable of challenges in health care industry is ethics. Provides often must ask them selves, what is morally right? What would be the responsible course of action? The importance of ethics far transcends just the world of health care it is probably one of the oldest challenges of all time. Ethical theories help those facing ethical decisions make the most informed decision. One of the most challenged ethical theories, deontology, is also one that is widely utilized in the world of health care and medicine. But what is the concept deontology? What is its significance to health care? And why is it so widely criticized?

Webster's defines deontology as the study of moral obligation, but it's much more than that. Deontological moral theory is a non-consequentialist moral theory. While consequentialist believe the ends always justify the means, deontologist assert that the rightness of an action is not simply dependent

on maximizing the good if that action goes again what is considered to be moral (Kinder 3). "It is the inherent nature of the act alone that determines its ethical standing" (Legal Theory Lexicon, 3). Deontologists generate restrictions against maximizing the good when it interferes with moral standards. In addition, high value is placed on the individual, rather then the societal whole, so in some instances it is permissible not to maximize the good when it is detrimental to you (Wikipedia, 2). Deontology is a generally flexible moral theory that allows for self-interpretation, which may be the reason it is so widely practiced in the health field.

Imagine a situation where there are four critical condition patients in a hospital who each need a different organ in order to survive, then a basically healthy man goes in for a routine check up. According to consequentailism, the doctor must sacrifice that one man in order to save the four others, therefore Ð''maximizing the good' (Kinder 4). However, deontologist contest this way of thinking by arguing that it is immoral to kill the innocent despite the fact that you would technically be maximizing the good. As, you can see from this medical example it is important to doctors to practice the principles of deontology because killing that healthy man to possible save for others would not have been morally responsible or ethical. Consequentailism is popular in other fields such as law enforcement because they are more concerned with a broader, society-wide picture. For example, the justice system may let one drug dealer go free if he gives up the names and whereabouts of the entire drug ring. This is not the case in deontology. Deontology does not prioritize moral actions, all actions are equally important. The textbook refers to deontology in the health care industry as applied to market justice and being bounded by duty. Physicians have the duty to the patient to restore their health and the patient has a duty to the physician to compensate them for their services (Shi and Singh, 58).

One of the major objections to the deontological moral theory is that the theory deals only in absolutes, which is a hard concept for many decision makers to grasp. All actions are either classified as right or wrong, with no room for a gray area. These strict guidelines tend to conflict with generally accepted actions,