Pontifical Academy of Theology in Cracow IS PERSONALISM OR UTILITARIANISM AN ADEQUATE FOUNDATION OF MEDICAL ETHICS? 1. Fundamental principles of personalism and utilitarianism

1. Fundamental principles of personalism and utilitarianism One must state in the very beginning that medical ethics develops not so much under the influence of philosophical views, but under the influence of growing empirical sciences, which can create scientistic mentality, under the influence of legal decisions of various international or national medical organisations, under the influence of various social movements or some policy of a democratic country, which wants to avoid numerous social conflicts and sets the law through consensus, in case of abortion or euthanasia – the right to live, thus suggesting moral norms in this field. Contemporary bioethics and medical ethics should, however, develop in connection with philosophical ethics, otherwise it will be unaware of the philosophical presuppositions which are implicite considered in many medical decisions, made for thousands or millions of patients every day. Philosophical ethics distinguishes at least three ways of justifying moral norms. These are a) utilitarianism (good is what brings benefit); b) deontonomism (good is what an autonomous subject commands himself as a duty) and personalism (moral good is what is the affirmation of the human dignity). We have in mind here especially the possibility of using the principles of personalism and utilitarianism in medical ethics. The fundamental principle of personalism can be formulated as follows: homo homini res sacra, homo homini summum, persona est affirmanda propter se ipsam, etc. I. Kant 1 M. Schooyans, Aborcja a polityka, (L’avortement: enjeux politiques, Quebec 1990), tr. by K. Deryło, Lublin 1991. 2 A. Szostek, Wokół godności, prawdy i miłości, (About dignity, truth and love), Lublin 1995, p. 34.