ABSTRACT
El presente artículo propone un enfoque empírico de la ética derivado de la teoría psicológica del juicio humano propuesta por Norman Anderson. Muestra cómo la metodología de esta teoría denominada medición funcional puede utilizarse para caracterizar las diversas posiciones personales que existen en todas las sociedades respecto a los problemas de salud pública. Los principales resultados de tres estudios realizados en tres países diferentes (Guinea, Francia y Colombia) se presentan como ilustración de lo que puede aportar este enfoque. Dichos análisis se centraron en tres problemas deliberadamente muy diferentes: (a) el deber de atender a los pacientes infectados, en caso de una epidemia que ponga en peligro la vida de los cuidadores; (b) la aceptabilidad de la reproducción postmortem, en el caso de los soldados que mueren en combate, y (c) la aceptabilidad del suicidio asistido por un médico
This paper presents the proposal of an empirical ap-proach to ethics derived from a psychological theory of human judgment proposed by Norman Anderson. It shows how the methodology specific to this theory functional measurement makes it possible to char-acterize the various personal positions that exist in all societies regarding public health problems. The main results of three studies carried out in three different countries (Guinea, France, and Colombia) on various problems are presented as an illustration of what this approach can offer. These analyses focused on three deliberately very different problems: (a) the duty to care for infected patients in the event of a pandemic that puts at risk the lives of the health professionals, (b) the acceptability of postmortem reproduction in the specific context of fallen soldiers, and (c) the accept-ability of physicianassisted suicide
Este artigo propõe uma abordagem empírica da ética derivada da teoria psicológica do julgamento humano proposta por Norman Anderson. Mostra como a metodo-logia dessa teoria denominada medição funcional pode ser utilizada para caracterizar as diversas posições pessoais que existem em todas as sociedades em relação aos problemas de saúde pública. Os principais resulta-dos de três estudos, realizados em três países diferentes (Guiné, França e Colômbia), são apresentados como uma ilustração do que esta abordagem pode contribuir. Esses estudos se concentraram em três problemas de-liberadamente muito diferentes: (a) o dever de cuidar de pacientes infectados no caso de uma epidemia que ponha em risco a vida dos cuidadores, (b) a aceitabilida-de da reprodução postmortem no caso de soldados que morrem em combate, e (c) a aceitabilidade do suicídio assistido por médicos
Subject(s)
Humans , Ethics , Psychological Theory , Public Health , Suicide, Assisted , JudgmentABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The study mapped French people's views regarding the acceptability of posthumous reproduction. BACKGROUND: Posthumous reproduction - the use of a deceased person's gametes for procreative purposes -is a controversial procedure because it involves a series of ethical issues, namely the surviving partner's rights to procreation, the emotional feelings and financial interests of other family members, and the government's interest in maintaining orderly inheritance rules. METHODS: A convenience sample of participants aged 19-68 (104 lay people, 47 health professionals and 15 lawyers) were presented with 48 realistic stories that were composed according to a four-factor within-subject design: marital status (married for about 10 years with children, married for about three years without children, and cohabiting for three years without children) × attitude of the deceased's parents (favourable vs. unfavourable to posthumous procreation) × time elapsed since the partner's death (three months vs. nine months) × deceased's wishes (written consent, oral consent given in front of credible witnesses, unknown wishes, and unfavourable attitude). RESULTS: Through cluster analysis, four qualitatively different positions were found. They were called Never Acceptable (35% of the sample, mostly health professionals, lawyers and regular attendees to the church or temple), Tolerable in a Few Cases (28%), Depends on Deceased's Wishes (22%, mostly lay people) and Quite Acceptable (16%, mostly lay people). CONCLUSIONS: About half of French lay people view the current legislation regarding posthumous assisted reproduction in a country such as the UK as more appropriate than the French legislation.
