Autonomy And Utility Essay

Autonomy and utility are two very important moral principles in bioethics. The principle of autonomy explains that a person has the personal ability and sovereignty to make his or her own life decisions. Although the principle of autonomy states that autonomous person’s have the right to choose for oneself, there are restrictions to what choices people can make based off moral ethics. For example, just because someone might want to harm another person, it does not mean that they have the right to do so. Laws and regulations are what restrict autonomous people in making immoral choices. The principle of utility states that “we should produce the most favorable balance of good over bad” and to create the most benefit as opposed to harm for all who are involved (Vaughn 11). In some situations harm is done to produce the best overall outcome, which is permissible within this principle. Utility does not mean that people cannot produce any harm, but suggests that we
One example of when this conflict comes into play is with the recent Ebola outbreak in the United States. There have been three known victims of the U.S. who have suffered from Ebola and each case has been made known to the public. In situations like this, an autonomous person might want to keep their health information private, but that would not follow the principle of utility. In order to produce the greatest amount of good, the public should be informed of the individuals with Ebola for safety precautions. For example, one man who had Ebola came into contact with up to 100 people and many of them had to be quarantined and monitored to watch for symptoms of the virus. This man may of wanted to chose to keep his condition secretive, but overall informing the public produced the most utility and help protect everyone