Doctors: Should the Truth Be Told? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Doctors Should Not Always Tell The Truth (“Every Physician Should Cultivate The Fine Art of Lying.”) This is based on the premise that there are circumstances under which concealing the truth would serve the best interests of the patients. For instance, some patients cannot handle the truth, and as such, they tend to be depressed and suicidal. This paper criticizes Joseph Collins' 'Should Doctors tell the truth' using Kant's moral-ethical theory.

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Even though Kant suggests that it is never permissible to tell a lie also to avoid harm to the patient, his viewpoint cannot be universalized (Johnston, 2013). This is because he believes it is only acceptable to lie if it is okay for everyone else to lie. However, the possibility of telling a lie depends on a general assumption that people are telling the truth and that it cannot be expected of people to tell the truth if telling lies was acceptable for everybody (O’Neill, 1993).

Collins implores that the doctors should withhold some truth from their patients, especially if it seems to be the right thing to do to safeguard the wellbeing of the patients. For instance, saying something false should not follow that the person has told a lie without focusing on the intention for such an action.

As such, doctors ought to practice the fine art of withholding the truth for the patients, which is tantamount to lying, albeit with good intentions of safeguarding the wellbeing of the patients. This is in line with Kant’s argument that a person (in this case, the doctor) is either good or bad based on the motivation of their action as well as the goodness of their consequences (Johnston, 2013). The motivation here refers to the reason for doing such an action. As such, he implores that a person can have moral worth only when motivated by morality.

Again, Collins cites several instances in which lying could be the correct thing to do (Collins, 1927). For example, in the case involving a patient who has been suffering from the final cord disease, the truth was concealed. It was only told that he was suffering from some unique form of rheumatism, which needed special attention. Based on this case, had the patient been told of the spinal cord's disease, he would have developed depression, thus rendering him unable to develop resistance against the disease encroachment.

It is essential to note that telling the truth is ethical according to Kant's philosophy; there are instances where doctors need to conceal the truth with good intentions, i.e., saving the lives and wellbeing of the patients. Thus, Kant implores that the person's desires or emotions make them do something, then such actions cannot be considered morally worthy (Johnston, 2013). In this light, Kant believes that people ought to do things to make themselves happy while remaining wary of the possible consequences that may compromise morality.

In the determination of whether or not it is okay to lie to the patients, there is a need to examine whether the maxim that exists behind the action could be considered a universal law. For instance, if the maxim of law declares it permissible to lie to the patients' best interests, the maxim would be universally accepted.

When such happens, the patients' ability to believe that their doctors are telling them the truth would be compromised. Otherwise, such lies would be tolerated as they serve the best interest of the patients. As such, the major premises upon which the physicians should cultivate some lies are when avoiding depression or any other suicidal case of the patient.

However, the other minor premises under which the physicians could practice some fine art of lying may arise from the fact that doctors do not always know the truth (O’Neill, 1993). As such, they end to make errors in diagnosis, discoveries as well as divine grace. Even though Kant believes that lying is impermissible, Collins believes that some lies could be permissible, especially when it comes to unintentional misdiagnosis (Collins, 1927).

Moreover, the physicians ought to be detectives and to help rather than be judges of life and death. As such, in the event of saving lives, the doctors are permitted to lie and conspire with others, family, and friends of the patients. However, according to Kant, it is wrong to hold information from the patient deliberately or tell the patient a lie even when avoiding harm on the patients.

According to Kant, a good person is he who conducts his duty because it is his duty. As such, it is fine to incase they enjoy doing it, and that the overall theme is anchored on the idea that to be a good person, one must be good for the sake of goodness (Johnston, 2013). He also implores that a person's moral worth, such as telling the truth, is assessed properly by merely looking at the motivation of the action, which in some cases can be selfish, although the intended consequences are right.

Conclusion

In conclusion, every physician should cultivate the fine art of lying. For instance, some patients cannot handle the truth, and as such, they tend to be depressed and suicidal. This paper has Joseph Collins' 'Should Doctors tell the truth' using Kant's moral-ethical theory. For example, even though Kant suggests that it is never permissible to tell a lie also to avoid harming the patient, his viewpoint cannot be universalized.

References

Collins, J. (1927). Should doctors tell the truth. Harper's Mon, 155, 320-6. Retrieved from http://bookprice.uk/No-Category/5438-Bioethics-An-Anthology.html#page=635

Johnston, J. S. (2013). Kant's Philosophy. A&C Black.

O’Neill, O. (1993). Kantian ethics. A companion to ethics, 29, 175-85. Retrieved from http://gbelic.org/files/courses/introphil/lectures/7-deontology.pdf