SOC331: Social Justice & Ethics (BLF1410A) Module Wk 3



SOC331: Social Justice & Ethics (BLF1410A) Module Wk 3

NOTE: EVERYTHING HAS BEEN POSTED ONLINE

Discussion 1

This week's discussion topic is significantly controversial, in the sense that the issue of healthcare is an immensely focused issue in the United States of America. However, this discussion is based upon the question that whether the healthcare must be rationed to the elderly or not. In these regards, there are two major arguments, which are contrary due to their orientation. The first argument develops that the healthcare must be rationed to the elderly, because the elderly individuals have spent their lives; however, young individuals or children have their lives ahead to be lived. On these bases, the healthcare must be prioritized on the basis of age difference (Callahan & Nuland, 2011). This argument is primarily utilitarian, because it emphasizes on the age difference, in which elderly are less privileged regarding healthcare providence (Dreisbach, 2013). On the hand, the second argument is against the rationing of healthcare to elderly, because it aims to provide equal chance of living to all individuals regardless of their age. This approach is highly egalitarian, because it promotes equality (Dreisbach, 2013).

If I evaluate both of these arguments, then the first argument is reasonably valid from the utilitarian perspective that the younger individuals can be considered as more useful members of the society, then the elderly individuals. However, it seems to oppose the egalitarian approach, which aims to promote equality in the providence of healthcare facilities, but the first argument can also be understood from the perspective of egalitarian approach. It is because the first argument prioritizes the younger individuals over the elderly individuals on the basis of the fact that the elderly individuals have spent more years of their lives than the younger individuals. Hence, the rationing is to promote equal chance of living for the younger individuals (Etzioni, 2012). Keeping both of these views under consideration, I personally feel that the rationing of healthcare to the elderly must be choice rather than a necessity. My approach is libertarian, in which the elderly individuals must be asked to have consent on any of the view, according to which they must be treated.

Discussion 2

The topic of discussion for this week is also a highly controversial and debatable topic, because it deals with two of the most significant aspects of society, which are the public health and the commerce of the society. The question of discussion is that do individuals' health interests outweigh the interests of companies regarding the withholding information of fracking chemicals (Dreisbach, 2013). On the commercial plane, the information is being hidden from the public domain, which is justified through the claim that the information regarding the fracking chemicals is confidential information and this information is related to the commercial aspects of the trade. However, the fracking chemicals have a grave impact on the health of individuals, which is spread through the water, air, or other common carriers of toxicities (Elgin, ...