Emerging technology used in public health surveillance has increased tremendously in the past decade and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technologies such as surveillance video monitoring, facial recognition software, and artificial intelligence are used with increasing frequency in the name of preventing or containing diseases. These same technologies have been used by governments for uses other than public health surveillance in so-called “function creep.” Such uses can infringe upon individual autonomy and personal privacy. Ethical analysis during the COVID pandemic typically followed utilitarian analytical frameworks. This presentation uses a virtue ethics analysis of surveillance technologies emphasizing honesty, responsibility, and compassion. Utilitarian ethical analysis leads governmental actions to seek actions and use technologies that protect the most people, but do not necessarily benefit minority groups. Virtue ethics presents a firmer ground to protect the health of the community while safeguarding minority rights through its focus on the moral development and character formation of the public health professional, the individual, and the community. Lastly, a Christian reflection on such issues is examined. Ethical analysis of public health surveillance technologies must precede use of such technologies. A virtue ethics approach can assist in such analysis, supporting the health of the community while protecting the rights of the vulnerable.
Category Archives: Early Access
Book Review: John Kleinig, “Wonderfully Made: A Protestant Theology of the Body”
In his book Wonderfully Made: A Protestant Theology of the Body, John Kleinig, a Lutheran minister and retired professor of Old Testament and biblical theology at Australian Lutheran College, draws on a Lutheran reading of Scripture to elucidate a biblical theology of the human body regarding its purpose and meaning for the Christian life.
Ethics of Virtual Reality at the End of Life
Clinically, virtual reality (VR) applications can be used to control pain and to treat psychological disorders. Christians should be attentive to issues of embodiment and excarnation when approaching this technology. At the end of life, VR can help mend one’s relationship to one’s body and promote relationships of care and love between persons. Negatively, VR can be depersonalizing if it alienates a patient from the flesh world. However, VR can help a patient towards a good death as a pain relief adjunct when used within a caring community.
Ethical Guides for Sedation and Pain Management of Patients with Advanced Illness
This column presents a problematic medical-surgical case that may pose a medical-ethical dilemma for patients, families, and healthcare professionals. As this case is based on a real medical situation, identifying features and facts have been altered to preserve anonymity and to conform with professional medical standards. In this case, the physician and family give serious consideration to the types of pain control that are available to the patient.
The Lesser of Two Evils
This column presents a problematic medical-surgical case that may pose a medical-ethical dilemma for patients, families, and healthcare professionals. As this case is based on a real medical situation, identifying features and facts have been altered to preserve anonymity and to conform with professional medical standards. In this case, the family members struggle to identify an ethical and God-honoring course of action following a terrible assault.
Book Review: Dennis P. Hollinger, “Creation and Christian Ethics”
In his book, Creation and Christian Ethics: Understanding God’s Designs for Humanity and the World, Dennis Hollinger highlights that numerous authors in Scripture reference back to creation as a guide to proper living in their time, including Jesus (Matt 19:4).