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Journal of Public Health Medicine 22:48-53 (2000)
© 2000 Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom

For debate. The virtuous public health physician


J Stuart Horner

Centre for Professional Ethics, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK

This paper argues that although public health physicians have shown interest in ethical dilemmas relating to specific problems within the specialty, few have addressed the central ethical dilemma in public health, namely the conflict between the rights of the individual and the responsibilities of society for all its members. The paper reviews a number of public health programmes, where different approaches have been taken to this central dilemma. It then examines a number of schools of ethics, in an attempt to resolve the problem. Of these, only virtue ethics, perhaps supported by the insights of feminism and the ethics of care, appear to help with an irreconcilable conflict. The paper then makes an attempt to apply the concept of virtue ethics in public health medicine and to answer the question, 'what would a virtuous public health physician look like?'. Finally, it lists some of the consequences of such an approach.

Keywords: public health ethics, virtue ethics, utilitarianism, autonomy


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