The future of moral theories: reflecting on Torbjörn Tännsjö’s book “Setting Health-Care Priorities”

Abstract

Torbjörn Tännsjö’s monograph “Setting Health-Care Priorities” clearly demonstrates its position in finest details involving case studies. It seems to be an especially valuable assistance, not least for study purposes, for those who are interested in a comprehensive review of plausible moral theories and the practice of fair resource distribution in the field of healthcare. The author’s approach suggests engagement of the most applicable moral theories attemptingto solve the important problem of sharing scarce and deficit resources in the healthcare. The book doesn’t aim for developing a single correct and effective moral theory for fair resource sharing, it rather discusses reaching a consensus regarding distribution decisions based on thoroughly reviewed theories. The appeal to Population Ethics in the present paper emphasizes the difference between patient-centered approach in the situation of limited medical resources and distribution of resources among the population in general. The book represents author’s views towards the open problems in bioethics: prolongation of life of terminal patients; “right-to-die” (euthanasia); moral side of the assisted reproductive technologies; futile medical treatment; attitude towards abortion, etc.