ABSTRACT
A sophisticated theory of ethics and of values is required to serve as a grounding for the ethical questions and the suggested answers, but a remote academic intellectualization gets in the way of helping people think about the right thing to do. One of the most important questions in medical ethics is the utilitarian choice of cost-effectiveness and restricting access to medical care or withdrawing medical care. In all the ethical issues involving responsibility to self and others, systems ethics makes an important point. Systems ethics provides the basic theoretical foundation for valuing the body-system and its good functioning. Consider the important ethical dilemma of personal confidentiality and freedom of choice conflicting with the health and survival of the community. Those who are at risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus are seropositive, or are diagnosed as having Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome should be particularly concerned with the ethical analysis because they fit into many of the populations.
