ABSTRACT
A further example of values clashing is where a deontological view might argue that a failing school should be closed, whereas a utilitarian view would argue against its closure because those 2,000 students would go to an even worse school. An argument from the standpoint of situational ethics (e.g. Simons and Usher, 2000; Oliver, 2003), i.e. that what we should do or what is right to do depends on the situation in question, could be challenged on the grounds that it sanctions relativist ethics over absolutist principles (e.g. in debates on euthanasia or abortion). Seedhouse (1998a) suggests that there are four layers of ethical decisions which, together, constitute an ‘epistemological device’ (Stutchbury and Fox, 2009: 492) for considering ethical issues in research:
external (e.g. codes of practice, laws);OO consequential (consequences for individuals, groups, OO society); deontological (what is one’s duty to do, largely OO regardless of consequences, and how decisions about this are reached, rather than the consequences of these actions); individual (the core rationale of respect for individ-OO ual freedom and autonomy).
