Premium
AGAINST HOMEOPATHY – A UTILITARIAN PERSPECTIVE
Author(s) -
SMITH KEVIN
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
bioethics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.494
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1467-8519
pISSN - 0269-9702
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2010.01876.x
Subject(s) - homeopathy , holism , autonomy , perspective (graphical) , bioethics , promulgation , alternative medicine , psychology , medicine , health care , epistemology , engineering ethics , psychotherapist , law , political science , philosophy , computer science , pathology , artificial intelligence , engineering
I examine the positive and negative features of homeopathy from an ethical perspective. I consider: (a) several potentially beneficial features of homeopathy, including non‐invasiveness, cost‐effectiveness, holism, placebo benefits and agent autonomy; and (b) several potentially negative features of homeopathy, including failure to seek effective healthcare, wastage of resources, promulgation of false beliefs and a weakening of commitment to scientific medicine. A utilitarian analysis of the utilities and disutilities leads to the conclusion that homeopathy is ethically unacceptable and ought to be actively rejected by healthcare professionals.