Tom Tomlinson | Caring for Risky Patients: Duty or Virtue
Tomlinson argues that we need to speak of virtues and ideals, not just duty and obligation, when discussing the treatment of potentially deadly diseases like SARS and AIDs. He presents four arguments for the limits of duty, all which fail to prescribe exactly what those limits are. The language of virtues and ideals offers a different vocabulary for understanding the ethics of caring for risky patients, emphasizing the value of altruism and the use of positive models rather than punishment.
-To Tomlinson it is a fallacy to assume that the only alternative to duty is

Question

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Tomlinson argues against the notion that the only alternative to duty is self-interested "volunteerism," suggesting instead that virtues and ideals should guide the ethics of caring for risky patients.