Dual loyalty (ethics)
Encyclopedia
In ethics
, dual loyalty is loyalty to two separate interests that potentially conflict with each other.
A frequently cited example of the term "dual loyalty" is used in connection with physician
s who must balance, on the one hand, the physician's loyalty to a patient
(and/or the regulations that govern the physician-patient relationship), and on the other hand, the institution or country for which the physician serves.
For example, a doctor who is asked by a government to assess a prisoner's fitness to withstand torture
faces an enormous ethical dilemma because of the competing loyalties of the doctor to the state versus the physician's code of ethics
and his/her commitment to a patient's human rights
. http://www.phrusa.org/healthrights/dl.html
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, dual loyalty is loyalty to two separate interests that potentially conflict with each other.
A frequently cited example of the term "dual loyalty" is used in connection with physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s who must balance, on the one hand, the physician's loyalty to a patient
Patient
A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....
(and/or the regulations that govern the physician-patient relationship), and on the other hand, the institution or country for which the physician serves.
For example, a doctor who is asked by a government to assess a prisoner's fitness to withstand torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
faces an enormous ethical dilemma because of the competing loyalties of the doctor to the state versus the physician's code of ethics
Medical ethics
Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.-History:Historically,...
and his/her commitment to a patient's human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. http://www.phrusa.org/healthrights/dl.html