Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic raises the need for an ethical framework that addresses the unique ethical challenges and questions arising from airborne infectious diseases. For example, are we ever ethically obliged to wear a face mask? If so, why and when? The Respiratory Ethics Framework (REF) herein proposes pathways to answers grounded in ethical norms and the moral principles of non-harm, beneficence and respect for personal autonomy. REF is a personal ethics wherein your ethical duty to increase your respiratory hygiene efforts—such as by donning a mask—is proportional to your estimation of an increase in the likelihood that your respiratory effluent poses a risk of harmful infection to others. REF includes illustrated decision models that instantiate a framework of proportionality between levels of risk, ethical duty and mitigation that shapes risk mitigation across domains.
Recommended Citation
Goddard, I. W. (2023). A Framework for Personal Respiratory Ethics. Journal of Health Ethics, 19(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.18785/jhe.1901.04DOI Link
Included in
Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons
