What does it mean for something to be ethically justified?

Answer 1

It means that the overall good outweighs whatever risks or harm involved.

For instance, lets consider killing. Killing is generally wrong and should be avoided if possible. Lets suppose a terrorist has enough explosives to kill 30 people. No matter what happens, at least one person will die. Given those odds, is it better for one person or 30 to die, if at least one has to die? It would therefore be ethically justified under those circumstances to kill the terrorist, if it would save numerous lives.

Now, in a different situation, lets suppose there is a criminal wielding a knife when the police arrives. Multiple attempts are made to try to get the criminal to drop the knife, and the criminal refuses. This is a situation where the ethics of shooting the person are in question. If there is a nonlethal alternative such as a Taser, it should be used.

Or we can take a medical context. A person only has a couple of weeks to live, but there is an untested treatment that will extend their life. That treatment has its risks. Whether the treatment fails or the treatment is not used, the person could die soon either way. If the procedure fails, it might even hasten their death and reduce their suffering. If it works as planned, they may have more time to live. So that would be ethically justified.

Now lets say a woman already has very large breasts. She wants more surgery to make them even larger. However, since the last surgery, she developed Diabetes. She also suffers some Back pain, has a suspected infection, and has difficulty managing her diabetes. An ethics committee may decide against a doctor doing the surgery since it is not a necessary surgery and may put her life at risk under the circumstances.