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Ethics And Ethics In Flowers For Algernon By Daniel Keyes

Decent Essays

In the modern world the fine gap between ethics and science has collided. So many new discoveries have been made that doctor’s now have to decide whether or not giving a patient or student help is the right thing to do, or if it is ethical. In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, the doctors acted unethically when they selected Charlie Gordon, the main character, for the procedure to triple his intelligence, because they did not not put enough care into the professional decision of would the surgery help and not harm Charlie’s well being, and the doctor’s rushed through the experiment in order to get to the results quicker.

The doctors in the story, named Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur, never correctly decided whether or not the surgery would be helpful for Charlie later on after the procedure, or if it would harm him mentally or emotionally. Charlie’s intellectual disability causes his IQ to be lower than normal, making it difficult for him to make proper decisions. In this case, many “doctors must take care not to impose their own personal beliefs on their patients, with some exceptions” (Kodish), and this was one of those exceptions. In the decision of deciding whether or not to select Charlie, the doctors should have looked at the situation a little more personally, in order to fill in the space left by Charlie’s low IQ. But they only let the doctor side of them access the situation, and by doing this, they incorrectly decided that the surgery would help

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