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How Did Charlie Gordon Act Ethically In Flowers For Algernon

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Do we question doctors enough? People seem to trust their doctors, and never question them. In the book Flowers For Algernon, Charlie Gordon is a 37 year-old man who has an I.Q of 68. Charlie has an operation done on himself to increase his own intelligence. The question is, did Charlie Gordon's doctors act ethically when they performed the surgery to make him smarter. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically, and there are many reasons for this. Charlie never questioned the doctors, and as a result, Charlie didn't understand the consequences of the operation. However, to fully understand the question and the answer, you must know what ethics means. Ethics are standards of right or wrong that direct what people should do. In other words, …show more content…

If the patient is not benefited or could have the possibility to be harmed, then you should not do the operation. Charlie seemed happy about the operation, so the doctors thought it would be benefiting. However, Charlie was never aware of what could happen which was why Charlie was so excited to have the operation. Charlie was not aware of the benefits. In the book it says, "Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make me smart," which was all Charlie was aware of. All Charlie knew was that he was going to increase his intelligence. On the other hand, some might say that the doctors couldn't have predicted the future. In other words, the doctors couldn't have known that the operation would have affected Charlie negatively. However, the doctors knew the a few of the possibilities on how the operation could affect Charlie, and should have taken that into …show more content…

Charlie had two key things, which is why the doctors chose Charlie. The two key things were Charlie's motivation and Miss Kinnian. Miss Kinnian could teach Charlie after the operation, and the doctors Charlie's motivation showed that Charlie really wanted the operation.The doctors chose Charlie, without considering the benefits and harms for him, but only of those key things. The doctors only saw benefits for themselves. They decided that since Charlie wanted the operation, even though he was completely unaware of the possible harms and benefits, the doctors would do it. To the doctors, Charlie was merely a subject willing to do the operation. From the other point of view, understanding what Charlie's motivations was very ethical. That isn't true because that was only one of Charlie's values. Values are parts of life that you think is most important, and being smart wasn't the only thing he valued. For example, in the book it says, "Im glad Im going back to work because I miss my job and all my frends and all the fun we have there." That shows Charlie values his friends and his job

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