Abstract

This chapter presents a summary of two valid sources of ethical guidance for pediatrics. One is the United NationsUnited Nations ’ Convention on the Rights of the ChildConvention on the Rights of the Child which has been ratified by almost every country in the world. It covers a wide range of important topics, and while it is distinctly unphilosophical in origin, it provides sufficient material to construct a complete pediatric ethicsEthics, pediatric. The second one is the philosophical approach of using mid-level principlesMid-level principles that is common in many fields of applied ethics. The essay proposes that pediatrics cannot use the exact same set of mid-level principlesMid-level principles as adult medicine, and proposes a set of six ethical principlesEthical principles for Pediatrics. These are: Patient AutonomyAutonomy, Respect for ChildrenRespect for Children, Limited Parental DiscretionParental discretion, BeneficenceBeneficence, Non-Maleficence, and JusticeJustice. Both approaches are valuable, and there is no reason to select one and reject the other. The chapter includes brief discussions of the shortcomings ofEthics, virtuevirtue ethicsVirtue ethics and the usefulness of casuistryCasuistry, and of the principles found inEthics, researchresearch ethicsResearch Ethics and The Belmont ReportBelmont Report.