Managing Medical Information: The Moral Dilemmas in Postmodern Societies

Abstract

This paper examines how we can manage medical information in our postmodern societies. It addresses the moral dilemmas involved in dealing with all the relevant channels for information dissemination at both individual and social levels. The paper first starts with a discussion on the nature of moral dilemmas. We argue that moral dilemmas can only be managed but not resolved, and that the way in which a moral dilemma is handled properly is highly dependent upon the context in which the dilemma occurs. The paper challenges the view that there are universal procedures or principles that can enable us to resolve moral dilemmas in all possible contexts (universalism). It is argued that practices that are acceptable in one context may not lend themselves readily applicable in other context. Solutions to moral dilemmas are therefore alleged to be contextual and sensitive to the domain in which they arise. Since no procedure or principle is universally applicable to all domains, moral consistency (weak sense) can only be maintained within a certain context but that consistency (strong sense) is hard to maintain across different moral contexts. This conclusion argues against the possibility of affirming a specific set of global rules about the relationship among the interests of individuals, communities, and societies regarding the management of medical information.