Citation

Gert B. Mt. Sinai J. Med. 1996; 63(2): 72-76.

Affiliation

Study of Ethics and Human Values, Dartmouth College, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine, New York, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8775133

Abstract

I take advantage of a point made by H. J. Gert, in "Rights and Rights Violators: A New Approach to the Nature of Rights" (The Journal of Philosophy 1990; 87 (12): 688-694) to provide the following definition of violence. "Violence is an intentional or knowing attempt by a moral agent to directly cause harm, i.e., death, pain, disability, loss of freedom or pleasure, to someone who is protected by morality without the consent of that person." I show how this definition applies to violence in hospitals and discuss some of the ethical problems created by violent patients.

Language: en