particular task. Once learned it is (in its simplest form) merely a matter of repeating the
task on each new widget in the fairly secure knowledge that the next widget to appear
will be of the same design, size, shape and so on, as the last. Training on this conception
is designed to lead to the performance of specific actions in a particular order for an
identified purpose. Of course, patients are not widgets so training for nursing can never
be of the same order as illustrated here in this simple sense. There may be training for
nursing but this must be limited to competence in performance of tasks in a universal
sense. At the extreme this requires an unquestioning response to a particular situation,
request or order. In this sense a paratrooper is trained to jump from a plane when a
particular command or signal is given and a nurse is trained to give chest compressions
when told to do so during a cardiopulmonary resuscitation attempt. While there may be
opportunities when each might wish to question the purpose(s) to which their actions
are being put, what the paratrooper and nurse share in these examples is that they are
required to do what they have been trained to do when they are told to do it. The
paratrooper may be uneasy about the conduct or legality of the mission but, assuming he
has been properly trained, will still jump when the order comes; and the nurse may have
doubts about the dignity of resuscitating this particular patient (why not let him die in
peace?) but will follow instructions as long as the resuscitation attempt continues. And
this sort of training is necessary wherever the pursuit of goals requires collective effort
of individuals who must subordinate themselves to the commands of others if specific
goals are to be achieved. The paratrooper who refuses to jump Willjeopardise the
mission not only because he will no longer play his part but also because he will delay
the launch of other paratroopers who may then land in the wrong place; the nurse who
refuses to begin chest compressions will very likely (if there is no replacement)
jeopardise the resuscitation attempt because one other member of the team must take on
an additional role.
While we can say that both the paratrooper and the nurse are moral beings, if they so act
only because of a successful training programme then it is difficult to conclude that they
are acting as fully realised moral agents for they are not choosing to act as such, rather
they are acting in response to a command. They are being used for some purpose which
they may or may not find morally acceptable or defensible, some purpose, moreover,
that is not necessarily one they would pursue as independent moral agents. Thus in these
circumstances they are merely instrumental in pursuing goals set by others and in one
important sense it does not matter whether or not they share those goals. The actions of
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