Which ethical approach emphasizes moral reasoning and analysis through core principles?

The correct answer is principle-based ethics. This ethical approach is rooted in the application of specific core principles that guide moral reasoning and decision-making. It emphasizes the importance of structured analysis based on ethical standards such as autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. This framework allows practitioners, including those in genetic counseling, to systematically evaluate situations and arrive at morally sound decisions.

Principle-based ethics is particularly relevant in fields like healthcare and genetics, where complex moral dilemmas often arise. Using a principles-based framework enables counselors to navigate these dilemmas with clarity and consistency, ensuring that their decisions honor the rights and well-being of individuals while also considering broader ethical obligations.

Other ethical approaches, such as virtue ethics and the ethic of care, focus more on character traits and relationships rather than explicit principles. Beneficence emphasizes the obligation to act for the benefit of others, which is one of the principles within the principle-based ethics framework but does not encompass the broader analysis that principle-based ethics entails.