Homeless Shelter Ethical Dilemmas
Team #4 - George Carter
Brianna Tinnel, Nina Kroeselberg, Hannah Hileman, Lok Ku
With the upcoming elections in the city, the raise in taxes to build a homeless shelter is one of the most pressing issues. The candidate George Carter wants to prevent those raises, since everyone should be responsible for their own life choices and we shouldn’t punish those who have worked hard to earn their money by taking it away from them. He wants to support the people by letting them keep their property and making sure that the taxing system stays just and fair to everyone.
There are a number of ethical theories that support George Carters view on taxes for the homeless shelter. First of all, we can look at the consequences that would occur if the taxes would be raised. Utilitarianism is one ethical theory that focuses on that. As we know, utilitarians care about the amount of happiness that is produced by an action. In this case, more pain than pleasure would possibly be produced, because although we help the homeless people, it is a burden for everyone else. …show more content…
Only people who support the case will give their money, which will make them happy and of course the homeless people, plus you don’t have the pain of everyone who is not in favor. This goes hand in hand with the term ‘supererogatory’. It means that charity is morally good, but it shouldn’t be required by law. The money for the homeless shelter should come from people who want to give it, not from someone who has to give it. It would maybe also make the homeless feel better if they know they are not a burden for anyone, since the help they get is by free choice. Another advantage would be that you don’t have the issue of people getting mad at the homeless. It is imaginable that if you force people to give money, they let their anger out on the only people they know to put it on - the homeless, which would create tension in the
Brianna Tinnel, Nina Kroeselberg, Hannah Hileman, Lok Ku
With the upcoming elections in the city, the raise in taxes to build a homeless shelter is one of the most pressing issues. The candidate George Carter wants to prevent those raises, since everyone should be responsible for their own life choices and we shouldn’t punish those who have worked hard to earn their money by taking it away from them. He wants to support the people by letting them keep their property and making sure that the taxing system stays just and fair to everyone.
There are a number of ethical theories that support George Carters view on taxes for the homeless shelter. First of all, we can look at the consequences that would occur if the taxes would be raised. Utilitarianism is one ethical theory that focuses on that. As we know, utilitarians care about the amount of happiness that is produced by an action. In this case, more pain than pleasure would possibly be produced, because although we help the homeless people, it is a burden for everyone else. …show more content…
Only people who support the case will give their money, which will make them happy and of course the homeless people, plus you don’t have the pain of everyone who is not in favor. This goes hand in hand with the term ‘supererogatory’. It means that charity is morally good, but it shouldn’t be required by law. The money for the homeless shelter should come from people who want to give it, not from someone who has to give it. It would maybe also make the homeless feel better if they know they are not a burden for anyone, since the help they get is by free choice. Another advantage would be that you don’t have the issue of people getting mad at the homeless. It is imaginable that if you force people to give money, they let their anger out on the only people they know to put it on - the homeless, which would create tension in the