The Lifeboat Case and Utilitarianism Imagine that four men are placed in a life or death situation. They are stranded in a boat in the middle of the ocean with nothing to eat for nourishment. In a severely weakened state‚ the men decide that for the benefit of the majority they will draw lots and eat whoever draws the shortest; one of the men refuses to draw. The next day‚ in spite of the lottery‚ the youngest boy is killed and fed on by the other men. The argument proposed to justify their actions
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her parent’s grief in addition to their reluctance to allow organ donation‚ would she still wish to donate or would her concern for her family incline her to allow her parents’ wishes to be honored instead? It may be easy to assume that classic utilitarianism supports the action of harvesting Nicole’s organs against her parents’ wishes since providing the gift of life to multiple candidates results in the greatest happiness for the most people (Vaughn‚ 2013).
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systems debated today are utilitarianism and deontology. These two traditions parallel the sayings “the ends justify the means” or “the means justify the ends”. Inspired by Jeremy Bentham’s philosophies‚ John Stuart Mill applied his ideas to his many pamphlets and short works regarding Utilitarianism. This philosophy considers that the best thing to do ethically for a society is to maximize its happiness‚ interests‚ preference‚ or well-being. In effect‚ utilitarianism focuses on outcomes‚ or the
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1. What are the key differences between utilitarianism‚ deontology‚ natural law ethics‚ and virtue theory? Utilitarianism Theory is the moral theory that argues that an action is right if and only if it conforms to the principle of utility. The desire for pleasure and happiness is universal. People seek to maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain. Thus‚ a morally correct action is one which results in the greatest possible pleasure within a given set of circumstances. The text highlights
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There are many different ethical theories that we have learned about throughout the semester. The three theories I have decided to use with this situation are Emotivism‚ Act-Utilitarianism‚ and Ethical Egoism. With each ethical theory‚ I will state why I chose the theory that addresses the situation and what it would tell Sarah to do. The first theory that address the situation is Emotivism. “Emotivism is the view that moral utterances are neither true nor false but are expressions of emotions
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their patient‚ the tyrant who was experiencing a feeling of lassitude. While Chase is away from the patient a young African man comes up to him and tells a story to him how his patient has created an army that has kidnapped‚ raped‚ tortured‚ and killed his wife. The man goes on to tell Dr. Chase that his patient is going to kill all the “cockroaches” in the country. After listening
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Deontology focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves whereas utilitarian focuses on rightness or wrongness of the consequences of those actions. Utilitarianism is the idea that the action’s moral value is based on its degree of maximizing pleasure and happiness as a consequence of the action. Hence‚ greater happiness the more beneficial or morally right it is based on this theory. It is a form of consequentialism compared to deontology which only takes into account of the moral
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the good in which our values and virtues cultivate‚ and what is right in which our moral duties may be. So‚ say if there is a terrorist the security forces have a prisoner‚ who is holding vital information that the US needs to keep from having any more attacks‚ should torturing be allowed? Looking at it from a utilitarianism ethic view‚ a utilitarian is more concerned with helping the majority. If this known terrorist has vital information that can possible save hundreds maybe even thousands of people
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Utilitarianism and Genetic Engineering In the past thirty years‚ humans are witnessing a huge revolution in the genetic engineering industry. Having identified most of the Human Genome‚ gene sequencing has become programmed and extremely fast‚ and laboratory techniques in molecular biology allow for in-vitro fertilization and transfer of genetic material. Gene therapy and repair based on stem cells research allows for replacement of a defected allele in the DNA‚ and even a whole damaged tissue in
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Person A: Do you know that act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism are theories that are determinants of what is considered morally wrong in relation to expected utility? Person B: What do you mean by utility? Person A: Utility is a form of advantage and value of personal good (Hooker‚ 2013). Person B: Can you tell me more about act and rule utilitarianism? Person A: Act-utilitarianism states that an act is morally needed if and for the reason that the person
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