3/9/20 Jia Yan Jiang PD1

3/9/20

Jia Yan Jiang PD 1

ETHICS

What makes an act just?

Some located the morality of the act the consequences.

This is consequentialist ethics.

Some located mortality in the intrinsic quality or character of the act.

This is deontological ethics.

The Trolley Problem: Should you pull the lever to divert the runaway trolley onto the side track?

Situation: A trolley is going down the railway tracks. Five people are being tied up and unable to move ahead on the tracks, the trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing at a distance away from the train yard, next to a lever. By pulling the lever, you can switch the direction the trolley is heading, however, there is one person on the sidetrack. Your options are either letting the trolley crash and kill the five people on the main track or by pulling the lever and kill one person that is on the sidetrack.

This is a thought experiment in ethics. There are no right or wrong choices of the trolley problem, people do what they believe is the right thing to do. While some might risk the lives of five to save one, others might think otherwise.

Utilitarianism: the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority.

• Choosing to pull the lever, saving the majority.

Kantian: viewed an action as right or wrong without respect to the consequences.

• Choosing to let the trolley crash into the five men.

Jeremy Bentham 

• 18th century English Political Philosopher
• 1st systematic expression of utilitarianism
• The greatest good for the greatest number

• We have two masters: pain and pleasure
• The right thing to do is to maximize utility
• Individually or collectively we should maximize overall happiness

The Queen vs Dudley and Stephens, 1884

If you were the judge, how would you rule?

• Michael Sandel is a political theorist and Havard professor who made his “Justice” course available online.
• He covers the case of The Queen vs Dudley and Stephens in the 2nd lecture.

The Mignonette

Brief Story Summary: On the yacht, The Mignonette, there were four crew members: a captain (Tom Dudley), two seasoned sailors (Ned Brooks and Edwin Stephens), and a cabin boy (Richard Parker). The yacht was sinking due to a giant wave. However, they ended up in a desperate situation where they had no food and no water, just two one-pound tins of turnips for the four men on the yacht. They soon ran out of food and they started to starve. They eventually killed the cabin boy, Richard Parker, who was extremely ill from drinking seawater, and they ate him.

Was it morally correct to kill the cabin boy?

Well, both choices have their flaws. Some may argue that he is just a man and he was trying his hardest to survive like any of the other three men on the yacht with him. There is no reason for killing him. However, on the other hand, the rest may argue that the other three men were also trying to survive and that people are selfish by nature, they often do what is the best to themselves instead of thinking for the others.

Reflection:

Mr. Spellacy gave us a great and interesting presentation on ethical philosophy. We learned how we often have to make choices in our lives and there are often two sides to a story. This presentation can be related to the novel we’ve recently just finished, Grendel, and also the Beowulf epic poem that we read before the novel. The two writings showed two different sides of the story between Grendel and Beowulf (or people in general). Hearing the story from Beowulf’s perspective, we may think that Grendel was just a heartless creature whose goal was to make the human to live in extreme panic. However, after reading Grendel and knowing the story from his perspective, some other people may think that the heartless creature as Grendel is commonly referred to is opposite to what we think. It was the humans that bring him down when Grendel was trying to make friends with them and bond with them. From this presentation, I’ve learned that there is no right or wrong to any actions. Life is full of dilemmas that force us to decide on what we think is right. Ethics can help give us a guide to our lives by telling us right from wrong, good from the bad.