Derrick Zeng 3/9/20 Period 2 - Blog #2

03/09/2020

Derrick Zeng

Period 2

Ethics, moral philosophy is one of the major branches of philosophy. There are many branches of philosophy but Ethics is one of the most important branches, and political theory is a brace of ethics (Not political science, that is its own mess)

Ethics is broken down to two main branches: the Consequentialists and the Non-Consequentialists

Ethics is supposed to tell you what is right when making a decision

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
• actions are morally right if they tend to promote happiness or pleasure

“The Trolley Problem”

The trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics. It is generally considered to represent a classic clash between two schools of moral thought, utilitarianism and deontological ethics.

The problem is intended to provoke thought, and create an intellectual discourse in which the difficulty of resolving moral dilemmas is appreciated, and our limitations as moral agents are recognized

There is a comical game known as “Trial by Trolley”. The game takes the classic Trolley Problem of moral and ethical dilemmas and makes it into a party game where players Argue why the people on your track deserve to be spared, sabotage the other side of the table and convince the conductor to murder them all, or play as the conductor and make traumatizing life or death decisions! They also had an interactive animated series where people could decide wither to go left or right depending on the situation. 

The Queen vs Dudley and Stephens, 1884

The Mignonette

If you were the judge, how would you rule? Is the Captain and the rest of the crew in te wrong?

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)

Reflection:
Ethics is the moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity. We discussed a major Moral principle: Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a family of consequentialist ethical theories that promote actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals (taking the action that is the greatest good for the greatest number). The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns matters of value, and thus comprises the branch of philosophy called axiology. One such Ethical Dilemmas is the Trolley Problem. A runaway trolley is hurtling toward five unsuspecting rail workers. If it hits them, it will surely kill them. You happen to be standing next to a switch that could divert the train onto a separate track, where only one rail worker is standing. On one hand, you can switch the leaver to kill the one person, but makes you responsible for there murder, but on the other hand, if you don’t switch the leaver you are leading 5 people to die making you responsible for there deaths as well. What I learned from this lesson is that there is no right or wrong that life is full of ethical and moral dilemmas that shape the way we view and behave in the world as Ethics can give real and practical guidance to our lives.