100% (1)
page:
2 pages/≈550 words
Sources:
-1
Style:
APA
Subject:
Literature & Language
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
Total cost:
$ 7.2
Topic:

Consider the following hypothetical scenario. Literature Essay

Essay Instructions:

Choice A: Consider the following hypothetical scenario. Explain what an act utilitarian would say about this scenario, and what a Kantian would say about this scenario. Ultimately, what do you think is the right thing to do in this scenario, and why? Explain and support your answer with reasons.



Scenario: You are hiding in an attic with 30 other people from your town, trying to stay concealed from invading soldiers who are sweeping through your town. In your arms is your young baby, who has a bad cold. Just as soldiers are about to enter the house where you are hiding, your baby begins to cry very loudly. You have absolutely no way to silence your baby except by covering her mouth, but you know that if you cover her mouth she will be unable to breathe (due to her bad cold) and that she will almost certainly suffocate and die. If you don’t cover her mouth, you know that the soldiers will almost certainly hear her crying and discover you and the other villagers hiding in the basement, and you know that they will execute every single one of you. You have no other options. What should you do?

Essay Sample Content Preview:

HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO
Name
Course
Date
People are often faced with several things that place them in dilemmas. Such dilemmas come about as a result of a collision between personal, moral, and ethical expectations. Ethics have often posed the biggest guideline to a person’s morality. To this end, therefore, there is that general expectation that an individual is supposed to behave according to certain ethical standards that would generally be deemed right by not just the individual, but the society at large. This case involves quite a serious dilemma and one that brings the utilitarian approach into a direct head-on collision with the Kantian approach. It pits these two approaches against the underlying question of whom to save between the one individual and many.
From the hypothetical scenario, a utilitarian would consider me covering the mouth of my young baby, although she might die, to prevent the invading soldiers from killing us. This is because utilitarians determine right from wrong by focusing on the outcomes. Utilitarians prefer the most ethical choice is the one that brings benefits to the largest number CITATION Mul14 \l 2057 (Mulgan, 2014). Utilitarianism often focuses on whether a given act results in the best possible results for the moment. Here, according to the utilitarian principle, I would have saved myself and the other 30 villagers from the wrath of the invading soldiers even if my young baby dies. For a utilitarian, this would be the right thing to do.
A Kantian would consider that I remain ...
Updated on
Get the Whole Paper!
Not exactly what you need?
Do you need a custom essay? Order right now:

👀 Other Visitors are Viewing These APA Essay Samples:

Sign In
Not register? Register Now!