Consider the
following hypothetical scenario:
You are driving to a late afternoon
interview for a job that you would very much like to get. You are in danger of being late for the
appointment, because you have your neighbors' 14 year old son with you in the
car, and you've promised his parents that you will drop him at his Boy Scout
troop meeting before going to your appointment. (At the time you made the promise it seemed like it would be no
trouble, but you miscalculated the driving times involved.) It would be far more convenient for you to
drop him instead at a movie theater which is right on your way to the interview
and which is showing a silly but harmless film. The boy says he'd be happy to see the movie and skip the scout
meeting. You know his parents would be
very upset if they found out, because they have been struggling to get their
son to be more sociable and to stop spending so much time on passive, solitary
activities. But you're pretty sure that
the boy would be willing to join you in deceiving them, so that they never
would find out, and you don't really value your relationship with those
neighbors anyway. You believe that you
have a very good chance of getting the job, if you show up on time and do well
in the interview. You also know that
the interviewer is a stickler for punctuality and is unlikely to forgive a late
arrival. You’ve been unemployed for
quite a while and will soon be out of money, and, as far as you know, this is
your best opportunity to secure an income for yourself and your family.
Now, answer all of the following questions
(write a page or so on each question):
How would a Kantian
try to decide what to do in this situation?
Which aspects of the scenario would be relevant, and how would a Kantian
use them to work out an answer?
(Explain.)
How would a utilitarian
try to decide what to do in this situation?
Which aspects of the scenario would be relevant, and how would a
utilitarian use them to work out an answer?
(Explain.)
3. Discuss the extent to which you think either
of these theories offers a satisfactory approach to this kind of everyday
ethical decision. Is one of the
theories correct, or nearly so? Or are
they both seriously flawed? (Explain
and argue for your view.)
Discuss one of the moral issues we have
(or will have) studied in the first part of this course (euthanasia, capital
punishment, feeding the hungry).
Include some discussion of how utilitarians and Kantians might approach
this issue. Also include some
discussion of the extent to which you think either utilitarianism or Kantianism
offer us a good way to think about an issue like this. (Support your views with reasons and
arguments. Be sure to focus on a clear
and specific question.)
Discuss whether and how you think either
utilitarianism or Kantianism provide us with an adequate moral theory or with
useful tools for thinking about ethical problems. Use whatever examples and considerations seem important to
you. Try to be as clear as you can
about exactly what your thesis is and about what reasons you are offering to
support it.