Ethics

Professor Atchison

Second Paper Assignment

Due: Monday, April 30

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, but 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.

Now, answer all of the following questions (write a page or so on each question):

1. 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.)

2. 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.)