Parable of the Sadhu Ethical Case Study

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It was if he had left his ethical principles behind when he entered a context where fulfilling his ethical responsibilities to others meant less than the competitive drive to reach his goal. The fact that he had tried and failed to make the climb before, as a result of altitude sickness, was a further motivator for his callousness. The other climber's similar lack of care and concern for the man created a context where 'every man for himself' seemed to be the dominant ideology, not 'all for one and one for all.'

Later, Stephen attributed his fellow climber's failure to provide adequate care for the sadhu because sadhu was not a part of the climber's culture in his demeanor, and appearance. (McCoy, 1983, pp.104-106) the sadhu was alien, and disoriented as a result of altitude sickness. It was easy to render the man as 'other' or fundamentally different, Stephen argued, which would not have been the case, had they found a fellow Westerner in similar distress.

Three principles -- the common good over self-interest, the Golden Rule, and social justice

Stephen, despite the alien appearance of the sadhu, and finding his himself in a similar situation to his fellow climbers, was able to overcome the pressures of the situation, context and bridge his ethics the cultural divide.

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Bowen McCoy attributes this to Stephen's commitment the religion of Quakerism, and the fact that Stephen's schema of cultural ethics transcended the situation. The rules of Stephen's religion that placed narrow self-interest below the common good of humanity held true -- Stephen would not abandon a fellow human being. He was also a member of a marginalized religion, or a religion not common to his fellow climbers and stood out as a result of this ethical code, from the beginning. Also, because of Stephen's placement of the common social good above that of the self, he was able to overlook the selfishness of the other climbers that normalized the determination to reach the summit at all costs.

But this sympathy could, one might also posit, have something to do with the fact that Stephen was suffering altitude sickness worse than almost anyone else on the climb, except for the sadhu.

McCoy remembered how he had physically suffered before hand, and failed during another climb to reach his goal. Perhaps this was why he unconsciously wished to avoid the face of the sadhu. Stephen was actively suffering, and thus may have been more easily able to identify with the sadhu. Stephen was also, like the sadhu, a religious.....

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https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/parable-sadhu-ethical-70981
   

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