Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Rights Ethics Principles: Ethics and Morality Essay

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Ethics and Morality: Utilitarianism, Deontology, And Rights Ethics Principles

Dramatized Example of Utilitarianism

At some point in the popular investigative TV show 24, Jack Bauer, an influential counterterrorism officer, questions terrorist Syed Ali, seeking to get him to reveal the location of a nuclear bomb that has been set to detonate in Los Angeles. Ali, however, is reluctant to cooperate, and Bauer, who unfortunately does not have the pleasure of time, orders his officers to kill the elder one of Ali's two sons and threatens to kill the younger one if Ali still does not cooperate. In a bid to save his son, Ali reveals the weapon's location, and Bauer's men get to neutralize it just in time to save Los Angeles. Bauer's action spurs a heated debate, and even Supreme Court officials find themselves divided. The question on everyone's mind is - should Jack Bauer be convicted for killing Ali's son in order to save Los Angeles?

In the principle of utilitarianism, it is the consequences of an action that determine its morality (Conway & Gawronski, 2013). To this end, "harming others is acceptable if it increases the well-being of a greater number of people" (Conway & Gawronski, 2013, p. 216). In the above case, Bauer's action is a perfect demonstration of utilitarianism; killing Ali's son would obviously cause him pain, but the fact that the lives of millions of Americans would be saved surpassed that pain. Bentham's utility principle, asserts that as long as an action "equates good with pleasure and evil with pain," it is moral (CMU, 2002). In the eyes of most Americans, Ali deserved the pain; the death of his son was some form of compensation for the evil he had planned against millions of Americans, and since Bauer's action gave them the pleasure of seeing Ali pay for his evil deeds, it was in every sense moral.

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Dramatized Example of Deontology

In the movie Extreme Measures, Gene Hackman, under the screen name Dr. Myrick, uses homeless people as specimen in an experiment, in which case he seeks to establish a cure for paralysis. Hugh Grant, under the screen name Guy, uncovers Dr. Myrick and exposes him. The doctor goes into hiding, but is eventually caught. During his arrest, the doctor poses a compelling question -- "if you could kill cancer by killing one person, wouldn't you just have to do that?" The deontologist Guy is quick to respond, expressing that Myrick is a doctor, and his is a profession that should save lives rather than take them. He adds that Dr. Myrick is not God; only God reserves the right to take a person's life. To him, the doctor is a disgrace to his profession and deserves to stay in prison for the rest of his life, even if he could cure all diseases on earth.

According to the principle of deontology, the intrinsic nature of an action determines its morality. To this end, "harming others is wrong regardless of its consequences" (Conway & Gawronski, 2013, p. 216). Deontology is obligation-based ethics, and right, therefore, takes preference over good. In the above case, Guy opines that Dr. Myrick has a duty to save people's lives and that his action was morally wrong, despite the good that would result from it. Guy reasons on the basis of Kant's….....

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