ANALYSIS PAPER OF A DILEMMA

Analysis paper of a Dilemma



Analysis paper of a Dilemma

Consequentialism dictates that the most ethical decision is the decision that produces the greatest utility. Therefore, the moral aspects of the decision come into play after the decision is made or in weighing the consequences of different options. The most prominent school of consequentialist thought is utilitarianism. Although there are varying forms of utilitarianism (hedonistic, eudaimonistic, and ideal, further subdivided into act and rule utilitarianism), the moral decision in this paradigm is that which has an outcome of creating the greatest utility or good for the greatest number of people affected by the outcome of the decision.

The second broad approach to ethics is the non-consequentialist approach. This view asserts that the worth of a decision should be judged by the moral principle applied, not by the resulting consequences of the decision. This view holds that duty is the basic moral requirement and exists independently of consequences. Arguments about justice, responsibility, fairness, and duty are generally appealing to the moral norms and principles used in non-consequentialist decision making. In this view, doing the morally right thing to uphold one's duty is the primary decision-making factor, and the consequences of an ethical decision are a secondary concern. When an ethical decision is made based on sound moral principles (such as “lying is wrong”), the decision is deemed ethical. The consequences of making a decision are not ignored, but they are not the primary decision making factor. Nonconsequentialist philosophers do take the consequences of decision alternatives into account, but they do not allow the outcome of various alternatives to determine the moral principle used to make the decision. Deontology, as developed by Immanuel Kant, and the Rawlsian theory of justice, are common forms of non-consequentialist ethics.

In deontology, the decision maker must ...