Transcript Ethics - lindenpkmyp

Ethics
What is meant by
the term ethics?
We will consider a range of imaginary
situations (sometimes called
“hypotheticals”).
Our aim will be to see if we can locate
some principles underlying our
responses to these situations.
Some of the cases are pretty far
fetched, but they are useful
because they get us thinking.
Before we start . . . .
Remember that you have to have good
reasons for your opinions. You can’t just
“shoot your mouth off”.
The cases we will consider all
involved deciding which people
will live and which will die.
The runaway train case
1 stranger
3 strangers
First principle
Prefer the option which does the least
harm.
Do as little harm as possible.
Another case
Your best
friend
3 strangers
Second principle
Relationships matter.
Look after your “nearest and dearest”.
Notice that in some circumstances the first
principle clashes with the second.
The first principle tells you to let your friend
die in order to save more people.
The second principle tells you to let more
people die in order to save your friend.
If you think that close relationships matter,
you can ask yourself how much they
matter.
How many strangers would you allow to
die in order to save your best friend?
Your best
friend
1 million
strangers
Another example
Tina, who is 16, goes into hospital for
minor surgery. At the same time, there are
three other 16 year olds in the hospital who
urgently need a transplant. One needs a
kidney; one needs a heart; one needs a
liver. If they get the transplant today they
will live healthy lives; if not, they will die
tomorrow.
Should the doctors put Tina to sleep and
then cut out her heart, liver and one kidney
in order to save the other three patients?
Third principle
Don’t use one person as a means to save
others.
Notice that the hospital case is like the first
railway case we considered: either three
will die and one will live or one will die and
three will live.
Another thing to notice is that the first
principle clashes with the third.
The first principle tells us to kill Tina to save
three people.
The third principle tells us not to kill Tina
even if it means letting three people die.
It’s extremely difficult to sort out
which principles we should live by.
What do we mean by the term
ethics?
Ethics is the study of what
we ought to do—how we
ought to behave.
It deals with moral
principles.
How ethical are these
PRACTICES?
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk9b3jbJro
M
 http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2661724.htm
 http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3754727.htm
 http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3749317.htm
Can you think of any global
issues that relate to the
question
“What is ethical?”