Transcript Year 11 into 12 Philosophy and Ethics Bridging Project Ethics

Year 11 into 12 Philosophy and Ethics Bridging Project
- Ethics -
The Crying Baby and Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory which basically argues that we should always seek to provide the
greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people. So, for example, if 8 out of 10
people vote for dinner being at Pizza Express rather than Pizza Hut, all 10 people will attend dinner at
Pizza Express.
Now imagine this famous thought experiment : An extended family of over 15 people have been
forced into hiding because of the persecution of their heritage in their country. If they are found, they
will certainly be murdered, simply because of their racial heritage – otherwise, they are entirely
moral, innocent and good people.
One of the family members is a 5 month old baby. Because of the freezing cold conditions in which
the family are hiding, she cries loudly for over 10 minutes. The rest of the family know that if she
continues to cry, they will all be found and murdered, including the 5 month old baby.
Tasks
•
Complete the following tasks, in no more than 500 words.
1. Explain what you think a Utilitarian's response would be to this situation; would they continue to
hide the baby, hoping that she won’t be heard by the enemy, or would they suggest abandoning
or even murdering the baby, because her presence could lead to the death of 14 other family
members?
2. Taking into account your answer to task 1, do you think that Utilitarianism can be considered to
be a useful ethical theory? What do you think is good about it? Is there anything that you dislike
about it? Why? Try to give examples where Utilitarianism could, or could not, provide a moral
course of action.
Bring your project, printed and ready to hand in, to the first Philosophy and Ethics
lesson you have with Mr Deavall in September. Make sure you come and ask for help
beforehand if you are stuck.
Good Luck!
Year 12 into 13 Philosophy and Ethics Bridging Project
- Ethics -
The Evil Demon
Is anything so self-evident that it cannot be doubted? Is it not possible that our lives are no more than
dreams, or that the world is just a figment of our imaginations? Outlandish though these notions are,
the mere fact that we can consider them shows that the reality of the physical world can be doubted.
There are other ideas, however, which seem to be so clear and self-evident that they must be true.
For instance, whether you are awake or asleep, two plus two makes four. A triangle must have three
sides whether the world, real or imaginary, contains triangles or not.
But what if God, or some powerful, malicious demon, is tricking you? Couldn’t such an evil spirit fool
you into believing that the false if obviously true? Haven’t we seen hypnotists make people count to
ten, unaware that they have missed out the number seven? And what of a man who, in a dream,
hears four strikes of the clock tower bell and finds himself thinking, ‘How odd. The clock has struck
one four times!’.
If the evil demon is a possibility, is there anything which is beyond doubt?
Tasks
1.
2.
3.
Make a list of up to 5 things which you consider to be entirely beyond doubt (i.e. you are
absolutely certain that they are true).
Explain why you consider these 5 things to be beyond doubt – why is it that we could never
possibly doubt their truth?
In no more than 500 words, explain your considerations of the following statement :
“The evil demon existing has no bearing on our perception of reality.”
•
Things to consider : If the evil demon does exist and does deceive us, what does that mean for
our reality? Similarly, if he doesn’t exist and so doesn’t deceive us, what does that mean for our
reality also? Is everything we perceive accurate and real, or not? Is there any way of testing
whether or not our ‘reality’ is real?
Bring your project, printed and ready to hand in, to the first Philosophy and Ethics lesson you have
with Mr Deavall in September. Make sure you come and ask for help beforehand if you are stuck.
Good Luck!