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?  M M M   

Can you think of any global issues that relate to the question “What is ethical?”