Ethics Reflection Essay -- essays research papers

There is a firefighter who is obligated to make a crucial decision. Upon arrival to a five-alarm blaze, the firefighter must make a life or death decision. There are two individuals unconscious in the burning building, and only one can be saved. One person is Dr. Rutland, a world-renowned pioneer in treating suicidal-depressives. The medication he has developed has helped thousands of patients already, and when perfected, will save many more. The other individual is Dr. Rutland’s secretary. Being that only one person is to survive, who should be saved?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to decide what the moral or ethical decision would be in this situation, one may look the utilitarian philosophy of Mill. According to Mill, The theory of morality- that pleasure, and the freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain. (Mill 1) Because Mill believes that in order to achieve morality, whatever will result in the greatest amount of pleasure and the least amount of pain will be the correct choice, he is a consequentialist. With all of this in mind, Mill derives a theory known as the Greatest Happiness Principle. The GHP requires that in order for a decision to be morally right, it has to promote the greatest good for the greatest number. Mill states, â€Å"The ultimate end [of the GHP], is an existence exempt as far possible from pain, and as rich as possible in enjoyments, both in point of quantity and quality (Mill 2),† the quantity being the greatest number, quality being the greatest good. Mill also says that â€Å"The utilitarian standard †¦ is not the agent’s own greatest happiness, but the greatest amount of happiness altogether. (Mill 2)† According to Mill’s theory of utilitarianism, Dr. Rutland should be the one who is saved. Mill’s theory of the greatest good for the greatest number states that in any situation when one is trying to make a decision, the right choice will always be the one that benefits most people as a result of that decision. Dr. Rutland is a famous physician who treats suicidal persons. With his development of this medication, many lives have already been saved. With the continuation of research, the medication could be perfected, and many more lives could be saved in... ...he option of saving either one person’s life who may save lives if he survives, or saving the two lives, a mother and an unborn child, Kant believes that saving two lives is going to be morally correct because it is saving more than one life now, not the possibility of saving someone else’s life later.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If the secretary was the firefighter’s mother, there are two possibilities of whether or not the firefighter should save her, based on Kant’s philosophy. Using Kant’s second test to determine whether or not saving the mother would be morally right, the firefighter would have to determine if the reasons behind saving his or her mother were because of a means to an end. For example, if the reason the firefighter wanted to say his or her mother is for his own sake, or for some other â€Å"need,† such as food, clothing, shelter, etc. If the firefighter were to determine that the reasons his or her mother should be saved were, indeed, for some means to an end, saving the secretary would have no moral worth. If, however, the firefighter determines that the secretary/mother is treated with the dignity and respect she deserves, then it is morally right to save her.