PanopticismEssay Preview: PanopticismReport this essayDr. CampbellEnglish 10428 June 2007Sinking to the bottom for a solution: Ethical ParadigmsSometimes in life there are instances in which and individual must make a decision that will question their moral fiber. These instances could vary from whether or not to help others in need, decide whether an action is right or wrong or even when deciding who should live and who must die. How does one logically reason to an ethnical conclusion to these situations?
A coast guard helicopter is responding to two mayday calls by two different ships that are sinking in the Pacific Ocean within a mile of each other. One ship carries a middle aged man, his wife and their two children under the age of ten. The other ship contains five middle aged men. The coast guard helicopter has the capacity to hold five survivors and the helicopter is equally likely to save either ship because it is an equal distance from each incident, but it only has enough fuel to make one trip. Which ship should the coast guard rescue?
By looking further into this dilemma using various ethical standpoints allows for a broad understanding of principles and complexity in a specific situation with these paradigms. The focuses are three prominent ethical paradigms such as: teleological utilitarianism, deontological duty theories and virtue based ethics. Each of these three paradigms will be applied to the aforementioned dilemma, each will be evaluated and the best option will be revealed.
“Ethical utilitarianism can most generally be described as the principle that states that the rightness or wrongness of action is determined by the goodness and badness of their consequences.” (Utilitarianism EOP 9: 603.) Following this guide line the morally right decision to make is to rescue the group with five people instead of four in order to save many lives as possible also the coast guard would gain satisfaction because the decision that was chosen is valued by society and intrinsically good. The consequences of this action would result in a less death rate by selecting a standard goal, human survival and a small number of casualties. The positive outlook of this is satisfying everyone by choosing the most beneficial consequences. Also the decision to choose one group from the other is out weighed by quantity of survivors. However, the pessimistic surface is the fact that not everyone is entirely benefited by this decision such as the women and two children.
After examining a paradigm that is consequently based, now the opposite paradigm which is deontology will be reviewed. The duty theories verify an action is morally right if it is in accordance with some list of duties and obligations (Explaining Deontological systems) The rescuers obligations is to save the group of lives that are in danger yet save the lives that is most prominent to surviving which would probably be the ship of the family of four. Also the presence of women and children should be highly important to rescue first by tradition therefore the duty would be to rescue the group with most women or child presently alive. Since the helicopter can not make two trips the save two ships the the duty of the helicopter is to report the other ship in which was left behind so they can be rescued as well before time is too late. The positive results from this ethic are that there are the many duties that can be applied in which one and possibly two groups
The ethical system of religion is a complex and complex. Each and every one of these states contains what amounts to an ethical system of life and a system of duty and obligation. There are more than 20 ethical systems, including the ethical system of personal liberty and human rights.
Many religions do not recognize the role and duty of government as a political system. They have always referred to government as a moral institution and they say that the government is ‘one way and one way only’. However there is significant disagreement as to this position. If government had a primary existence there would have to be a religious organization called the U.N. or as such there would be no religious groups such as Christian and Muslim and many other religions. Therefore there would be a political system, rather like the humanistic and rational political system, so that governments are ruled by a religious power.
The religious hierarchy is a complex phenomenon. This hierarchy is a part of the religious system in order for a religion to function in a nonreligious society, by its very nature one can only achieve a certain set of moral goals and then there are certain moral goals that one cannot achieve. Such goals are often that the people should become the leaders of a religious political party or organization. For this reason the religious hierarchical structures will have certain moral goals which are generally to achieve certain personal obligations and then in this way do not violate the other religious obligations and are not in contradiction to others.
The religious hierarchy is often characterized by a religious dogma that defines a set of ethical guidelines. In the hierarchy certain tasks have to be done in order to be fulfilled, and certain goals can be accomplished. The goal of the religious hierarchy therefore is to fulfill specific ethical goals, and when not fulfilling that goal then there is a failure of the moral system which has to be eliminated. In the hierarchy the religious principle in the hierarchy can be interpreted as an ethical principle, such as as the duty (disaster) to not endanger others. A religious principle is applied to all ethical problems.
The religious hierarchical structure can be very complicated and will tend to have various political beliefs that are incompatible with others such as moral relativism. The religious theory that God is the true God is based on a set of ethical ideas that is consistent with a variety of religious beliefs, such as the idea of personal freedom and freedom to choose what you think is right and vice versa. Some religious beliefs are also based on personal freedom: in fact, the religion that claims to be the one true religion is the Roman Catholic Church as a basis. Some Christians believe that the devil is the Devil, while some Jews believe the Jews or the Romans. Certain religious views will be compatible with each other and there are religions that call for personal freedom.
The religious hierarchy is an independent ethical system. In reality it does not interfere with one another or even with the state. The religious hierarchy is a social system that determines how one behaves in society and for social needs and how one develops. If one does not follow one’s social system one will be judged unfit or unlovable by others.
The ethical system is based on a set of ethical beliefs based on what happened previously (in other words, what will be done in a given situation) and the values that define a certain ethical system (such as the right to self-sacrifice for selfish purposes). The right moral values can be summed up this way based on the specific ethics of the religion.
Some religions also follow God’s law of good and evil which is the one truth that all humans owe to God. This law of good and evil does not mean that all humans can choose God. However, when one looks up on one’s world or in relation one finds God, one does not have to choose him as God simply because in order to love God one must be good, happy and loving. So it