Here's a few fun ethics exercises. I did a post on roughly these same questions a few months back. Now that we've got a new crop of students, I thought I'd throw it out there again (notice that I changed a couple of the questions to mix it up a bit).
Also, for my old bloggers, I'm curious if your answers to any of these questions has changed. If so, why do you think that is?
So here it is...
In the following scenario imagine you are in some weird situation wherein you can only save one of the the two options given in each question. There is no possible way to save both, nor would sacrificing yourself help in any way towards saving them and they will both die. If you do nothing, they will both die (and, I suppose, that is an option). You know that when you save one of them, the other will most certainly die (or be destroyed). Assume there is no other relevant information than that given for each question (i.e., in the child or adult question, assume they have the same status otherwise in all ways that may affect your decision, the only difference being that one is a child and one is an adult). You can only rescue one of each of the following, which do you save?
a) A child or an adult
b) A stranger or your dog
c) Your entire family or the entire canine species
d) A bottle with the cure for cancer or your brother/sister
e) Lassie or A Convicted Murderer/Rapist
f) Your spouse or a Nobel Laureate
g) A petry dish with 15 fertilized human eggs or 1 small child
h) A dog or a rat
i) A dog or a fish
j) A dog or a jellyfish
k) A dog or a human being on life support who has been declared "brain dead"
l) Your spouse or the greatest artist of all time (in your favorite genre)
m) A young child you don't know or a 95-year old adult that you know well
n) A stranger or the greatest piece of art ever created by human hands
o) A dog or a human being on life support in a perpetual coma (with no chance of ever coming out of the coma, although they are not technically brain dead).
p) Lassie or Hitler
q) 1 of your fellow soldiers from your unit or 25 injured enemy soldiers who have surrendered
Perhaps we can give two answers to each (if they are different): 1) what do you think you would actually do and 2) what do you think should or ought to do.
Now, after you've answered a) through o) can you provide some kind of principles or basis upon which you are guiding your decision making? Are the decisions consistent with one another? Are the principles consistent?
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*(1 = What I 'would' do; 2 = What I should/ought to do)
a) (1, 2) Child over adult
b) (1, 2) Stranger over my dog
c) Define 'Family.' Are we talking immediate family, extended family, or beyond? Regardless, I think: (1, 2) Family over canine species
d) (1, 2) Cure for cancer over sibling
e) (1) Lassie, (2) Murderer/Rapist
f) (1, 2) Spouse over Nobel Laureate
g) (1, 2) 1 small child over 15 fertilized human eggs
h) (1, 2) Dog over rat
i) (1, 2) Dog over fish
j) (1, 2) Dog over jellyfish
k) (1) Dog, (2) Human being (brain dead)
l) (1, 2) Spouse over greatest artist
m) (1, 2) Young child over 95 year old
n) (1, 2) Stranger over greatest art
o) (1) Dog, (2) Human being (comatose)
p) (1) Lassie, (2) Hitler
q) (1) 1 fellow soldier, (2) 25 injured enemies
I chose what I did because:
1) Children have not lived a full life whereas those that are older have at least gotten closer to that or had their chance or even have already lived a full life (the definition of a 'full' life is another discussion altogether and who am I to determine whether this child will grow up to do good or bad vs someone who's older who has done only good?).
2) I have a responsibility to my future wife over almost everything (but not over my future children... just as a side note).
3) All other things equal, I would choose a dog over the other animals on this list because they breed slower or have a smaller viable population.
4) Human beings should be saved over any animal, but that's just what I ought to do. I would probably, however, choose an animal over Hitler or a murderer/rapist because I have little to no pity for those types of people and I would choose an animal over comatose or brain-dead people because they aren't living their life and won't have the chance to (at least in our hypothetical situation), even though they are 'technically' alive. If a person does have a chance to come out of it, then I would pick them over an animal.
5) My family (including my brothers) understands the meaning of sacrifice, so I'm sure they would understand if I had to choose the cure for cancer over them.
6) Art isn't as important as a human being.
7) A small child who is already living is worth more than unborn, fertilized eggs (that does not mean I support abortion, because I don't). "What if those eggs are mankind's last hope for the future?" Well then, I'll choose them over the child.
8) I should choose to save the lives of 25 enemy combatants that have surrendured, but I don't think I could go through with it if it meant letting one of my comrades die.
Are my 'principles' consistent? I think for the most part they are, but I'm just mostly going on gut instinct... (that last one was the hardest for me)
Before I answered any of these questions, I read through all of them, and what I realized that with me, my answer is not necessarily always what is morally right. Loyalties are extremely important and high in my decision-making process. My choices aren’t always what are good for the world, they are what I think I would do and be able to live with myself. In the heat of the moment, I’d do what I could live with, not always what’s morally right.
a) A child or an adult A child because they have more life left to live
b) A stranger or your dog As loyal as I should be to my dog, I would save the stranger, a person, and not the dog.
c) Your entire family or the entire canine species My family, because they are more important to me than all the dogs in the world
d) A bottle with the cure for cancer or your brother/sister Love for my family trumps about everyone else, even though in this case, I could probably save millions with a cure for cancer, I couldn’t live with sacrificing my brother. Sacrifice is an individual decision, I could sacrifice myself for something, but it’s a lot harder morally to justify sacrificing someone else.
e) Lassie or A Convicted Murderer/Rapist. A human life has to be more important than the life of a dog, even a really good dog.
f) Your spouse or a Nobel Laureate Love is a strange power. People will do anything for love. I’d save my husband in a heartbeat.
g) A petry dish with 15 fertilized human eggs or 1 small child. This is a totally unfair question. But I’d probably save the small child. They’ve already been born and they would feel pain in death.
h) A dog or a rat. A dog
i) A dog or a fish A dog
j) A dog or a jellyfish A dog
k) A dog or a human being on life support who has been declared "brain dead". If the person is already brain dead, there isn’t that much to save. As harsh as the reality of this is, I’d probably save the dog.
l) Your spouse or the greatest artist of all time (in your favorite genre). Spouse, hands down, love wins.
m) A young child you don't know or a 95-year old adult that you know well
n) A stranger or the greatest piece of art ever created by human hands. Stranger, art is temporary, a person is well…a person.
o) A dog or a human being on life support in a perpetual coma (with no chance of ever coming out of the coma, although they are not technically brain dead). Well, if the person might live, then I should try to save them.
p) Lassie or Hitler After all Hitler did, I could definitively let him die and not lose any sleep, so I’ll go ahead and save Lassie.
q) 1 of your fellow soldiers from your unit or 25 injured enemy soldiers who have surrendered Your soldier isn’t just your soldier, he is your friend and your brother, and he’s fighting for the right side. I know him, so I’d save him.
This is going to be a question where my personal beliefs affect my decision in every instance. Believing in an objective God and the paradox of free will and pre-destination forces my hand. In every instance where two divinely inspired human lives are at stake, I would save the one who has had the least amount of time to choose God except in those instances where I know the one has already chosen beyond a shadow of a doubt (perseverance of the saints). Every instance of a human who is created in God's image vs. an animal, I would choose the human regardless of level of depravity (let us not judge lest we be judged). I would choose the higher organisms over the lower based on an argument that CS Lewis propogates that deals with the level of praise an organism can offer. In the case of 1 life vs. many I would go with many every time regardless of their stage of life.
a) A child (1) or an adult (2)
b) A stranger (1,2) or your dog
c) Your entire family (1,2) or the entire canine species
d) A bottle with the cure for cancer (2) or your brother/sister (1)
e) Lassie or A Convicted Murderer/Rapist (1,2)
f) Your spouse (1,2) or a Nobel Laureate
g) A petry dish with 15 fertilized human eggs or 1 small child (1,2)
h) A dog (1,2) or a rat
i) A dog (1,2) or a fish
j) A dog (1,2) or a jellyfish
k) A dog or a human being on life support who has been declared "brain dead" (1,2)
l) Your spouse (1,2) or the greatest artist of all time (in your favorite genre)
m) A young child (1) you don't know or a 95-year old adult that you know well (2)
n) A stranger (1,2) or the greatest piece of art ever created by human hands
o) A dog or a human being on life support in a perpetual coma (with no chance of ever coming out of the coma, although they are not technically brain dead). (1,2)
p) Lassie or Hitler (1,2)
q) 1 of your fellow soldiers from your unit (1) or 25 injured enemy soldiers who have surrendered (2)
My basis for my decisions solely rely on the fact that, to me, human life is of utmost importance. No dog, no fish, no "lesser existance" is more precious than human life. Additionally, family is what where my heart lies, therefore, I would be more prone to save them over saving numerous others which might be wrong to do, but once again, one must make that choice for themselves.
In reality, these choices would be accompanied by additional details if such situations were faced at all. However, based on the limited details, I would pick a child over an adult because the adult must sacrifice for the perpetuation of life as the shout for “women and children first” is called out on a sinking ship. I would choose human life over any animal or thing in all cases because human life was created with a soul with the potential to know God. However, I would save dogs over other animals because I like dogs better. In regards to an exchange of equal quantities of human life, I would save the one I care for more, with my spouse always at the top. In regards to the exchange of quantities of life, I would save the greater quantity of human life, unless in regards to war, in which case I would save the lives of friendlies because that would ultimately save more human life because the friendly could help win the war faster instead of slow down the win. These basic principles of preserving the most human life as possible is what drives my consequentialist ethical theory and is consistent across the board.
a. child
b. stranger
c. family
d. cure for cancer
e. lassie
f. spouse
g. the child
h. dog
i. dog
j. dog
k. life support
l. spouse
m. child
n. stranger
o. human
p. lassie
q. 25 enemies
a. my first answer is the child, however that might change if i knew the adult was a parent that would leave more children behind. then its almost like choosing 1 child or 3.
b. without question i value a human life over that of a dog.
c. maybe im missing something, but i don't really see that much value in saving the entire canine spicies...i totally pick my family.
d. the cure for cancer. as hard as that would be, it is also the decision my brother would want me to make.
e. lassie, when you commit a crime like that (especially rape) you forfeit what makes you human.
f. spouse just seems like the right answer to me.
g. the small child has a life and feelings and is right there with you, living and breathing. its a stretch to even call the eggs "life."
h, i, j. for all of these the dog just seems more human than the others so i picked it.
k. its still a human life.
l. my spouse. the rock star doesnt even cross my mind.
m. the child has a full life ahead, the 95 yr old has already lived a full life. plus, im willing to bet the 95 yr old would want you to make that choice.
n. again, i still value the human life over the object.
o. im not sure why this differs from (k) but i almost chose the dog this time. still because of the feelings of the family, i chose the person.
p. lassie, hitler goes under the category of "less than human."
q. this one is tough. however, i feel for some reason i would save the 25. however, that is assuming they are just average run of the mill men who were forced to fight for something they didn't believe in. yet again, it if was my friend and someone i had gone through hell with, probably not.
a) child - more to live
b) stranger - human
c) family - I hate dogs
d) bro - overpopulated as it is
e) Lassie - they will already die soon
f) spouse - dont know what the hell a Laureate is
g) 1 small child - I dont save periods/sperm (like that girl in "Junior"
h-k) NOT THE DOG- look at C
l) spouse - I dont like artists
m) child - If I was the 95 year old I wouldnt want to be alive anymore anyways
n) stranger - dont like art
o) human - he might be having the coolest dream ever -> why take that away from him -> oh and I hate dogs
p) Hitler - we have learned so much from his evils
q) fellow soldier - I owe it to him and him to me
And if its what Id do - its what everyone should do -> well at least until Im sober and can think more clearly.
As mentioned before, im going to answer these based on my gut instict. Though they may not always be morally right, its what i would do. Also, im pretty loyal to those i know, so unfortunately theres going to be a lot of groups of people suffering for me family/friends. Ill just write the ones id save for each letter.
a Child (they should get a chance to live.
b stranger. i love my dog, but its a human being
c family
d sibling. Sorry everyone
e lassie. Lassie saves people, not kill/rape them
f spouse
g 1 child.
h dog (i like them more)
i dog
j dog
k dog, if i were brain dead, id want to be killed.
l spouse. The artist can live through his art. much more loyalty to a spouse.
m young child. the 95 year old i would hope give him/herself up over a young child
n stranger.
o comatose human being. they havea chance of coming out of it
p lassie. as said earlier, i wouldnt lose any sleep over him
q 1 fellow soldier. My loyalty would lie with my friends, not the people ive been trying to kill already.
a) save the child
b) stranger
c) family
d) brother/sister
e) convicted murderer/rapist
f) spouse
g) small child
h) dog
i) dog
j) dog
k) human
l) spouse
m) young child
n) stranger
o) human being
p) hitler
q) fellow soldier
I always chose a child over adult no matter my relationship due to the fact that the adult has probably lived a somewhat "full" life, then i chose humans over animals in all situations because I believe that animals were put on earth to serve humans as a "lesser" species. When it was animal verse animal, i simply chose the one i like more. The final one, since the enemy are most likely insurgents, i didn't count them as humans and hence saved my fellow soldier.
a) A child or an adult: child
a child has more to offer for humanity and has a life to live
b) A stranger or your dog: stranger
a stranger has more to offer to humanity
c) Your entire family or the entire canine species: entire family
My family is a very high priority before other humans
d) A bottle with the cure for cancer or your brother/sister: brother
My brother has higher priority to me
e) Lassie or A Convicted Murderer/Rapist: lassie
Lassie has more to offer in a good way
f) Your spouse or a Nobel Laureate: spouse
My family has a high priority
g) A petry dish with 15 fertilized human eggs or 1 small child: 1 small child
So much more is involved for the eggs to become people
h) A dog or a rat: dog
i like dogs
i) A dog or a fish: dog
i like dogs
j) A dog or a jellyfish: dog
i like dogs
k) A dog or a human being on life support who has been declared "brain dead": dog
the dog has more to offer to life
l) Your spouse or the greatest artist of all time (in your favorite genre): spouse
My family has high priority
m) A young child you don't know or a 95-year old adult that you know well:
a young child has more to offer now
n) A stranger or the greatest piece of art ever created by human hands: stranger
has more to offer
o) A dog or a human being on life support in a perpetual coma (with no chance of ever coming out of the coma, although they are not technically brain dead):
dog has more to offer
p) Lassie or Hitler: lassie
Hitler destroyed life
q) 1 of your fellow soldiers from your unit or 25 injured enemy soldiers who have surrendered: soldier from my unit
My duty life with my soldier not to survival of enemies
I think my answers are consistent, My family is of great importance to me and my duty lies with protecting and ensuring their ability to live, then lies a priority is to those that can contribute more to the world.
a) child
b) stranger
c) family
d) brother
e) lassie
f) spouse
g) small child
h) dog
i) dog
j) dog
k) dog
l) spouse
m) young child
n) stranger
o) dog
p) dog
q) 1 fellow soldier
My basis for these are primarily my first instinct. If i was given less than one second to decide in these situations, those are the answers i gave above. If looked at more in depth, i could get myself into a lengthy debate on any of the situation as to why i chose what or who i did and there is easily a large difference between what i would and should do in some of the questions, but the bottom line is that if i was atually faced with such situations, i would react immediately with my choices. I would like to think that throughout my moral and ethical development i would be able to make the correct decision in the end, but like i said it all comes down to what i will do. Life is all about choices, and those are mine.
a) A child because they have their entire life to live. Also, it seems that a child is more innocent than an adult and can't defend themselves.
b) My dog. For selfish reasons, i would want to save my dog because they always appreciate you and they are always happy to see you when you come home. A stranger may say thank you but that is all you get for saving their life.
c) My entire family. When it comes to family, they take priority over any animal.
d) Bottle with a cure for cancer, because this will benefit the world and i'll see my brother again once I die.
e)Lassie, a rapist or murderer doesn't deserve to live
f)Spouse because I don't know what a Nobel Laureate is
g)1 small child, the eggs are clusters of cells, the child is a living, breathing, human being
h) a dog, because they have a personality
i) a dog, because we eat fish all the time
j)a dog, because jellyfish are mostly water anyway
k)a dog, because the person who is brain dead is not living life. How long are they going to stay on life support until they die? A dog can live out a life of happiness and give happiness to the owner
l) my spouse, because i dont put much worth in art.
m) a young child because the 95 year old has lived a long life and the child hasn't
n) a stranger because i art doesn't hold much worth to me
o) a dog, because the person might as well be dead anyway
p) Lassie, Hitler doesn't deserve to live
q) 1 fellow soldier, because we are fighting and trying to kill the enemy. Their lives aren't worth an American one
For the most part i am consistent in my choosing. Children have had less of a chance to experience life and in myu mind are idealistic and innocent so they deserve to live. When it comes to my family or those i know, i selfishly and openly pick them over most other circumstances. This is because they are worth more to me than someone i don't know or an enemy who has been trying to kill me.
a) child
b) stranger
c) family
d) bottle with cure for cancer
e) Lassie
f) spouse
g) child
h) dog
i) dog
j) dog
k) human being
l) spouse
m) young child
n) stranger
o) human being
p) Lassie
q) 1 soldier from unit
I have a couple of determining factors for my decisions. First, children take priority over adults because they have their whole life ahead of them and better chances for succeeding and reproducing. Second, any person who has a personal relationship with me and doesn't violate the child/adult thing has priority over a stranger. Third, humans take priority over animals except in one situation--where the human has violated others' rights and in reality become an animal themselves (Hitler, rapist/murderer). The most difficult questions were the child or 15 fertilized eggs and the 1 soldier or 25 enemy soldiers. I reverted to the ones who had a personal connection with me (soldier) or the one which had the best chance of survival (child vs eggs). These were really tough and I would definitely have to stop and think a long time before I made a decision.
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