(Ethical Dilemmas)
Be sure to
discuss your reasons and possible alternative solutions to the
one that you propose. Is what you would 'actually' do different
from what you 'should' do? If so, why?
2. Should the wealthier members of society be forced
to pay through taxation, for the poorer members? If so, how much?
3.
A man has been sentenced to prison for armed robbery, and admits
guilt for the deed.
"But", I would be happier out of jail than in. My wife depends on me
for support and she and the children would be far happier if I
were able to be the family breadwinner again. As to the influence
on others,the matter out of the newspapers and no one except you will ever
know that the crime was committed. Therefore,me" Assuming he is correct, what would you do?
4. A rich man and a poor man commit
the same type of crime. The rich man is fined $10,000 while the
poor man is sent to jail for one year. Is this fair?
5. You are
on a country road and see two neighbouring farm houses on fire.
One is yours and the other belongs to a new couple who just moved
in. Your wife and child are at home as are your neighbours.
You can only save one house. Which one do you save?
6. You run
an orphanage and have had a hard time making ends meet. A car
dealership offers you a new van worth $15,000 for free if you
will falsely report to the government that the dealership donated
a van worth $30,000. You really need the van and it will give
you an opportunity to make the children happy. Do you agree to
take the van?
7. You are shopping and notice a woman stuffing a
pair of stockings into her purse. Do you report her?
8. You are
waiting with a few other people to board a bus. The bus pulls
up and before you can board the driver gets out and goes into
the convenience store to get a coffee. You are the last to get
on the bus. Do you pay your fare?
9. You discover Bill Gate's
wallet lying on the street. It contains $1000.00 Do you send
it back to him?
10. It is 3 a.m. and you are late getting home.
As you approach the intersection you notice that no one is around.
Do you drive through the red light?
11. In Dostoyevsky's novel
Crime and Punishment the main character plots and
carries out the murder of an old woman who has a considerable
amount of money in her apartment. After killing her, he steals
the money. He argues that 1) she is a malicious old woman, petty,
cantankerous and scheming, useless to herself and to society (which
happens to be true), and her life causes no happiness to herself
or to others; and 2) her money if found after her death would
only fall into the hands of chisellers anyway. Whereas he would
use it for his education. Is this action justified?
12. As a nurse,
you are the last person to see Mr. Doe before he dies in hospital.
You believe that he has become mentally incompetent in the last
few hours and in that time he has rewritten his will. In the
new will he viciously attacks each member of his adopted family
and reveals that he actually was born a woman. He then cuts every
family member out of the will leaving his fortune to a Psychic Chatline
. Mr. Jones asks you to make sure that the new will
gets to his lawyer. Knowing that the document will most likely
be thrown out of court but not before the damage to Mr. Doe's
family is done, do you carry out Mr. Doe's last request?
13. Would
it be justifiable to whip pigs to death if more succulent pork
resulted from this process, giving the consumers of pork more
pleasure?
14. Why punish the theft of $1000 more than the theft
of $100?
15. Why punish attempted murder less than murder?
16. You
are on a boat and nearby are two large rocks filled with persons
waiting to be rescued; there are five people on one rock and four
on the other. Assume that you cannot rescue both groups and that
you are the only one able to rescue either group. Which group
do you rescue?
17. You can only rescue one of each of the following,
which do you save?
18. Are the following acceptable grounds for a person to
the life of a non-human animal? a) Its noise bothers you
at night.
19. Are any of the following situations objectionable?
20. Pick any one of the above 19 questions and try to consider
why someone might answer it differently than you. Can you offer
reasons for their views? Are any of these reasons persuasive?
1. The sheriff in a southern town is guarding
the courthouse against a mob that is about to storm it by force,
in order to capture a black prisoner and lynch him even before
his trial. The sherrif knows the man is guilty, so if the mob is frustrated in the ensuing riot, should the sheriff deliver the prisoner
to the mob?
a) A child or an adult
b) A stranger or your
dog
c) Hitler or lassie
d) Your spouse or a Nobel Laureate
e)
A dog or a weasel
f) Your entire family or the entire canine species
g) A bottle with the cure for cancer or your brother
h) A bottle
with the cure for cancer or your brother who just gave you one
of his kidneys
b) The wolf is killing your sheep.
c)
Its meat makes a tasty dish.
d) You enjoy seeing
it squirm.
e) The gophers are destroying your vegetable
garden.
f) You just don't like snakes
g) The condor
(an endangered species) keeps killing your prized carrier pigeons.
h)I
enjoy hunting.
a) Raising and killing rabbits for food.
b) Raising and killing
rabbits for fur.
c) Clubbing baby seals over the head for fur.
d) Raising chickens under crowded conditions on wire netting.
e) Slitting open the bodies of cattle in slaughterhouses before
they are unconscious.
f) Using spontaneously aborted fetal tissue
for treating Parkinson's disease victims.
g) Using intentionally
aborted fetal tissue for purposes of art.
h) A highly rated television
show which depicts the actual torture of a convicted criminal.
i) A highly rated television show which depicts the actual torture
of a poor homeless orphan.
j) Torturing a person (who
will die from the injuries) as the only means to find out where
they have hidden a nuclear bomb.
src: http://www.tru.ca/ae/php/phil/mclaughl/courses/ethics/bioeth/dilemmas.htm
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