(Ursäkta Franskan, men jag har en söndag)

What is themorally right thing to do in the following cases?

Be sure todiscuss your reasons and possible alternative solutions to theone that you propose. Is what you would 'actually' do differentfrom what you 'should' do? If so, why?

1. The sheriff in a southern town is guardingthe courthouse against a mob that is about to storm it by force, in order to capture a black prisoner and lynch him even beforehis trial. If the mob is frustrated, many people may be killedin the ensuing riot. Should the sheriff deliver the prisonerto the mob?

2. Should the wealthier members of society be forcedto pay through taxation, for the poorer members? If so, how much?

3.A man has been sentenced to prison for armed robbery, and admitsguilt for the deed. "But", he argues,"I'll never doanything of the kind again. I'm not insane or a danger to society. I would be happier out of jail than in. My wife depends on mefor support and she and the children would be far happier if Iwere able to be the family breadwinner again. As to the influenceon others, almost no one would ever know about it; you can keepthe matter out of the newspapers and no one except you will everknow that the crime was committed. Therefore, you should releaseme" Assuming he is correct, what would you do?

4. A rich man and a poor man committhe same type of crime. The rich man is fined $10,000 while thepoor man is sent to jail for one year. Is this fair?

5. You areon a country road and see two neighbouring farm houses on fire. One is yours and the other belongs to a new couple who just movedin. Your wife and child are at home as are your neighbours. You can only save one house. Which one do you save?

6. You runan orphanage and have had a hard time making ends meet. A cardealership offers you a new van worth $15,000 for free if youwill falsely report to the government that the dealership donateda van worth $30,000. You really need the van and it will giveyou an opportunity to make the children happy. Do you agree totake the van?

7. You are shopping and notice a woman stuffing apair of stockings into her purse. Do you report her?

8. You arewaiting with a few other people to board a bus. The bus pullsup and before you can board the driver gets out and goes intothe convenience store to get a coffee. You are the last to geton the bus. Do you pay your fare?

9. You discover Bill Gate'swallet lying on the street. It contains $1000.00 Do you sendit 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 novelCrime and Punishment the main character plots andcarries out the murder of an old woman who has a considerableamount of money in her apartment. After killing her, he stealsthe money. He argues that 1) she is a malicious old woman, petty,cantankerous and scheming, useless to herself and to society (whichhappens to be true), and her life causes no happiness to herselfor to others; and 2) her money if found after her death wouldonly fall into the hands of chisellers anyway. Whereas he woulduse 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 lastfew hours and in that time he has rewritten his will. In thenew will he viciously attacks each member of his adopted familyand reveals that he actually was born a woman. He then cuts everyfamily member out of the will leaving his fortune to a Psychic Chatline. Mr. Jones asks you to make sure that the new willgets to his lawyer. Knowing that the document will most likelybe thrown out of court but not before the damage to Mr. Doe'sfamily is done, do you carry out Mr. Doe's last request?

13. Wouldit be justifiable to whip pigs to death if more succulent porkresulted from this process, giving the consumers of pork morepleasure?

14. Why punish the theft of $1000 more than the theftof $100?

15. Why punish attempted murder less than murder?

16. Youare on a boat and nearby are two large rocks filled with personswaiting to be rescued; there are five people on one rock and fouron the other. Assume that you cannot rescue both groups and thatyou are the only one able to rescue either group. Which groupdo you rescue?

17. You can only rescue one of each of the following,which do you save?
a) A child or an adult
b) A stranger or yourdog
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 bottlewith the cure for cancer or your brother who just gave you oneof his kidneys

18. Are the following acceptable grounds for a person to end the life of a non-human animal? a) Its noise bothers youat night.
b) The wolf is killing your sheep.
c)Its meat makes a tasty dish.
d) You enjoy seeingit squirm.
e) The gophers are destroying your vegetablegarden.
f) You just don't like snakes
g) The condor(an endangered species) keeps killing your prized carrier pigeons.
h)Ienjoy hunting.

19. Are any of the following situations objectionable?
a) Raising and killing rabbits for food.
b) Raising and killingrabbits 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 beforethey are unconscious.
f) Using spontaneously aborted fetal tissuefor treating Parkinson's disease victims.
g) Using intentionallyaborted fetal tissue for purposes of art.
h) A highly rated televisionshow which depicts the actual torture of a convicted criminal.
i) A highly rated television show which depicts the actual tortureof a poor homeless orphan.
j) Torturing a person (whowill die from the injuries) as the only means to find out where they have hidden a nuclear bomb.

20. Pick any one of the above 19 questions and try to considerwhy someone might answer it differently than you. Can you offerreasons for their views? Are any of these reasons persuasive?

Annons

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November 2012