Deontological Moral Theory And Utilitarianism

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In this assignment we are to determine the moral difference between Deontological moral theory and Utilitarianism with regard to the changing of lives on a chance twist of fate with the brakes blowing out of the Trolley excursion. To turn or not to turn that is the question. Weather it is nobler of the heart and mind to follow the path of one and not the other remains a personal choice. I talked about this assignment with several people, probing their minds for a moral perspective and to see what the moral majority thought about the careening trolley and the dilemma; and received as many different answers to the question is it morally permissible for you to turn the trolley as the number of people I spoke to. All too often they got encumbered in the thought of being the driver and how being the driver of that trolley would be such a heavy burden. For the most part they kept getting bogged down in the obvious point made about killing 5 people or killing 1 person. That is a distraction from what may be the truer point of the moral debate. The number of people is immaterial to the crux of the question. It comes down to is it moral to make the choice to take the right track and save 5 lives versus saving only 1, or moral to not make the choice. I wanted to increase my knowledge so I spent a few days reading on the internet. In the readings I did to try to better understand the differences between Deontological moral theory and Utilitarianism I went online to try to find words of wisdom that would clear the topic for me. I found quite a few statements that made my understanding even more vexing. If the Utilitarian thinks “Everyone’s happiness counts equally” (U T I L I T A R I A N I S M), then does it matter that there are 5 v... ... middle of paper ... ...y the different between Deontological morals and Utilitarian morals is one of acceptance verse making a difference for the greater good or even simpler is just that, making the choice. To turn the trolley or not is the distinction between theories. Bibliography , L. A., & , M. M. (2012, December 12). Deontology Ethics. Retrieved May 19, 2014, from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/#WeaDeoThe Armstrong, A. (September, 13 2013). http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/2013/09/spocks-illogic-the-needs-of-the-many-outweigh-the-needs-of-the-few/. Retrieved May 20, 2014 U T I L I T A R I A N I S M. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19, 2014, from http://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gaskilld/ethics/Utilitarianism: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gaskilld/ethics/Utilitarianism%20notes.htm

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