Deontological Ethics Case Study

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The two ethical theories I have chosen to assess the situation at hand are Deontological Ethics 's Categorical Imperative and Act Utalitarianism. The situation up for discussion is whether or not the parents (Sydney and Jack) were right in convincing Olive to donate her kidney, to her younger sister Nancy who is in need because she suffers from end-stage renal failure.
Deontological ethics would have us look at the situation based on the best efforts for the future. Based on the procedure of three formulations (tests) that help us make moral decisions. The first formulation is comprised of four steps; being self-aware of your actions, putting information from step one into a maxim, testing the universality of the maxim you have created, and …show more content…

In this case the parents coercion of the older sister Olive is the act in question. If we use act utilitarianism to decide if they were correct in doing this, I believe that they were. Considering the only people involved in this specific case study are Sydney, Jack, Nancy and, Olive, three of the four seem as though they would be happier if Olive were to donate her kidney. This is because Act Utilitarianism is an aggregative, hedonistic, consequenlist and egalitarian theory. It insists we consider how our actions affect everyone 's happiness now and in the future, in an just and fair …show more content…

I believe it is immoral but necessary. Although, most 12 year olds are old enough to know what they want I believe that the push was necessary. However, based strictly off of the case study I believe the parents act to be again immoral. They know the power they have over their daughter. Rather than explaining to her that she will be healthy with only one, they decide to coerce her into thinking she is a bad person. They are saying things like "only bad people would be as selfish as you want to be." On average children tend to seek to please their parent, and if going against her parents wishes means Olive is seen as a "bad person" she 'd rather undergo the

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