ETHC 445 Principles of Ethics Week 5 Discussions and Assignment Devry

ETHC 445 Principles of Ethics

Week 5

Week 5 Discussion 1

Life & Death; Politics & Ethics (Graded)

There are three basic propositions in standard Utilitarianism (Please be sure to listen to Mill's audio lecture before joining this threaded discussion):

1. Actions are judged right and wrong solely on their consequences; that is, nothing else matters except the consequence, and right actions are simply those with the best consequences.

2. To assess consequences, the only thing that matters is the amount of happiness and unhappiness caused; that is, there is only one criterion and everything else is irrelevant.

3. In calculating happiness and unhappiness caused, nobody’s happiness counts any more than anybody else’s; that is, everybody’s welfare is equally important and the majority rules.

Week 5 Discussion 2

Dealing With Emergencies and Outcomes (Graded)

Chapter 9 of our text includes the terrorism situation at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and it needs to be read before engaging this discussion.The principle of utility involves maximizing happiness as a desirable outcome of decisions. Although it does not get directly said, there is an inverse intention to minimize the undesirable outcome of disaster. Utilitarian decisions are directed toward outcomes—that is, the consequences of decisions.The Olympic hostage situation was a high-tension moment, full of dangerous surprises and strategies to deal with the situation that did not work out for the best. Among the strategies was the idea to kill the leader of the terrorists so as to disrupt the terrorist plot and to allow a good outcome in which the

Week 5 Assignment:

Week 5 Assignment; You Decide Scenario and Response Solution Paper (800 Words)