Ethics: Virtual Philosopher, Essay Example

The results I achieved were quite insignificant from the hypothetical situations to the more generalized questions. Generally, I believe that all murder is wrong, especially the murder of innocent people. However, in the scenario, I advocated for pushing over the 400 pound man who refused to get out of the boat but would have caused all eleven people in the boat to die. This decision was made based on utilitarian principles which advocates for the protection of the greater good. While pushing the man overboard indeed constitutes murder, not doing anything and allowing all eleven people to extirpate can also be an indirect for of murder. As such, from a utilitarian perspective, my actions were justifiable and even considered moral within that cosmogony. The liver problem was also a complicated scenario because a choice had to be made regarding the process of elimination for who would receive the liver. While from a theoretical standpoint, I believe that all human lives are worthy of being saved, the reality is that there are quandaries such as this one that calls for a decision to be made regarding how to determine who gets the heart. As such, there is a dissonance between my theoretical perspective and my decision-making process in a situation such as this one. While it would seem obvious that because all human lives are worthy saving that a random draw gives everyone a fair chance, I believe that the sickest person combined with the individual who has potential to positively contribute to society should be prioritized to be saved first. Finally, in the friend’s dilemma, I believe that telling her the truth was the most optimal choice in this particular scenario. While I believe that lying is sometimes justifiable in order to spare the pain of others, as a true friend, I believe that letting her continue with her relationship would further cause her more pain over a protracted period of time. While telling her the truth will hurt her to a degree, she will be better off in the long term. As such, it is unequivocal that ethics and morals are relative and not universal and often there is a dissonance between theoretical issues and reality when ethical principals are applied to real-world situations,