moral dilemmas.docx

moral dilemmas.docx

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moraldilemmas

SomeMoralDilemmas

Thefollowingisalistofsomemoraldilemmas,mostlyadaptedfromMoralReasoning,byVictorGrassian（PrenticeHall,1981,1992）,withsomeadditions.Thequestiontoconsiderwithalloftheseiswhytheyaredilemmas.Some,however,maynotseemtobedilemmasatall.DiscussionofthedilemmascanbefoundatTheGeneralizedStructureofEthicalDilemmas,althoughdiscussionisalsoprovidedhereinsomecases.

1.TheOvercrowdedLifeboat

In1842,ashipstruckanicebergandmorethan30survivorswerecrowdedintoalifeboatintendedtohold7.Asastormthreatened,itbecameobviousthatthelifeboatwouldhavetobelightenedifanyoneweretosurvive.Thecaptainreasonedthattherightthingtodointhissituationwastoforcesomeindividualstogooverthesideanddrown.Suchanaction,hereasoned,wasnotunjusttothosethrownoverboard,fortheywouldhavedrownedanyway.Ifhedidnothing,however,hewouldberesponsibleforthedeathsofthosewhomhecouldhavesaved.Somepeopleopposedthecaptain'sdecision.Theyclaimedthatifnothingweredoneandeveryonediedasaresult,noonewouldberesponsibleforthesedeaths.Ontheotherhand,ifthecaptainattemptedtosavesome,hecoulddosoonlybykillingothersandtheirdeathswouldbehisresponsibility;thiswouldbeworsethandoingnothingandlettingalldie.Thecaptainrejectedthisreasoning.Sincetheonlypossibilityforrescuerequiredgreateffortsofrowing,thecaptaindecidedthattheweakestwouldhavetobesacrificed.Inthissituationitwouldbeabsurd,hethought,todecidebydrawinglotswhoshouldbethrownoverboard.Asitturnedout,afterdaysofhardrowing,thesurvivorswererescuedandthecaptainwastriedforhisaction.Ifyouhadbeenonthejury,howwouldyouhavedecided?

2.AFather'sAgonizingChoice

Youareaninmateinaconcentrationcamp.Asadisticguardisabouttohangyoursonwhotriedtoescapeandwantsyoutopullthechairfromunderneathhim.Hesaysthatifyoudon'thewillnotonlykillyoursonbutsomeotherinnocentinmateaswell.Youdon'thaveanydoubtthathemeanswhathesays.Whatshouldyoudo?

3.Sophie'sChoice,notinGrassian.

InthenovelSophie'sChoice,byWilliamStyron（VintageBooks,1976--the1982moviestarredMerylStreep&KevinKline）,aPolishwoman,SophieZawistowska,isarrestedbytheNazisandsenttotheAuschwitzdeathcamp.Onarrival,sheis"honored"fornotbeingaJewbybeingallowedachoice:

Oneofherchildrenwillbesparedthegaschamberifshechooseswhichone.Inanagonyofindecision,asbothchildrenarebeingtakenaway,shesuddenlydoeschoose.Theycantakeherdaughter,whoisyoungerandsmaller.Sophiehopesthatherolderandstrongersonwillbebetterabletosurvive,butshelosestrackofhimandneverdoeslearnofhisfate.Didshedotherightthing?

Yearslater,hauntedbytheguiltofhavingchosenbetweenherchildren,Sophiecommitssuicide.Shouldshehavefeltguilty?

4.TheFatManandtheImpendingDoom,withpartscutoutinthe2ndedition;theyseemtohavegottenremovedtoavoidunintentionallyhumorousovertones.

Afatmanleadingagroupofpeopleoutofacaveonacoastisstuckinthemouthofthatcave.Inashorttimehightidewillbeuponthem,andunlessheisunstuck,theywillallbedrownedexceptthefatman,whoseheadisoutofthecave.[But,fortunately,orunfortunately,someonehaswithhimastickofdynamite.]Thereseemsnowaytogetthefatmanloosewithoutusing[that]dynamitewhichwillinevitablykillhim;butiftheydonotuseiteveryonewilldrown.Whatshouldtheydo?

Sincethefatmanissaidtobe"leading"thegroup,heisresponsiblefortheirpredicamentandreasonablyshouldvolunteertobeblownup.Thedilemmabecomesmoreacuteifwesubstituteapregnantwomanforthefatman.Shewouldhavebeenurgedbytheotherstogofirstoutofthecave.

5.TheCostlyUnderwaterTunnel,compare:

 112menwerekilledduringtheconstructionofHooverDamontheNevada-Arizonaborder（the"official"numberwas98,butothershaddiedfromcausesmoredifficulttoidentify--oreasiertoignore--likebycarbonmonoxidepoisoning）:

 Thefirsttodiewasasurveyor,J.G.Tierney,whodrownedonDecember20,1922,andthelastwashisson,PatrickTierney,whodrownedonDecember20,1935--13yearstothedayafterhisfather.Theworkingconditionsinthesummerdowninthecanyoninvolvedtemperatureshittinghighsof119o,withlowsofnolessthan95o（familiarnumberstothosewhohavevisitedthecitiesofNeedles,Blythe,orYumainthesummer）.

In1931,aboutthetimethatHooverDam,afederalproject（withprivatecontractors--thewholeprojectwas"stimulus"spendingconceivedbyHoovertoalleviatetheDepression）,wasbegun,theEmpireStateBuilding,aprivateproject,wascompleted.Althoughtheruleofthumbhadbeenthatonemanwoulddieforeverystorybuiltinaskyscraper,whichwouldhavemeant120deadfortheEmpireStateBuilding,infactonly5mendiedinthewholeproject.Bycomparison,intheearlier（1908-1913）buildingoftheLosAngelesAqueductbyWilliamMulholland（d.1935）,itwasalsothecasethatonly5mendied（thoughwhenMulholland'sSt.FrancisDam,inFrancisquitoCanyon,collapsedin1928,itkilledover500people）.TheGoldenGateBridgecost14lives（or11--theruleofthumbtherewasonelifeforeach$1,000,000oftheproject,withthebridgecosting$35,000.000--workerswhofellandwerecaughtbynetsjoinedthe"Half-WaytoHellClub"）.TheAlaskaoilpipeline,builtinthe1970's,cost31lives.TheTunnelundertheEnglishChannel,builtintheearly1990's,cost11lives.WhentheGatewayArchinSt.Louiswasbeingplanned,thepredictionwasthat15workerswoulddie,butnonedid.Similarly,thoughmuchearlier（1927-1941）,noonediedduringthecarvingofMt.Rushmore（thoughworkersmayhavediedlaterfromtheeffectsofbreathingdustfromthecarvedrock--thisusedtobeaseriousproblemforminers,beforetheybeganflushingdrillpointswithwater,andinfactGutzonBorglumprovidedbreathingmasksfortheMt.Rushmoreworkers）.

Evenwithsuchprogressovertime,theJohnHancockBuildinginChicago（1970）cost109lives,or,indeed,aboutoneperfloor,aspredictedfortheEmpireStateBuilding--perhapstheinfamouswindofChicagomadeformorehazardousconditions.Whileitisusuallyordinaryworkerswhosufferinconstructionaccidents,itisn'talways,aswasthecasewiththeBrooklynBridge,whosedesigner,JohnAugustusRoebling,diedfromtheeffectsofaferryaccidentin1869whilesurveyingthesite.Hisson,WashingtonRoebling,sufferedsuchaseverecaseofthebends,workinginapressurizedcaissonin1872,thathesupervisedtherestoftheconstructioncrippledinbed,sendinginstructionsthroughhiswife,untilthebridgewascompletedin1883.Overall,27diedontheBrooklynBridge,3fromthebends（though,aswithHooverDam,thismaynotcountthemall）.Itwasmanyyearsbeforeitwasknownwhattodoaboutthiscondition.WorkerswerestillsufferingfromthebendswhentheHollandTunnelwasbuiltinthe1920's.Thechiefengineerofthetunnel,CliffordMilburnHolland,diedsuddenlyin1924,aged41,of"exhaustion."Thetunnel,openedin1927,wasthennamedafterhim.

ThefirsttunnelundertheHudsonwasbegunin1874.Constructionwasabandonedin1891becauseofdeaths（oneblowoutalonein1880killed20workers）,restartedin1903byAlexanderJ.CassattofthePennsylvaniaRailroad,andnotcompleteduntil1908.Allsuchbridgesandtunnelseliminatetheneedforferryboats.Eveninrecentyears,ferrysinkingsandaccidentsarecommon,andtheystillsometimesresultinthedeathsofhundredsofpeopleatatime.EvenNewYork'sfamousStatenIslandFerry（startedbyCorneliusVanderbilt）isnotimmune.OnOctober15,2003,thepilotononeoftheFerry'sshipspassedout（hewasdiabetic）,anditcrashedintoapieratStatenIsland.Elevenpeoplewerekilledand71wereinjured,somewithseveredlimbs.IhadjustriddentheFerrythatsummer,andInoticedthatmanypeoplestandrightontheedgeofthevesselasitapproachesthedock.Thatwasnotaplacetobeintheaccident.Thecaptainoftheferry,whowasnotathisrequiredstation,inthepilothouse,atthetimeoftheaccident,subsequentlycommittedsuicide.

RailroadSafety

year

billionsof

passenger

miles

fatalities

perbillion

passenger

miles

1890

11.8

24.2

1900

16.0

15.5

1910

32.3

10.0

totaldeaths,

1890-1917:

 230,000;duringWorldWarI,therailroadswererunbytheFederalGovernment

1920

47.4

4.8

1930

26.9

2.3

1939

22.7

1.8

1943

87.9

3.2

deathsincreaseduringWorldWarIIwiththetemporaryreturnofobsoleteequipment

1950

31.8

0.6

1970

10.8

0.07

Nowin2010,therehasbeenanotheraccidentwiththisferry,infactwiththeverysameship.OnMay8,theferrycrashedintothedockonStatenIsland,asin2003.Thistime,however,theproblem（sofar）lookslikeamechanicalratherthanahumanfailure.40peopleweretakentothehospital,fortunatelywithmostlyminorinjuries.

In1954atyphoonsank5ferriesintheTsugaruStraitbetweentheJapaneseislandsofHonshuandHokkaido,killing1430people.Atunnelwasbegunin1964toeliminatetheferries,althoughittook25yearstocomplete.TheideaforthetunnelundertheHudsonmayhavebeeninspiredbytheSt.GotthardTunnelinSwitzerland,whichwasbegunin1872.ItwasonlyamileundertheHudson,whiletheSt.Gotthardwouldbe9.25mileslong.Nevertheless,theSt.Gotthardtunnelwasfinishedintenyears,thoughatacostof310lives.

InthetableweseetherateoffatalitiesonA