Introduction to Ethics Richard Lee
Philosophy 2103 sec. 012Summer 2009

Paper (Writing Assignment)
Choose one of the following cases:

  1. The choice of the first-mate to order the crew to throw men overboard as told in "Seaman Holmes and the Longboat of William Brown" (pp.237f)
  2. The choice Sophie is asked to make at the bottom of page 81 of the selection from Styron's Sophie's Choice
  3. The choice those in Omelas face (see "the terms" on page 283) in Le Guin story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"

For your chosen case do all of the following:

  1. carefully analyze the case from a utilitarian (e.g., Bentham) theory to determine (from that perspective) what the right thing to do is (and why)
  2. carefully analyze the case from Kantian theory to determine (from that perspective) what the right thing to do is (and why)
  3. carefully analyze the case from Ross's intuitionist theory to determine (from that perspective) what the right thing to do is (and why)
  4. carefully analyze the case from your own moral view to determine (from that perspective) what the right thing to do is (and why)

Note: For this assignment you need not use any materials apart from those in the class texts -- indeed you are encouraged not to. However, no matter what sources of information you use -- even the textbook -- be sure to make adequate attribution (e.g. in footnotes). You are expected to do your own work. Use of unacknowledged sources (e.g., books, classmates, friends, tutors, web pages, other papers) for this assignment constitutes cheating.

This paper should be submitted electronically to rlee@uark.edu. The paper should be submitted as an in-line text file or as a "rich text format" (.rtf) file. (You'll probably have to use a "save as" command to get your document into this form.) Submissions after the due date risk incursion of a penalty for lateness.

Please put your name on your paper. Be sure also to indicate (by letter) at the top of the first page which of the cases you are writing on.

Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 3 June 2009