Philosophy 300words essay
In this assignment, you will consider the following dilemma Write a very short response paper (300 words maximum) describing what choice you would make and why. In the response you need to:
- Describe how this situation presents a moral dilemma.
- Identify the moral principles that are in conflict in this situation.
- Present arguments for how the dilemma might be resolved.
The overcrowded lifeboat: A large passenger ship crashes at sea and only one lifeboat is available to rescue the survivors. This lifeboat has a maximum capacity of 15 people, but there are 30 survivors. Attempting to save them all, the captain and his mates load everyone into the boat. Unfortunately, as they are attempting to return to land a storm approaches. The waves begin to pick up and the captain is aware that unless he lightens the load on the boat, it will sink. He faces the following dilemma: Do I order some of the passengers on the boat off (these people will surely die) or do I allow the storm to overtake all of the passengers? Is there any fair way to choose who will be saved and who will perish? Is it better to allow all to die or force some to die in order that others will live?