Question

Determine which ethical perspective is primarily reflected in each of the arguments below and, in 1-2 sentences for each argument, explain why it corresponds to the ethical perspective you selected..

Ethical Perspectives:

A = Consequentialism
B = Duty Ethics/Deontology
C = Virtue Ethics
D = Moral Relativism

Arguments:

1. Free health care should be available to all people. After all, if that were the case, it would benefit everyone.
2. Character education should be part of the public school system in the United States. We need to cultivate integrity in our children, and the public school system should play a role in this important process.
3. Although many societies have practiced human sacrifice, human sacrifice wasn't considered wrong, even though we believe it is wrong in our culture. So, human sacrifice within those cultures wasn't really wrong.
4. Same-sex marriage is right because the polls show that most Americans favor it, even if that is not the case in other countries.
5. The legalization of same-sex marriage is wrong because the government has no right to legally sanction any form of personal relationship except one: marriage relationships between a man and a woman. That is the only type of relationship that can lead to procreation, and the state has a legitimate interest in procreation. Thus, the state has a duty to support marriage between a man and a woman, and a duty to refrain from getting legally involved in other types of relationships.
6. Dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was wrong because those acts violated the right to life of many innocent people, and we should protect those rights.
7. Dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was right because those acts ended the war faster, and thus made the world a safer place.
8. We need to do a background check and to collect some character references on Mr. Jones before we hire him.
9. He doesn't have the right character and temperament to be a state governor. He has been involved in corruption scandals, known to be dishonest, and has problems controlling his anger.
10. Sure, slavery is wrong in our society because we all agree it's wrong. However, slavery isn't absolutely wrong because many societies have practiced slavery.

Answer 1

1. The argument health care should be available to all people because it would benefit everyone follows the consequentialist perspective. This is because it suggests the maximization for good for the largest number of individuals.
2. The argument that character education should be part of the public school system in the United States follows the virtue ethics perspective. It emphasizes the importance of building strong character traits among school students so that they behave morally.
3. The argument that although human sacrifice isn't really wrong in other cultures, even though we believe it is wrong in our culture follows the moral relativism perspective. This is because the statement emphasizes that the rightness or wrongness of an action depends not on objective values but the lens of the culture from which it is viewed.
4. The idea that same-sex marriage is right because the polls show that most Americans favor it, even if that is not the case in other countries follws the moral relativism perspective. This is because the statement emphasizes that the rightness or wrongness of an action depends not on objective values but the lens of the culture from which it is viewed.

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