Ethical Perspectives and Consequentialism
Complete the following assignment in a Word document.
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:
- Free health care should be available to all people. After all, if that were the case, it would benefit everyone.
- 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.
- 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.
- Same-sex marriage is right because the polls show that most Americans favor it, even if that is not the case in other countries.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
