Question

A young person is facing a moral dilemma. Their country is involved in a military action in a foreign nation, and they have been conscripted by the government for the war effort. Unfortunately, their mother is suffering from a terminal illness, and she has no other family. The person and their mother, with whom they still live, are very poor, and a soldier’s salary will not be sufficient to pay for the care that the mother requires. If the person leaves, she will definitely die alone and in great pain in their small apartment, without the medical or palliative care required to aid and comfort her. The question we are pushed to consider is what should the person do in this situation? Should they go and fight, or should they stay home and care for his mother? (These, by the way, are the only alternatives).

Evaluate this problem from a utilitarian perspective, by offering a detailed application of the greatest happiness principle.

Answer 1

The utilitarian theory says that the wrongness and the rightness of an act depend upon its consequences. If the act provides more happiness and less pain then it is morally a good act., that means to decide and act to be morally right one has to wait till the consequences are reached.

In this scenario, the country is involved in military action in a foreign nation. According to government policy, they have been conscripted for the war effort.

There are three people, the soldier, the person, and their mother. If the person also goes as per the government order, the mother will be left alone. It is said that the person with whom the mother stays is poor and the soldier's salary is not sufficient. If both of them go then the mother will be left alone, as she is terminally sick, they cannot leave her alone because she will die alone and in great pain.

The person should not leave the mother and go because on the war front there are many soldiers, but with the mother, there is no one. If she is left alone she would die in pain. The consequences of leaving her alone are bad.

On the war front, the soldiers go to kill the enemies; killing does not bring happiness in any sense. By being with the person who wants support at her last moment is the greatest happiness because one is saving a life.