Question

Choose a concept from any 3 author we studied (Kant, Marx, Mill, Rand, Gandhi, or Nietzsche) and give me an application/example of it (can be from the news, a personal story, something you learned in another class, etc.). Make sure to EXPLAIN the concept AND how it applies.

Answer 1

KANT:

According to Kant’s ethical theory for an action to be good, it means that maxim people will perform the action. Also an unconditionally good action is something that has a good will. Kant says that an outcome or consequence of the action could be zero or nothing but still it will be a good action considering the moral of the action.

Example:

In a recent article, we can see that the baby (Molly) was affected by some (Fanconi’s anaemia) disease. The disease could only be cured with person who has the exact match. And this is only possible if her parents had other children. Thus her parents went through a process (PGD) and now after 2.5 years she is saved. Also it could be seen that the other child is not a clone and hence it might not be a threat for people scared of genetic customizing though people say so.

According to Kant ethical theory an action could be good if it has a good will. Here the good will of the action is saving the life of a child. Also here the other people are used as a means for saving someone’s life, this could be arguing with Kant theory. But when looked deep in it, it could be seen that the person who is used as a donor is not affected with this action rather serve as a support for the goodwill action.

Since Molly’s parent made the choice of having their own baby for finding the exact match, it could be seen that they were not using the other person as means. But in other situations where people decide to use other means that could affect other person only for protecting their child then it could be seen that they are immoral. And also since this has not created any advancement in clone development that could harm other people, rather it has produced a transformation in the genetic customising where this technology could be used for saving the life of other person without harming other.

Kant says that we must answer two questions before we proceed into action:

Before doing the action, think if everyone else will do the same action as yours- If no then do not proceed with the action. In our situation it can be seen that Molly’s parent action was to support their child and give her a healthy life and future. So they have proposed an action where the life of their child could be saved if they had other child with exact genetic match. This act would be performed by any parent or person who wants to save their child.

Before doing the action, question yourself if your action will hurt any human being’s goal and that you are using them- If no then do not proceed with the action anticipated. Here Molly’s parent conceived a child to save their child. But they were not just using their second child for this purpose. Thus anyone in their place will do the same.

Thus the action of Molly’s parents according to Kant theory can be seen as moral as there was good will in the action and there is people benefited through this action.

JOHN STUART MILL:

He says that the moral value is when an action creates and promotes happiness when the reverse happens it is due to wrong actions. The Utilitarianism principle judges the ethical action based on the outcome. The outcome of any ethical decision according to Utilitarianism should be good. Also it considers the amount of people to whom the outcome is delivered i.e an ethical decision is one which serves good for a vast amount of people. But this theory could not be considered for all the situations given the fact that we could not decide or know if the outcome is good or bad. Also in some cases even if the outcome serves a lot of people the outcome could be bad.

Example:

“The Ones who walk away from Omelas” is a short story. In the story a city is described where people are wealthy, happy and live in harmony. The economy of the city is growing in a high pace. The wealth and happiness of the city lies in the city where a small child is being tortured day and night. If the child is saved then the city will decline in growth.

Thus based on this concept we can say that the child being tortured is okay as it gives peace to many people.

GANDHI:

Gandhi’s concept of Ahimsa is widely known principle. He has adopted the principle from ancient Hindu religion and Buddha. Ahimsa means non- violence and it is the concept of not harming anyone. He has solved various political, social problems by adopting ahimsa.

Example:

When I was in middle school I was bullied in school for my little stout appearance. But whenever I came across such people I used to say nothing and stay calm. So after few days people were tired of me and started to ignore the fact I am fat and after few days we started having small talks and now we are good friends. Had I fought with them or shown my anger I don’t think I will have friends like them.