Consequentialism And Utilitarianism In Garrett Hardin's Lifeboat Ethics

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Ethics is the philosophical study of morality. In other words, it is the study of what is wrong and right, good or bad. Humanity has been intrigued with the answer to these subject matters for hundreds of years. In that time there have been several philosophers such as Aristotle who have formulated moral theories like Virtue ethics. Not all of these theories are put in practice today but they do help in the solving of moral issues. One such experiment which has been brought about by the ecologist Garrett Hardin, is called Lifeboat Ethics. It presents the following situation which happens on a lifeboat after a shipwreck in the middle of the ocean:

"So here we sit, say 50 people in our lifeboat. To be generous, let us assume it has room for
…show more content…
Essentially, consequentialist moral theories are concerned with the consequences of actions. That is, what makes an action right is the consequences it will bring about for everyone. On the other hand, Nonconsequentialist theories are not concerned with the consequences of actions but with the nature of the actions, this is what nonconsequentialists look at when judging whether an action is right or wrong. The theories in discussion can then be categorized as such. Both Utilitarianism ans Ethical Egoism fall under Consequentialist theories because their main focus are consequences. On the other hand, Divine Command Theory, Kantian Ethics and Natural Law all fall under Nonconsequentialist theories because their main focus is the nature of …show more content…
According to Vaughn egoism tells the people on the boat to do what will bring the best outcome for themselves. In other words, helping probably does not sound like something and egoist would do in this situation at all. If the egoists on the boat were to have another ten people jump on the boat then that means that there would be less rations for the fifty people who are already sitting on the boat. On the other hand, if the egoists were to actually let another ten people on the boat they would choose whoever would eat less, need the least attention, occupy the least amount of room and whoever is the most able to help in this

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