Ethics And Utilitarianism In Watchmen

Ethics is a tricky subject. By the fact that different theories of ethics even exist suggests that there is not one simple answer to the question of what is right. Ethics can be used differently in different subjects and even within a particular subject, there are subcategories of ethics that often conflict with one another. In the comic book Watchmen, there are a lot of ethical questions that are being asked. One question in particular involves the characters of Ozymandias and Rorschach in the scene where Rorschach finds out about Ozymandias’s plan to kill millions in an effort to create world peace. Ozymandias thinks that he is doing the right thing by sacrificing people for the greater good, and Rorschach believes that he is right for trying …show more content…
Essentially, the main difference between Kantian deontology and utilitarianism is that one theory focuses on actions while the other focuses on consequences of actions. One criticism of utilitarianism is that it is impossible to know for certain what the consequences of a particular action will be. Maybe Ozymandias was right, and that sacrificing millions of people will result in world peace and then he would live out his days in the utopian society that he created. On the other hand, maybe the situation could end up not at all like he had planned. It is possible that what Ozymandias did could send the world further into the self-destructive spiral that it was already heading toward with the impending Cold War. This is where Kant’s theories seem more favorable because they do not rely on the consequences of tough ethical questions so there is no need to wait and see to determine if an action was right or wrong. Where Kant’s theories become less favorable is in situations wherein lies are told for altruistic reasons. This is where Rorschach and Ozymandias disagree. Rorschach only believes in killing when it comes to guilty persons, which is why he is so adamant that Ozymandias’s plan be foiled. If Ozymandias had planned it to where only criminals would be killed by his plan, and that innocent people would not be harmed, then Rorschach would have likely gotten on board. However, that was not the case, so the question of who was right still