The Trial Of George The Chemist Summary

It is without restriction that Williams introduces us to the exhibitions of George the Chemist and Jim the Botanist. The first, George, has seems to have it all; a wife, children, and a PhD in chemistry. However, he is not in good health and, thus, it is rather difficult for George to acquire a job. So, then, his dear wife must support the entire family by working. This, of course, develops strain not only on the wife and George, but on the children as well. It is not long after that these accounts of hardship on George and his family are overheard by an elder chemist. The chemist offers George an opportunity to get a decently paid job in a certain laboratory in which their research is for chemical and biological warfare. This is an affront to George’s own beliefs, but not to his wife’s. It was suggested by Williams that George should take the job to avoid competition between George and a more willing candidate for the job. Now this situation is on par with the utilitarian approach. In the end, Williams makes note that while the utilitarian may appears to have a …show more content…
However, Jim’s role is most notably serving in the subjectiveness in emotional condition in moral decision-making. Jim is presented as a botanist in a jungle somewhere in South America. Here, Jim finds himself amidst conflict amongst a tribe. A military thug trains his platoon by setting up a shooting range on twenty innocents. Jim suggests that if he were to shoot only one innocent, the other nineteen should be released. In this situation, Williams states that the obvious route to take, or the utilitarian approach, is to indeed shoot one and let the remaining numbers go. Whilst it is a cold decision, it would also leave Jim with conscience-eating qualms. If the situation were to change with Jim refusing to kill one and save the rest, all of the innocent and Jim would die. However, he would have died in his efforts to uphold