Please compose a well-organized paper of 600-750 words (not counting references).
• Be sure to use introductory and concluding paragraphs and adhere to the required word count.
• Demonstrate good use of our text books; you may also use outside sources and/or class discussions. (Third Edition, Consider Ethics, Theory, Readings, and Contemporary Issues, by Bruce N. Waller, and also, Thinking Critically About Moral Problems by Thomas F. Wall)
• ANY source that you use has to be documented (citation in your text and references at the end)
• Prepare your paper in full APA style, including formatting, title page, citations, and reference page.
• Be sure to use quotation marks when taking more than 3 words in a row from the text or any source, even for definitions.
For this first short paper assignment, read the separate attachment, The Trolley Problems, in the Seminar 2 Readings section.
1. In your introductory paragraph of a minimum of 150 words, summarize the two Trolley Problems and your responses.
2. In your second paragraph of a minimum of 150 words, apply Kantian ethics to the Trolley Problems. What answers would a Kantian give to the Trolley Problems and why?
3. In your third paragraph of a minimum of 150 words, apply Utilitarian ethics to the Trolley Problems. What answers would a Utilitarian give to the Trolley Problems and why?
4. In your concluding (fourth) paragraph of a minimum of 150 words, evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of Utilitarian and Kantian ethics based on your answers to #2 and #3. If you had to pick one of these two theories to live under, which would it be and why?
The grading rubric for this assignment can be found under the Course Documents button in this week's folder.
THE TROLLEY PROBLEMS
Before you start your short paper in week two, please read the two scenarios below and consider each carefully. This "Trolley" problem is a thought experiment, not an actual situation. Your exploration of such thought experiment will help you in learning the application of critical thinking before you address actual problems. One more hint: you can responds ONLY with "yes" or "no"-no other options should be considered for THIS exercise.
Trolley Problem I
A runaway trolley will kill five people on the track ahead if it continues on its course. You are standing in the train yard near a switch. The only way to save the five people is for you to pull that switch and turn the trolley onto a side track. However, if you do so one person on that side track will be killed by the trolley. Do you pull the switch, saving five people but sacrificing one?
Trolley Problem II
A runaway trolley will kill five people on the track ahead if it continues on its course. You are standing on a bridge over the tracks, next to a very large stranger. If you push the stranger onto the tracks, his body will block the train from hitting the five others, saving them but killing him. Do you push him?