Philosophy:
Suppose you are the parent of a three-year old son. This summer you are cruising the Atlantic on an expensive cruise ship, and disaster strikes--the ship sinks. You somehow manage to get on a lifeboat with a motor. All around you people are drowning and crying for help. Suddenly, you see your son a hundred yards away. He is frantically trying to stay afloat. In order to save your son, you must drive the lifeboat to him. However, just as you are about to do that, you see that two children are about to drown ten yards away in the opposite direction.
What would you do? What would act utilitarianism require you to do? What do you think is the morally right thing to do?