Utilitarianism vs. Deontology

For this week, you read about "The Overcrowded Lifeboat" and the two general moral theories (Utilitarianism and Deontology) that we'll use in this class to help us analyze different sides of the philosophical and legal debates we read about across the semester. In the lifeboat case study, you're asked to consider whether the ship's crew made the right legal and moral choice when deciding who to save once the ship began to sink. Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of the shipmates' actions, while Deontology focuses on whether their actions follow the categorical imperative or whether they did the right thing for the right reasons. (Make sure you've read carefully and watched the video so that you understand these basic points before trying to engage in this week's forum.)

Prompt:For our discussion forum this week, you'll need to combine what you've been learning about argumentation with what your developing knowledge of these moral theories and apply this to the dilemma of the overcrowded lifeboat. 1) FIrst provide one clear, strongpremisethat a Utilitarian would use to support or criticize the shipmates' actions. 2) Next, provide one clear, strongpremisethat a Deontologist would use to support or criticize their actions. 3) Then, identify which of these premises is stronger and carefully and critically explain the reasons that it's a stronger premise.

It's really important to remember that a premise offers clear reasons, data, evidence, facts etc. to offer support for a conclusion. The conclusion for both Util. and Deon. is that either the shipmates did or did not do the right thing (i.e., they should or should not be punished). Your job is to provide the strongest supporting reason for either of those conclusions using what you learned about the moral theories.

Make sure you take really good notes - keep copies of what you write in the forums - and really engage with your classmates' ideas here. The skills and knowledge you're building in this forum will be extremely important as we progress in class.While you can paraphase from our materials, do not use quotations and avoid outside reading on these moral theories unless you've spoken with me about it first. There is a ton of bad philosophy on the internet!