PHI1630 Contemporary Ethical Problems - Shanghai Summer 2019

I agree with the writer, and I think to become a vegetarian does not mean give the animal rights. We live in human society, but also in the nature. We are just on the top of food chain, thus it’s our nature to eat other animal, it is something inherent. We should respect every creature, in the same time, obey our nature. That is share the same right with every creature.

I totally agree that there’s  not a thing called absolute free will. Once you know what is happening and try to predict the outcome, your decision was influenced by your prediction. Every happens for a reason, and there was a chain effect, your decision are the most logically suitable part of the chain effect, thus, I agree there’s no free will exists.

Page 169-189, this is a short science-fiction story. There’s couple questions I want to discuss. I know in those kind story we are forced into doing some moral choice like this, so I have get rid of any other possible solution, like the situation in the “train” story.
As in utilitarianism approach, in order to maximizing the benefit, the best choice for them is to throw the little girl out the window,  which would save other five’s life. And they did, also they are following the conventionalism approach, they are on a mission and no matter what it takes, they should follow the command. Here is my question, what if that was not a little girl, instead, it was an animal(dog/cat/bear), and captain has huge connection to it. Does he still choose to throw it out the window. I guess he could not make choices in that circumstance. So the point is, anything , a living creature or a object, once there’s relation or emotion associated with it, people tend to hesitate, that is the virtue doing the work. In the end, they throw the girl out the window, she does not have a connection to the captain. That is why she got throw out in my opinion.


Libo cheng