Dr. Ari Santas

Deontology Exercise

For Rachels, Chapters 9-10

Consider the scenarios from the video selection (e.g., from Monkey House)

Explain the two formulations of the Kantian "categorical imperative" using the concept of absolute moral rules in chapter 9 and that of respect for persons in chapter 10. Illustrate with examples from the selection. Contrast this theory to that of utilitarianism.

Now go back to the scenarios depicted under utilitarianism:

A. The Dialysis Clinic

You are a hospital administrator.Your facility is the only hospital in the region with a kidney dialysis machine.Two persons come for dialysis at the same time and each of them needs to use the machine immediately or face almost certain death.There is no time to take one of them to another facility.One patient is an important businessman in his late 60’s, with a spouse, 3 children and seven grandchildren.The other patient is a homeless woman in her 30’s, with no spouse and one child.Which one should receive dialysis? What do you do?

B. The Trolley Problem[1]

There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. Unfortunately, you notice that there is one person on the side track. You do not have the ability to operate the lever in a way that would cause the trolley to derail without loss of life (for example, holding the lever in an intermediate position so that the trolley goes between the two sets of tracks, or pulling the lever after the front wheels pass the switch, but before the rear wheels do). You have two options: (1) Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people on the main track. (2) Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person. Which is the correct choice?

  1. Explain what you would do as aKantian/Deontologistand why.What reasoning process would you undergo in your decision-making?
  2. What are some of the major drawbacks of Kantian ethics? Illustrate, using the scenarios provided. How might Kant defend his theory?

[1] Source: