If you had to choose between (1) killing one person
to save the lives of five others
and (2) doing nothing, even though you knew that five people would die
right before your eyes if you did nothing—what would you do?
What would be the right thing to do?
That’s the hypothetical scenario Professor Michael Sandel uses
to launch his course on moral reasoning.
Sandel introduces the principles of utilitarian philosopher,Jeremy Bentham,
with a famous nineteenth century law
case involving a shipwrecked crew of four.
After nineteen days lost at sea, the captain decides to kill the cabin boy,
the weakest amongst them,
so they can feed on his blood and body to survive.
