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Utilitarianism And Situation Ethical Analysis

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Utilitarianism and Situation ethics Does a vigilante contribute more good than harm to a society? In this Philosophy internal assessment I will be discussing, analyzing and comparing the two theories of utilitarianism and situation ethics and which one has a better representation of what a vigilante does to a city or a society because of its actions and its consequences of these actions. The stimulus that I will be using to accurately express these two theories in regards with a vigilante is the television show Arrow. This fictional television show shows how a stranded playboy billionaire returns to his home city seeking revenge for the wrongs his family had done to the city and to clean up this horrible city up as he turns from a weak boy …show more content…

Created by Joseph Fletcher in the mid nineteen hundreds, it is also a teleological theory which considers the consequences. Fletcher based situation ethics on the Gospel representation and the teachings of Jesus. So situation ethics is related which religious teachings that concern Jesus. The approach of situation ethics develops a principle from Jesus’ action of breaking the law when the situation demanded it for reasons of love. Fletcher uses Jesus teaching of “love thy neighbor” as the base of his ethics. This literally means that you should always do the most loving thing for society or another person, always treat everyone equally. We can certainly say that the Arrow is doing what he thinks is the most loving thing to do for the society as a whole however because of his actions innocent people suffer which is going against Fletcher’s moral theory of situational ethics. So through his own perception he is doing the right thing. This is where we will discuss the first negative of situation ethics. Situation ethics is individualistic, because decisions must be made within the situation as it’s perceived to be. It isn’t easy to be certain that ones perception of the situation is correct. How can a specific individual, such as the Arrow, safely decide whats the most loving action? Humans don’t have an objective perspective and could end up justifying unloving actions on the basis of loving results that will never emerge. This also ties in what I said before that we can’t predict the future. So applying this to the stimulus as said before the Arrow is only looking at the situation from his perception and his consequences cause innocent people to suffer and maybe even die which is not the most loving thing to do. The second disadvantage of Situation ethics is that situation ethics seems to be prepared to accept any action if it fits into the required criteria. After a century of some of

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