Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Self Interest vs. Moral Responsibility
In class today we talked about the trolley problem and the distinction between what we are actively doing and what we are passively doing. In my opinion, no matter what you choose, you are going to feel guilty. I guess it is a matter of feeling less guilty than you would have felt if you made a different decision. In this case, I think it is better to do something instead of just ignoring a situation because truly, you are never going to find yourself being fully resolved about it but it is for sure that you will feel better if you spoke up or acted instead of ignored the situation. In terms of the good samaritan, you should not ignore responsibilities. The question arises- are you responsible if you choose not to do anything? I think the answer is not technically, no, but you will feel awful about yourself in the long run and wish you had taken action in whatever the situation was. Trying is better than doing nothing, even if you are taking a moral risk. In this case, is it better to act with no self interest and just with other's interest in mind? In what type of situation is it ok to act with just a little self interest?
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I agree with Connor that there really is no good solution to any of the situations presented in class, so the best decision to make is to do something rather than nothing. Doing something is better than doing nothing because you will not be left feeling the guilt for not trying and you won’t be left asking “what if”. Even if you try in certain a situation and it ends in an unfortunate way, you will at least know that you gave it a chance. The feeling that you tried and failed is much easier to live with then being left with the uncertainty of what may have happen if you had acted. In this case I feel that a person needs to act with a good balance between their self-interest while at the same time keep others self interest in mind. You cannot be so selfish and make decisions just so you feel better with yourself, because you must take into account others value of life. You will have to live with whatever decision you end up making; whether you choose to act or to not. This, I believe makes a person act with some self-interest even if they do not realize it or do not try to act in this way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Connor and Kristin. I believe that if we are actively choosing whether or not to help, the best decision is to help. Trying to help is always better than doing nothing at all. Even if things do not go according to plan you at least put in the effort to try and help, and while at the moment that might not seem like anything, it is.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Connor's last question, a think a situation in which it might be acceptable to act with a little self-interest would actually be Amanda's example from class today. Just to refresh some of y'all's memories (ya i said y'all), her example was some one who has been trained in the art of CPR performing it on some one in need even though you are not currently on duty so to speak. When I was taking the CPR course to become lifeguard certified I was actually told to only help if a family member or guardian of the individual was nearby so that some one who had say of them was nearby to give me permission to help. This was so that they cannot sue you! Unbelievable, I know, but the family is able to sue as soon as you try to help. I am pretty sure I would help despite this, but I would understand if one chose not to help.
ReplyDeleteI agree. If you choose not to do anything you are going to feel guilty. I think part of the issue is that when you make a difficult decision you are always going to wonder what would have happened if you had made a different decision, so you will always doubt. I think it would be very difficult to act with no self-interest whatsoever in any situation. As humans we have a natural instinct of self-preservation so we are constantly thinking in terms of what is best for us in the long run and that is not something that is easily ignored.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually wondering if it's possible to ever act entirely without any self interest. For example, when volunteering (a less extreme example of helping those in need, granted, but it still applies just the same) it is nearly impossible to remove yourself from the equation of doing good. While the larger push may be doing good towards others, or saving a life, there will always be a part of yourself which is fueled by a little self interest. Perhaps there's a sort of hero complex in the back of your mind when saving someone's life, through CPR or otherwise, and while you genuinely want to save a life for the good of the act, there is also a desire to be considered a hero. There is also the inevitable good feeling one gets from volunteering for someone or helping someone and the same can be said for saving lives. I don't think it's possible to escape this need to feel good, and just because an action is done with the sneaking suspicion that it will help the do-gooder to feel better about him/herself or to feel accomplished, this should not take away the fact that he/she felt compelled to act in the first place. I don't think there's anything wrong with acting with self interest as long as the end result is one which serves others, especially because in serving others there will always be a component of self service in addition to the care for others.
ReplyDeleteAmanda makes a great point that it may not be possible to act without any self interest. Because of our human nature, there is always the factor of, "Will this benefit me in any way?" We are all inclined to think that way unfortunately, and for many people, it can be the deciding factor. If helping a person doesn't benefit us in any way, some people would choose not to act, even if the situation is dire. We see it when we see stories on the news of kids being kidnapped. A lot of kidnappings happen with people around, yet they assume it's just the kid's mom or dad. It doesn't benefit us to go out of our way to double check if we see something strange happen out of the corner of our eye so many people do no act, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteThese trolley problems have shown that our class is extremely conscientious about others' perception about our decisions and also our own inner feelings (such as guilt for making a difficult choice). However, I believe a person who truly follows a moral principle or believes in moral responsibility should not even consider these factors. Good moral choices are not made to make the person feel better about themselves (even though it very well do) nor should the person making the morally right but tough decision care about anyone's judgement. A decision made from concrete principle is meant to be made for solely the action, regardless of the outside factors.
ReplyDeleteAs it was brought up earlier by Colin and Amanda, there are some cases where legality is attached to your actions. For example, if fireman off duty (this includes volunteer fireman) decide to help someone in need they are required by oath and law to do everything possible to save that person. That cannot stop half way. In that case some of these people may not act because they do want to be liable for the other party. While I everyone is not held to this kind of oath, I think there are times were it was better if people did not act. I think most people would only try to help a person out if they felt like they had the capacity to save them. For example, if someone did not feel trained enough and thought they would hurt the person more by performing CPR I think that could be okay. The person could still try to help out by finding someone else who knows how to do CPR or call a professional. As everyone has said I do think it is better to do something rather than nothing. Something, though, maybe something as small as calling the police, making space for the victim, getting something someone needs etc. You will still feel guilty if the person dies no matter what happens and you will always play a what if game in your head, but you will eventually realize that you did everything that you could within your power.
ReplyDelete