PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

INSTRUCTOR: DR. Ehsan Ul Hassan

ASSIGNMENT # 1: Ethical Dilemma

GROUP MEMBERS:

AMNA AHMED GILLANI (237607)

MARYAM SANA (210706)

SYEDA BEENA FATIMA RIZVI (210806)

ZAIN ALI (220784)

ZAINAB MANSOOR (207830)

SECTION: BEE9 A

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 22-04-2021

Zainab Mansoor
CMS: 207830
Introduction
The life-boat dilemma is an ethical dilemma and hence there is no “correct answer” to it.
However, there are many different perspectives in ethics which result in different outcomes
depending on the ideology of the decision maker. Hence different individuals will select different
combinations of people to board the lifeboat since they have different mindsets. Some of the
different perspectives that are utilized while making ethical decisions are:
● Moral Rules Group: People who advocate for moral rules believe that every life holds
equal value. Therefore, their idea of an ethical solution would be to choose 6 people who
will board the lifeboat via lottery.
● Virtues Based Group: This group of people chooses who gets saved according to what
characteristics or virtues they possess. They may select one quality as a priority (like
ability to survive in rough seas) and determine who will be selected based on who
possesses that skill.
● Outcomes Based Groups: This group of people will consider how much effect each
person will have on society if they survive. Therefore, they will select those people they
deem have the greatest benefit to society if they survive.
● Care Based Group: These types of people will select those individuals who need to be
honored and respected. Therefore, this group will want to save the elderly people as well
as women and children.
● Principles Based Group: This group of people will try to find a balance between the
other four principles to select who will board the ship. They might do voting amongst the
people holding different perspectives in order to do what they believe is the ethical
solution. This is the most time consuming perspective in ethical decision making.
In order to make our decision on whom to save, we will consider all the different perspectives to
evaluate who will board the lifeboard and who will not.

Syeda Beena Fatima Rizvi

CMS; 210806
Based on our group discussion we decided the following:
SAVE:
1. Veteran surgeon
2. 6 weeks pregnant woman
3. Twins (1+1)
4. Lifeguard
5. Captain of the ship
NOT SAVE:
1. Married couple (1+1)
2. Senior citizen with fifteen grandchildren
3. Professor

Woman who is 6 weeks pregnant (SAVE)

As a ship’s captain I would like to save as many lives as possible. Saving the 6 weeks pregnant
woman actually implies saving two lives at cost of one, which is ethical and moral because
respecting a pregnant woman seems ethical and as well as more benefiting scenario if we come
to see it in long term because she is going to give birth to a new life and he/she may happen to be
a useful asset to the society.

Saving the pregnant woman might not seem right in the light of “Virtues Group” because she
might need medical help, possibly she might not be able to swim, will eat more and might
become a burden on the rest of the people in the boat.

In conclusion, saving the pregnant woman seems right in the light of

Care based group: Because she is pregnant, and

Outcome based group: Because she is bringing a new life into the world.

Moral Group: Each life matters equally. It is a lottery case.

Senior citizen who has 15 grandchildren (DO NOT SAVE)

As the captain of the ship and not being able to save the senior citizen feels disturbing but if I
come to weigh the pros and cons of the decision of not saving the senior citizen, I can make
peace with my decision because the senior citizen has almost seen and enjoyed all the phases of
life. He lived his childhood, his teenage, middle age, got married, had kids. He even got to see
his grandkids. I can save someone else instead who has not seen this much in life and if he/she
gets a chance to live their life they might reach the point where this senior citizen is right now.
So, it is like saving dreams of some people at the sacrifice of life of a person who got the chance
to live them.

Saving him only seems right in the light of “Care Group” where the elderly are given a wild card
always. Also, if I somehow decide that he should board the ship, still there are many chances that
he might not survive the rough waters because he is too old to bear the harsh conditions they will
face there. So, saving him can turn into a loss of not saving some other deserving candidate.

According to the “Virtues Group” him, not boarding the boat seems logical because he will not
be able to help others, instead would be the one who needs help. So as a captain of the ship I
decide not to save him in such a condition.

Zainab Mansoor
CMS: 207830

Professor (DO NOT SAVE)

The decision about the professor is very difficult as we do not know many details like age and
gender. From an outcome based perspective, the professor has great value to society as an
educator who can influence many young people and contribute to research. However from a
virtues perspective, the professor might not possess the physical fitness and practical
knowledge that would be beneficial to the group. While the theoretical knowledge possessed by
the professor holds value to society, the immediate concern is to ensure that the people who
board the lifeboat will survive. With this perspective in mind, the professor cannot do much to
aid the survival as it is unlikely that he has good physical fitness due to the nature of his job.
Furthermore, since reaching the position of a prominent professor takes many years of effort, he
will not be a young person and will have already achieved many things in his life to have made it
a fulfilling one. From the perspective of a ship’s captain, a phD degree does not matter much in
this situation and the professor will just be an ordinary middle aged man to him. Hence the
captain of the ship will leave the professor behind.

Maryam Sana
CMS: 210706
Veteran Surgeon (SAVE):
I choose to keep veteran surgeon on the lifeboat because it would be a good idea to keep
someone with medical experience on a lifeboat. Saving a veteran surgeon will not only save one
life but also it might be able to save other lives on the boat in case of any medical emergency.
A veteran surgeon upon surviving can contribute and help society by providing health care
services. Hence Virtues based group and outcomes based both support the choice of surgeon in
the category of people to be saved. A veteran surgeon also might have helped in saving many
lives in the past and the moral group says that such a person doesn’t deserve to die.

Married couple (DO NOT SAVE):

Saving the married couple does not have a lot of reasons. There are more important people
according to morals ,outcomes, care and principals group than the married couple. So we have to
either let go of both of them or one of them. Hence I choose both of them to stay behind. As
given, the young married couple would be healthy and more prone to survive and swim for a
longer time while waiting for another ship or lifeboat to come by and save them. If they can not
make it, at least they will be together. Assuming they are newly wed and are in love. They
should stay with each other , if they don’t survive their love can live on in spirit.

Zain Ali
CMS: 220784

13 year old twins (SAVE)

Both the twins should be saved. Both the twins should be saved since the bond between twins is
of a very delicate nature, naturally. Leaving any one of them behind would have devastating
effects on the other twin. It would just be like killing both of them if any one is left behind, hence
just using up one member's space - of no use.
They are of a young age and they probably have not explored themselves or the life they have
been given, yet. They should be given a chance to live and fully explore the wonders life has in
store for them. Providing them the opportunity to live life could even do wonders. One of them
might turn out to be very intelligent and brings about new inventions or discoveries that might
even bring about very much needed and helpful changes in the world - thus storing huge
potential to be beneficial to the society. The other might grow up to become a people’s
representative, working with the people, for the people - for the betterment of society.
They will have many potential years in front of them and the huge possibility of turning out to be
very beneficial to the society or even the world!
So, I would choose to give priority to save the twins. Both the “Care” group and the “Outcome
based” group are satisfied here as they are young and have the potential to be beneficial to the
society even the world

Captain (SAVE)
After taking a majority vote, the decision to save me (the Captain) was taken. There were
multiple reasons for that. It was discussed that I should be saved because of multiple reasons,
which are as follows: The captain would be of much value to the ones being saved. It should be
kept in mind that the captain would be the only person most suitable to be given the charge to
take the survivors back home. He is the only person who has the knowledge of sea waters and
storms and has the required navigation skills to get them back home. Only he can judge the wind
and the waves and can set the boat in the right direction and ensure that the correct path is
maintained throughout the journey till they reach their destination.
He would know the situation, if an emergency arrives or is about to arrive and would be needed
to keep things organized and prevent panic among the survivors.
The captain will know what to do in emergencies, if a storm is approaching or if the waves get
too big or there might even be a problem in the boat, only the captain would have the proper
expertise to deal with such emergency situations and can arrange for necessary measures to be
taken.
Amna Ahmed Gillani
CMS: 237607

Lifeguard: (SAVE)
From the perspective of the moral group, the lifeguard’s life is equally valuable as the rest of the
people in the ship. However from the perspective of virtues and outcomes, the lifeguard has a
more valuable life and he should be amongst the people in the lifeboard.
The most important reason for this is that the lifeguard possesses the necessary skills and training
to not only survive in the troubled waters but also to help others survive. Since he would be a
very strong swimmer, he would have the greatest chance of surviving if the lifeboard collapses or
over turns. Furthermore, he might also be able to save other people from drowning. Secondly
being a lifeguard means that he would know valuable skills like resuscitation, first aid and victim
rescue and can help someone who has almost drowned to recover. Thirdly, lifeguard training
involves being very physically fit, so he would have a lot of stamina to face the obstacles the
group may face and provide valuable manpower. Therefore, from the virtues perspective, the
lifeguard should be saved since he has the skills to survive and help others survive.
From an outcomes perspective, the lifeguard should be saved since he provides a lot of value to
society. Since he is in charge of monitoring waters and rescuing people from drowning in case of
emergencies, he is someone who can save people’s lives if he survives. Also, lifeguards have an
important role in preventing hazards, evacuating beaches, rescuing stranded boats and educating
people about water safety.
Therefore, as the ship’s captain, I would prioritise the lifeguard’s life and let him board the
lifeboat.

Conclusion:
Ultimately the decision on whom to save comes down the personal judgement of the captain and
his ideologies and mindset. There are many other factors as well that can change the situation
like someone being aggressive and trying to board the lifeboat forcefully. Furthermore, some
people might be entering shock and unable to move or listen to instructions from the captain. The
captain might also make illogical decisions due to the pressure of the situation. For example, the
captain might try to squeeze everyone in the lifeboard which is not feasible and everyone will
die. People who are not in that situation might blame the captain for not saving elderly, women
and children and saving himself instead. However only the captain knows that if he sent only
elderly and children on the lifeboat they would not be able to survive on their own. Therefore
making the ethical choice can result in a lot of guilt and shame for him from society. Ultimately,
this is an extremely high pressure situation with no correct answers and it is very difficult to
think logically about what to do in such a situation. Therefore, it is important to consider now,
when we are not in a sinking ship, so that we are ready to act and save lives in such situations if
they ever happen.