HU-222 Professional Ethics

Assignment: 01

BEE-9A

Submitted By:
Muhammad Ali (219152)
Sarmad Sikandar (209347)
Syed Momin Ali Hashmi (208945)
Syed Shayan Sohail (207556)

Submitted To:
Dr. Ehsan ul Hassan
Submission Date:
20th April 2021
 THE LIFEBOAT DILEMMA
People Saved

MUHAMMAD ALI (219152)

Lifeguard

Saving the lifeguard is most important as he is professionally trained to deal with sea disasters.
We must need him if we face any issue or rough situation again while travelling in the sea. If we
save the life of lifeguard, then there is maximum chance that we can reach the destination safely
without any other accident. It is also ethical to save the life of lifeguard currently because when he
travels again with some other crew, he will again save precious lives if there would some situation
like this.

If there is a lifeguard in the ship, then people in the ship would remain calm and wouldn’t be
frighten of drowning again. Because the people already saw the drowning situation, so the fright
of drowning remain in them, and if there is lifeguard present in the ship, they had a hope that if
situation of sinking comes again then the lifeguard would definitely help them and save their lives.

If we do not save lifeguard and give priority to some other passenger of the ship, then definitely
there will be a chance for people to drown because then there will be no processional swimmer
and trained person who would save them. So, I think saving the life of lifeguard is most important
and in priority.

Prominent Professor at University

Saving the life of professor of university is important because he gives education to the students.
As we know that education is very important and can’t be neglected in this era of technology and
modernism. The professor can educate hundreds of students every year. He can make many
students a responsible and good citizen through his education.

I think we can sacrifice some other people on the ship over the professor of university because
when he survived and return to university for teaching, he would also teach students to survive in
the drowning and sinking situations. As he is already a teacher then it will be easier for him to
teach students and other citizens about precautionary measure while traveling in the sea and to
survive in that situation.

As the life of all the people is now important who has boarded the ship, saving professor would be
a good decision because being a highly educated person he will not keep himself calm but also
keep other people calm.

SARMAD SIKANDAR (209437)

Veteran surgeon

The basic principle on which I am deciding who would live and who dies is based on their “utility
in future towards the society”, there is no doubt that the loss of any one is a tragedy but if we have
to make a decision we have to compensate it somehow and that my rule, compensating by giving
back in the society so I have chosen Veteran surgeon who should be rescued as his skills not only
make him an asset for the remaining journey but also in the society, so the decision is made
logically not emotionally which is the ideal route in this scenario.

Two young adults who recently got married

As I mentioned above the basic principle is the utility of the individual in near future, the two
young adults who recently got married they owe a responsibility towards their family, they need
to nurture their new institution of marriage which they have recently formed or the new lives
which may be on the way. Killing these two young adults would not only be a loss of their lives
but would be catastrophic for their families, their future, so they need to be saved, their utility goes
beyond their individual selves and circumference a wide range of lives and future to which they
are responsible for, so they need to be on the boat.
SYED SHAYAN SOHAIL (207556)

Captain

We know that all the life is important, and no one decide the fate of any individual. But here we
need to look at the greater picture and decide since whose life is more important to save all. The
choices we are left with are Woman who is six weeks pregnant a senior citizen, thirteen-year-old
twins, and the captain of the ship. We know that all the life is extremely important and losing
anyone of them will be very painful for their families. We also know that the seas are rough which
means that the boat can topple if not handled properly.

So, to think rationally, the final candidate who is extremely important for the given scenario will
be the captain of the ship as he is the person who is familiar with the waters and will be able to
make the educated decision if a need arises thus saving 6 lives. Due the harsh environment of the
sea ship captain would be necessary to ensure the safe journey of the lifeboat. Seas are huge and
one can easily lose track of the directions and will find himself wandering in the waters which will
cause the demise of all the 6 individuals on board. So, the presence of someone who spend most
of his time in the waters will be able to steer the boat to the destination without losing track.

Since, he is a captain he must be an excellent swimmer which also indicates that if the ship toppled
due to any mishap during the journey, he will be able to save someone who does not know how to
swim and thus saving life. During his training he must have taken workshops and lessons on
surviving skills when stranded in the vast sea without any help. His expertise will help gather food
for the on-board members on the boat.

People Killed

SYED MOMIN ALI HASHMI (208945)

Thirteen-year-old twins

In the end we know that the loss of a single life would be huge catastrophe not for the family but
for the society. It is a difficult decision to throw 13 years old twins into sea, but after comparing
with other people on boat, at the age of 13 they are of least useful for the society. We do not
know what those thirteen-year-old twins will be in the future and how will they benefit mankind,
they might proof themselves beneficial or conversely could be harmful for the society so there is
50% chance in both cases.

In the light of course of professional ethics we are studying, we decided to let these thirteen-
year-old twins die due to their uncertainty of being good humans and also in the current situation
they are least useful for the society.

Pregnant women

Losing a pregnant woman is equivalent to losing two lives and is also equally painful. During
pregnancy woman requires special care in terms of the diet and other activities but in the current
situation one cannot ensure that those requirement will be fulfilled during the journey as all are
uncertain about the next meal and fresh water thus already risking life of the baby and herself as
she is also vulnerable.

In the light of course of professional ethics we are studying, the pregnant women would let die as
she could be a problem for other people in the remaining journey. Also she is vulnerable which
may result in her natural death onwards.
Senior citizen
Losing life of a senior citizen would also hurt the same as he has 15 grandchildren which means
that it directly impacts the life those children but unfortunately a bitter truth is that he is already
near to passing away as he is so aged and nearly passed all his life. When comparing to others on
board the survival of others will be more meaningful than a senior citizen.

In the light of course of professional ethics we are studying, I decided to let senior citizen die
because he is already near to death due to his old age, also at this age he is least useful for the
society.