Sunday, October 2, 2011
Utilitarianism and Young Mr. Lincoln
I really enjoyed the film Young Mr. Lincoln, and I think it tied into some of our discussions about morality. In particular, I was interested in the court scene when the mother was on trial. She could have saved one of her sons, but because she couldn't bring herself to turn the guilty son in, she chose to let them both die. Clearly, she was not a utilitarian. I'm sure in another situation, she would prefer to have one son alive then to see both die, but it seemed to be against her moral code to turn her son in. We could guess that she subscribed to more of a Kantian code of morality. She did what she thought was right even though it's consequences caused more harm then the alternative. I suppose that in this situation, a true utilitarian would chose one son to live and one to die, although I can't imagine many people would actually do that in the moment.
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I think that the mother might even have been more subscribing to an Aristotelian ethic. I forget exactly what Lincoln says to her on the stand, but it was something to the effect of, "I'm glad you didn't reveal which of your sons did it, no parent should ever do that." She knew that she would never have been able to live with herself, having chosen one son over the other. On the other hand, though, if she hadn't chosen between her two sons, she probably wouldn't have been able to live with herself having knowingly condemned both of her sons to death rather than just one. Definitely a nearly impossible decision!
ReplyDeleteI didn't come to see the movie, however, I agree with your final statement. I don't know any mother that would choose one child over the other and let one die while the other lived. It may be the voice of my mother inside my head reminding me of when I was a child and my sister and I would fight. Saying the very typical "child" thing, "mom loves me more" my sister and I would always try and declare that one of us was our mothers favorite. However, she would always remind us that that was never the case and "she loved us both equally." If a true Utilitarian would argue that the mother would choose one child over the other, then I find that is a major weakness in this ideology. It just isn't practical or realistic.
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