Imagine a scenario where one is hiding from a group of gangsters in the basement with several other people including family members, friends, and neighbors (Allen, 2016). One can hear the gang members walking overhead and any sound will alert them to the hiding place. One of the neighbors is carrying an infant in her harm who is about to cry. Under this circumstance, should the neighbor hold her hand over the mouth of the infant, smothering him but saving everyone or should he let him cry within the mind that doing so will result in the death of everyone and not only the baby (Allen, 2016).
Such dilemmas are faced by people every day in different situations and they illustrate vital discrepancies between the immediate reactions of people and the logical reasoning that individuals often find difficult. The objective of this paper, therefore, is to invent a practical situation that illuminates difference among the three approaches of normative theory which includes duties, consequences, and virtues that do not align with each other. Besides, the paper will also highlight the normative theory that could be applied to the situation and finally discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of the normative theories.
The Situation
Professional competence operates like a map by guiding a conduct in relation to character and ethos (Crockett et al, 2014). The competence is based on virtue based reasoning using the values and standards of the profession. Being a soldier is one of the challenging careers that requires one to maintain discipline at all times and uphold dignity in order to meet the standards and requirements of the profession given that it is always an uphill task to do so. Imagine a situation where the soldiers are on a mission to locate and apprehend a group of suspected terrorists in a remote part of the world that is very dangerous. As they continue their mission towards the targeted location of the terrorists, the soldiers hear people approaching towards their direction and they decide to take cover. It happens that the people who were approaching were three teenagers and one of them was having a walky-talky.
The soldiers decide to apprehend the boys and confiscate their gadget. Directed by the commander, the boys are tied together as they decide what to do to them. At this point, the soldiers are faced with an ethical dilemma on what should be done to the boys. If they release the three boys, then it means that the mission will be compromised because the boys will get the message to the terrorist groups that there is an imminent attack on them. If they decide to kill the boys and continue with their mission, then it will be against the military laws and they might be charged if the act is disclosed later. If the mission is compromised, then the terrorists will be free and will continue with their terrorist's acts across the globe (Crockett et al, 2014). Therefore, the soldiers are stranded on what they should do with regard to the three boys and the mission.
Types of Normative Theories Applicable
Virtue ethics is an example of a normative theory that is applicable to this situation. The theory focuses on the character of the agent and one must possess character traits which should be manifested in their actions (Crockett et al, 2014). Therefore, individuals are required to act in ways that display the virtues. In the above situation, application of this theory means that untying the boys and compromising the mission could be the only best option. Another possible theory that could be applicable under this circumstance is consequentialism. It holds that individuals must constantly act in a way that brings the best outcomes and it does not matter the nature of the acts and all that matters is that ethics makes the world a better place. Similarly, releasing the boys was ethical despite the reason that the mission could have been compromised (Honneth, 2014).
Ethical relativism believes that truth is different for various people in that what is right for one person may not be right for the other. If the soldiers fail to surrender to ethical relativism, then canceling the mission by the commander will be a good move in relation to duty. Cancelling the mission means that the boys are released therefore possible outcomes could be quick plans by the terrorist group after receiving the message from the boys and carry out an attack on the soldiers. Another possible outcome could be that the terrorist group will retreat and plan attacks some other time on innocent civilians elsewhere. Focusing on the virtue aspect could also lead to the same outcome since the soldiers would simply let loose the teenagers (Honneth, 2014).
However, in most circumstances, compromising the mission cannot be easy especially if the soldiers are also going after the high-value target (Swann et al, 2014). Therefore, in this situation is important to embrace deontology theory that maintains that certain acts are either good or bad and they ought or not ought to be performed. Apprehending the boys and going with them can be alternative despite the risk of being caught in cross-fire in case of retaliation. Consequentialism and virtue focus on the moral character and doing what will bring the best results and that is releasing the boys and retreating to safety before the boys reach to the terrorists.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Normative Theories
The benefits of the normative theories are that they motivate morality on work, unlike other theories that just state what one should do in an ethical dilemma (Swann et al, 2014). The theory also focuses on the individual and building them into better people and development of moral reasoning. They do not simply focus on the theoretical perspective but highlights the practical side of a situation (Werhane, 2014). However, there are other limitations that are affiliated with these theories. The theories sometimes involve a high abstraction from reality due to the fact that it is not helpful to solve the real world problems by principles by ignoring the real world context of the situation. A good example is letting loose the teenagers who sometimes can be the informers of the terrorists. Through this, the acts of terrorists have been given chance and many people will perish at the expense of just a few (Werhane, 2014).
What makes sense is assessing the possible outcome of releasing the boys which is clear. The teenagers have walky-talky and that is evidence that they are part of the group. They should be apprehended despite their age and left behind with other soldiers as the mission continues. It is because accomplishing the mission will save many lives in future. Therefore, the deontological theory works best in this situation due to the nature of operations.
References
Allen, A. (2016). The end of progress: Decolonizing the normative foundations of critical theory. Columbia University Press.
Crockett, M. J., Kurth-Nelson, Z., Siegel, J. Z., Dayan, P., " Dolan, R. J. (2014). Harm to others outweighs harm to self in moral decision making. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(48), 17320-17325.
Honneth, A. (2014). Disrespect: The normative foundations of critical theory. John Wiley " Sons.
Swann Jr, W. B., Gómez, Á., Buhrmester, M. D., López-Rodríguez, L., Jiménez, J., " Vázquez, A. (2014). Contemplating the ultimate sacrifice: Identity fusion channels pro-group affect, cognition, and moral decision making. Journal of personality and social psychology, 106(5), 713.
Werhane, P. H. (2014). Moral imagination. John Wiley " Sons, Ltd.
