PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

ASSIGNMENT NO.1

Group Members:
Maham Shahid(218518)
Sardar Hasnain Ali(209073)
Mubashir Ahmed Khan(237842)
Tehreem Nisar(192409)
Muhammad Bilal(218946)

Date: 22/april/2021
Who should board the boat? And why? If you are the captain, who should you allow to
board the boat? And why?
You are required to present your agreement or disagreement with the statement. Support
your arguments in the light of all previous lectures delivered in the course.

Pregnant Women:

I think that she should be allowed to board the boat.

As the captain of the ship, I would save the pregnant woman, one reason for this could
be the ‘women and children first’ rule but in cultural context, that is a twentieth century
code of chivalry which does not reflect what truly should be the case. However, these
ideas are a part of our upbringing. The most important reason to let the woman live
would be that she is carrying life inside of her. The unborn child represents hope and a lot
of possibilities, so letting the child die would not only be ruthless but also unethical and it
goes against all virtues of humanity. During emergencies such as this, the most helpless
should be aided and the pregnant woman (possibly having panic attacks) is the most
helpless in this case because a mother cares for the life of her child more than her own.
The people who should be allowed to board are the ones who have a future and can make
important contributions to the society, in this regard, if the child can live, he will have a
future and it might be a very bright one and he could make some valuable contributions
for the betterment of the world. Therefore, I would let the pregnant woman board the ship
not only because of the virtues taught to us but also because the child she is carrying
could one day be a great human being and achieve something big. In addition, we would
be saving two people for the price of one.

Lifeguard:

I think that he should not be allowed to board the boat.

I would not let the lifeguard board the lifeboat. The lifeguard might me helpful during the
journey back in case something happens however, his foremost duty is to save the lives of the
people who have boarded the shape and in order to do so he would have to sacrifice his own
 life. My personal conclusion is that in this situation it is a compromise between duty and
usefulness, considering that the lifeguard might have saved the lives of many people before
and could still be helpful, he should be honored and saved but we must keep in view that his
duty is to put the lives of the citizens before his. In addition, his training and sense of duty
would force him to try to save everyone else before himself. The death of the lifeguard while
tragic would be honorable considering that he lost his life while serving his profession and
possibly making room for a younger more deserving person on the boat.

Two young adults who recently married:

I think that they should be allowed to board the boat.

There can be multiple ways to answer this question and one would be if I am the captain of the
ship I will hold some ethical perspective to decide who will board the ship. Let us take moral
rules like everyone holds equal right to live or some outcome based that if I allow this person on
top of other nine person what benefit will he/she bring to society afterwards. So, I will allow
them if I am captain of the ship, because as being young adults they have recently been married
and can bring other lives to this world as well. Keeping in mind them being a married couple it
would be extremely morally unethical according to the standards set that we allow one of them to
board the boat and let other one die. After thinking for some time, I came to this conclusion that
they should be together whether they are not allowed on the boat or allowed. In this way if they
are not allowed on boat then they can die together with each other and if they are allowed on
boat they can live their life which has just gotten into a new and most important stage of their
lives. Keeping in view other passengers I believe that them going into the boat should be allowed
because weighing all possibilities of benefits they can bring to this society compared to two other
passengers they must be allowed, one of them being would be they will further carry human
generation by bringing lives into this world.

Senior Citizen Who has fifteen Grandchildren:

I think that he should not be allowed to board the boat.

As the captain of the ship I will use some ethical perspective to decide who should board the
boat. For example, deciding on the basis of outcomes that which person in comparison with rest
of the nine people on the boat is more beneficial for the society if they are saved. As a senior
citizen who already has fifteen grandchildren I assume that he must have lived a major part of his
life and the chance of seeing life should be given to younger people that if he dies he will
sacrifice himself as being a senior person and would value the fact that young people should be
given a chance at living.
Prominent professor at university:
I think he should not be allowed to board the boat.

As the captain of the ship I will use some ethical perspective to decide who should board the boat
as explained earlier. For example, deciding on the basis of outcomes that which person in
comparison with rest of the nine people on the boat is more beneficial for the society if they are
saved. Deciding on whether the professor should be allowed or not allowed was a very tricky
question. Based on the people present on board we had to decide between older people that who
should be allowed to board the boat. As a conclusion we decided that he compared to the rest of
people on board is most likely seen a major part of life and can be dropped so that a chance at
living is given to younger people who might have not seen much in their life as of now.

Thirteen-year-old twins
I think they should be allowed to board the boat.

Firstly, both of twins are in their teenage and they have more life left to live as compare to any
other person on the sinking ship. It will be ethically wrong to left teenage twins on the sinking
ship to die. As both have their whole life left to spent and both have huge number of
opportunities as they grow up. There will be a bright chance that any one of them or both can
have bright future. Maybe both have potential to bring betterment in the society in any way
through different skills. There is also a chance that maybe one of them become global leader or
have a chance to lead a significant amount of people and through that role they bring betterment
to their society. There is also a chance that they are only children to their parents so in that case
they are also going to be an only bread earner for their parent in their old age. We must board
both to the board as if we board one then it will be injustice with the other one is ethically.
Everyone in the world have equal right to live. As a captain of the ship, my decisions must be
unbiased and there should be justice among everyone on the boat. Also, their size is also small so
it also good for the boat as sea is rough and bright chance that the people on boat will reach the
seashore. So according to my opinion Twins should be allowed to board on the boat.

Veteran surgeon:
I think he should be allowed to board the boat.

After thinking over it for a while I concluded that the experienced surgeon should be saved on the sinking
ship. In case a medical emergency or complication arises on the ship there should be someone with
relevant experience to handle the situation in a better way. The veteran surgeon has served the society in
the past and it would not be ethical to let him die in this way in recognition of his services to the society.
Doctors put their own lives at risk daily when they go to hospitals and save precious lives so the veteran
surgeon deserves to be saved in this situation. Surgeons are a valuable part of the society and they
contribute to the society in a positive way so their services need to respected and valued in such scenarios.

Captain of the ship:

I think he should not be allowed to board the boat.

This was difficult scenario, but I concluded that the ship's captain must die. Though he'd certainly be
effective on the raft, I didn't feel he deserves it because of his navigation and other boating skills. As the
ship's captain, he was well aware of the dangers of sinking, and that it could happen to anyone at any time
during sailing, but he chose to face the risk as part of his work. By accepting this role, he has assumed
responsibility for everyone on board, and he must put his passengers live and fate ahead of his own. Even
if the sinking was not his fault, he should save his passengers lives until his last breath. I understand it is
the most ethical and socially responsible thing for someone like him to live and die with his boat. Saving
himself would be something very unprofessional and unethical like for example a bus driver saves
himself in a road accident while his passengers die.