A criminal is holding a group of people hostage and threatening to kill them if his demands are not met. The police negotiator believes that she could save some lives if she lied to the terrorist, saying that the money and a helicopter are on the way. Which approach could argue most strongly that telling the lie, in this situation, is morally right because the criminal is violating the security, liberty and welfare rights, of the victims?

Question

Social Studies

Rapunzel

20 February, 00:30

A criminal is holding a group of people hostage and threatening to kill them if his demands are not met. The police negotiator believes that she could save some lives if she lied to the terrorist, saying that the money and a helicopter are on the way. Which approach could argue most strongly that telling the lie, in this situation, is morally right because the criminal is violating the security, liberty and welfare rights, of the victims?

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Answers (2)

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Noodles · Answer 1

Categorical imperative

Explanation:

The categorical imperative was proposed by Immanuel Kant and the theory states that the rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfill our duty.

Waller · Answer 2

Act utilitarianism

Explanation:

Act utilitarianism is an utilitarian act/theory of ethics that states that an action of a person is morally right if the action of the individual is for the good of the greater populace at the moment i. e it serves the best results in the current situation

The police negotiator lying to the criminal holding a group of people hostage so that the criminal doesn't harm the people, he is holding hostage is the best action for the situation and it might produce the best result for the situation at the moment hence it becomes morally right under the Act of Utilitarian theory of ethics