A Tough Decision: "Utilitarianism: For and Against" by Bernard Williams.

Paper Summary:

In this paper the author discusses "Utilitarianism: For and Against", a book by the philosopher Bernard Williams. The author attempts to delve into the mind of Jim, and ultimately see how the story might end. In so doing he considers Jim's mindset as a pacifist and how he rationalizes thoughts and deals with issues of ethics. The author then looks at the theories of Kant in order to assess whether Jim's decision making would have been different if he had adopted Kant's theories regarding free will.

From the paper:

"There is little time for Jim to make his decision: He is in the unique position to decide the fate of twenty individuals. In a mind characterized by introspection and reflection many thoughts race by: He knows what he must do, but the distaste of the act of sacrificing one for the lives of the other nineteen is most distasteful to him. He tries to reduce the horrific act in front of him by rationalizing that he does not know any of these poor souls; that it is not as if the life of someone close to him were at stake."

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