Paper Summary:

The paper explains the beliefs of utilitarians, rule utilitarians, the divine command theory, Aristotle's virtue ethics, Buddhism and Immanuel Kant. The paper then presents a presidential and kidnapping scenario and applies the various perspectives to these situations.

Outline:
Utilitarian
Divine Command Theory
Kant
Buddhism
Virtue Ethics
The Presidential Scenario
The Kidnapping Scenario

From the Paper:

"The purpose of this paper is to examine two scenarios from the point of divine command theory, virtue ethics, Buddhism, and Kant. What one would do in these specific scenarios varies greatly based on the particular theory that one believes in. It is also true that a utilitarian solution would differ from a rule utilitarian solution somewhat for each one of the two cases. Because of this it is important to understand the beliefs behind these specific theories or individuals, before one can completely understand why they would do something a certain way."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Divine command theory. 2001. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 14 April 2003 <http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/d/divineco.htm>.
• Ess, Charles. Aristotle's virtue ethics. 2003. Drury University. 14 April 2003 <http://www. drury.edu/ess/Reason/Aristotle.html>.
• Essays on Kant. 2003. The Paper Store Enterprises. 14 April 2003 <http://www.kant-essays.com/about.html?source=goto>.
• Flanagan, Anthony. Buddhism. 2003. About.com. 14 April 2003 <http://buddhism.about.com/>.
• Stairs, Allen. Rachels on Utilitarianism. 1998. Philosophy 140. 14 April 2003 <http://brined dcow.umd.edu/140/rachels.html>.

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