Imagine that there’s a famous, rich celebutante whose Bentley is dangling precariously off the
edge of a cliff. Below, past a jagged craggy precipice, a school of hungry hammerhead sharks is
circling. The celebutante is frantically tweeting her plight to her millions of followers, promising a
large reward to whoever can rescue her. You decided to try your luck, even though you are afraid
of sharks, cannot swim, and have no search-and-rescue abilities.
A. Explain, thoroughly, the relevant aspects of Aristotle’s and Kant’s theories. In other words, what
would Aristotle and Kant think is (morally) at stake in this scenario?
B. From Aristotle’s perspective, what should you do and why? From Kant’s perspective, what
should you do and why?
C. Make an argument explaining which philosopher gives the better moral guidance and which
gives the worst. What’s something that you would change to ameliorate the “worse” theory? Be
sure to thoroughly explain your assessments here.
