Ethical issues present many philosophical view. These views include utilitarianism, where people act out of the majority, the romanticism where there’s an equal outcome, and the biblical view, where decisions are made out of a purely religious view. One such ethical issue was created by the Lutheran pastor called Dietrich Bonhoeffer during the World Wars. His ethical issue was his assistance in the assassination of Adolf Hitler , the leader of the Nazi movement. Firstly, utilitarianism is the view which involves benefiting the majority, which Bonhoeffer likely acted in, like many others who were doing so at the time. During this time, many wanted Hitler and the Nazis killed for their crimes. So many were acting in a utilitarian view, where …show more content…
Since, during the war the allies weren’t the only ones who despised Hitler for what he was doing, as some in the Nazi dominated Germany did too. Most of the allies, wanted some involvement in stopping Hitler and creating word peace. As a pastor, Bonhoeffer, wouldn’t have desired anything less. However, many but not all those in Nazi occupied Germany did have the desire for their leader to be killed. As many Germans at the time had a catholic religion, a religion which didn’t believe in many acts which Hitler did against others. Then war wagered on more and more people of the German public become aware of the Jews, and what Hitler was doing to them. Many of these German citizens were disgusted by what the learned, and thus began an inside revolt against Hitler. Bonhoeffer was a part of such a movement, acting as an inside man when one of his friends enlisted him as a part of the Nazi party. Which when placed under the Nazi party with his friend, they both as well as others began plotting against Hitler which ended in the attempt assassination on the 20th of July 1944. Thus, it is likely that Bonhoeffer was acting in romanticism, since in his involvement with the attempted assassination of Hitler and his natural alliance with the allies he was acting in both parties’ favours thus resulting in a neutral resolve. However, the insiders …show more content…
However, it goes against his position as a pastor to go out of his way to kill another man. A pastor is a man whose life is governed by the word of God and serves as one who redeems others from their sins and gives them hope. Thus, Bonhoeffer would have needed religious reassurance that what he was doing to assist in killing Hitler was properly just, and that he was helping not only others but also Hitler to release himself of his sin. However, even if he was to do the act on a utilitarian or romantic view he would need such religious reason as to give reassurance that he was not doing a sin. Bonhoeffer once wrote while imprisoned before his execution “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer”. Which in a religious view is quite accurate of what God has intended for people like him to do, to see through what people do and see what they ultimately suffer from. Thus if this was Bonhoeffer’s view of Hitler, then his assistance in the attempt to kill Hitler is just. From this sentence it’s understood Bonhoeffer was likely acting out of forgiveness to Hitler, by seeing through what Hitler was doing and looking towards how much Hitler was suffering underneath all of these criminal acts he was doing. For Bonhoeffer must have seen Hitler’s
At times in a person’s life, they might come across a few situations that leave them with a major decision between two or more options that challenge what they believe or what they might think is wrong or right. These are known as ethical dilemmas. Be it seeing a friend steal something and choosing between being honest and speaking up or letting it go. It can also be getting paid more than you earned and deciding if you’re going to be greedy and keep the money or return it. We run into these situations in our lives, some bigger and more influential on our destiny’s while others are small with no real consequences.
An ethical dilemma is defined as a moral issue, where a situation has two equivalent undesirable alternatives and neither choice will resolve the ethical predicament.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born on February 4th 1906, as a son of a professor of psychiatry and neurology at the University of Berlin. Throughout his early life he was an outstanding student, and when he finally reached the age of 25 he became a lecturer in systematic theology at the University Berlin. Something that is very striking is that when Hitler came to power in 1933, Bonhoeffer became a leading spokesman for the Confessing Church, the center of Protestant resistance to the Nazis. He organized and for a shot amount of time he led the underground seminary of the Confessing Church. His book Life Together describes the life of the Christian community in that seminary, and his book The Cost Of Discipleship attacks what he calls "cheap grace," meaning that grace used as an excuse for moral laxity.
Ethics is an important proponent when considering any decision. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is something everyone should know. However, the importance of ethics gets minimized when a decision that seems wrong actually has benefits. In the efforts of improving society, often ethics is violated. Sometimes in order for society to be better off as a whole, there has to be little sacrificing of ethical practices along the way to do so.
Adolf Hitler wanted the Jewish race to be destroyed forever. But he didn’t just stop at beliefs. Even if you were a Christian, Catholic, Atheist, etc., you were still in danger. You were still in danger because if you looked Jewish to him then you were swooped up and taken hostage in a concentration camp.
Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau Germany on February forth 1906. His father was a doctor who worked with Hitler, but not for him. This was when he was in jail before he came to power in World War I. Dr. Karl Bonhoeffer tried to deem Hitler insane while he was in jail. That was his attempt to keep him there in jail before he could hurt anyone. In jail Hitler liked to talk about what he was going to do when he became the leader of Germany. His ideas were of what later happened what he accualy did become a leader in Germany. His parents were not very religious, but they still distilled him with lots of values such as discipline, kindness and many others. These were some of the reasons that he decided to fight the fight he chose. Bonhoeffer went to an all boys’ school and later studied at the University of Berlin and wrote his doctor discretion at the age of twenty-one.
And like many Austrian Germans in his time, his German nationalism began to grow as well. He and his friends would even great each other with the German greeting: “Heil”. However, at the time he lived in Vienna, everywhere you’d look was prejudice and racist people. Most of them were against the Jews even though they played a Christian act. It may be very hypocritical and deceiving, but everyone was practically acting the same way, so no one could correct each other and lead them down the right path.
Ethics are the principles that shape individual lives in modern society. It is a subjective idea that seems to have a standard in society. Ethics and morals are the major factors that guide individuals to make right and wrong choices. Something that is morally right to one person might be the very opposite of what another person would view as right. There are many factors that can trigger a change in an individual’s view of morality.
Every person has their own opinion on Adolf Hitler, but some do believe he was a good man. He did very terrible things that didn’t even need to be done, and ruined many lives. I have always wondered what could lead Adolf Hitler to want to do such terrible things to such innocent people and destroy so many lives. Only serial killers could find joy in killing a person because it gives them a rush. Once they feel that rush they want to feel it again and again. That’s what leads them to keep going and doing it over and over. Hitler’s mind was like a serial killers mind. He was so okay with going into other countries and destroying them and killing whoever came in his way. What does that have anything to do with the Jews? They were simple people just living their lives and he needed a target to make his campaign stronger. A Psychopath would kill 6 million Jews to make sure they can have what they
What is ethics? Ethics are the philosophical principles of good verses bad moral behavior. It is a guideline to help people make decisions or make a judgment calls. There are two main types of ethical principles that will be discussed in this paper, and how they are applied to the decision making process. They are Deontological and Utilitarian. Deontological ethics are based on the righteousness or wrongness of the action-taking place. It does not base itself on the bad or good consequences that come from the action. Immanuel Kant introduced deontological ethics in the 18th century. Kant believed that every decision or action made by a person had to be evaluated by his or her moral duty. He stated that humanity shouldn’t side on its
[2] An Ethical dilemma is defined as “a situation that arises when all alternative choices or behaviours have been deemed undesirable because of potentially negative ethical consequences, making it difficult to distinguish right from wrong” (Samson and Daft, 2005, p.158)
An ethical dilemma is only examined in a situation which has the following conditions; the first condition takes place in a situation, when an individual has to make a decision on which course of action is best. The second condition is there must be more than one course of action to choose from. The third action is no matter what course of action is taken, certain ethical principles are conceded. In other terms, there is no perfect result. When defining what forms an ethical dilemma, it is important to make a division between ethics, morals, values, laws and policies.
This is what had made Hitler one of the greatest public speakers that the world had ever seen from his time and in history. "The German people and it 's soldiers work and fight today not for themselves and their own age, but also for many generations to come. A historical task of unique dimensions has been entrusted to us by the Creator that we are now obliged to carry out." Hitler, the Fuhrer of Germany, was a very talented spokesman in ways that leaders today could not even begin to compare with. He was charismatic and bold, making it easier for him to win over the minds of many Germans with these two traits. He believed that during his rise to power, he and the people of Germany had been given a duty by God to purify the nation of its imperfect races and weaker people so as to make the mother country strong again for future generations. "Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live." In many ways, Hitler felt he was justified in what he was doing, and in some
Ethical dilemmas create a challenge between two or more equally alternative problems requiring moral judgment. This creates both an obligation and dilemma for those involved. Living in such a globalized world with cross-cultural borders, races, and ideas; negotiating what is considered morally “right” can sometimes be very difficult. Both religion and laws have a major impact in ethical duties. What an individual may presume as right cannot be guaranteed by the government or political party. The Overcrowded Lifeboat is just one example in which all the ideas above come to play in ethical decisions.
Everyone in this world has experienced an ethical dilemma in different situations and this may arise between one or more individuals. Ethical dilemma is a situation where people have to make complex decisions and are influenced based on personal interests, social environment or norms, and religious beliefs (“Strategic Leadership”, n.d.). Leaders and managers in the company should set guidelines to ensure employees are aware and have a better chance to solve and make ethical decisions. Employees are also responsible for understanding their ethical obligations in order to maintain a positive work environment. The purpose of this case study is to identify the dilemma and analyze different decisions to find ways on how a person should act ethically when left with an ethical dilemma.