The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Ethical Analysis

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In the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, there is a kid that is stuck in a room that resembles a cellar. The kids has been in this room for quite a while because he is malnourished. The city of Omelas needs to keep this child miserable, so that the city can be happy everyday. If the kid is not miserable the city will be destroyed with their happiness. Some people in the Omelas, when they learn of this, walk away from the city to never return (Le Guin, 1975). There are two ethical theories that will be applied to this situation. social contract theory and rule utilitarianism. In social contact, a set of moral rules are established to govern relations with people. People also have basic rights which includes freedom of speech and thought, freedom of association, the right to be safe from harm, and the right to own property. This theory states that people fight against unfair laws. In rule utilitarianism people should adopt moral rules that if followed by every person will offer the greatest total happiness (Quinn, 2013). The ethical question here is is it ethical to have a child be locked up in a room not given much food and water and he has to be in there is whole life? Under social contract, people have the right not to be harmed by others. This is a clear violation of the social contract (Quinn, 2013). The short story …show more content…

The Omelasians don't benefit from people leaving the city and the kid locked up does not benefit either. The people themselves might benefit from leaving this might help them emotionally not to be apart of a society that keeps a child miserable. This is ethical according to utilitarianism because the people that leave are benefiting from not having to be a part of a society that makes a kids miserable. People have the right to fight for a law that is unjust under social contract. So, it is not ethical to leave the city because they should fight to free the

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