The Parable Of The Sadhu Analysis

When traveling in the Himalayas, the author of The Parable of the Sadhu, Bowen H. McCoy is faced with a difficult and ethically perplexing dilemma when he encounters the hapless sadhu on one of the less taken paths near the summit of the mountain. Afterwards, McCoy’s reflection of the events that occurred, as well as his colleague, Stephan’s response, makes him question whether what he did was ethical or unethical. Through the ethical guidelines of the Golden Rule and the Public Disclosure Test McCoy’s decision can be analyzed thoroughly. McCoy also compares his choice to corporate ethics decisions, which makes him think if corporations are actually ethical in their decision-making. While other might disagree, such as Stephan, McCoy made the

McCoy made the decision to help out the sadhu to the best of his abilities by giving him clothes and checking his pulse for hypothermia and then he continued on his travels. What more can you ask from a Good Samaritan? Also, to keep McCoy’s actions in perspective, he was under a lot of physical and mental pressure from traveling up the Himalayas, as well as suffering from altitude sickness. The sadhu’s life is not McCoy’s responsibility or job; McCoy was just there for the journey up the mountain not to be a missionary. He did what he could for the sadhu and then continued with the rest of the group that had kept walking when they came across the man in the

He probably would have been more than grateful to receive any form of help, and would have been very appreciative for the clothes. It is fair to say that McCoy did follow the Golden Rule because he treated the sadhu with respect and the care that he would have wanted if he were in that position. However, Stephan made a good point about what if it were a western woman, would McCoy have treated her differently than the sadhu? Probably, which is another aspect of ethics: equality and fairness. In McCoy’s defense a western woman would have been more familiar and easier to identify with than the sadhu. McCoy’s decision encompassed the Golden Rule because he extending brotherly love to the sadhu, as he would have wanted him to do in