Utilitarianism: Jim Doesn T Kill One Indians

661 Words2 Pages

Jim is in a predicament of whether or not he should kill one Indian to save the other nineteen that are tied up against the wall. If Jim decides to kill just one Indian, it would be for the greater good, and could be the correct thing to do. If Jim doesn’t kill any Indians himself, but they all get killed because of Pedro or the captain; then morally, for Jim, it could also be the correct thing to do.
Although, Jim may not like killing anyone; the other Indians would be very appreciative if he did kill just one of them. The other nineteen Indians would be safe, and only one life is lost as opposed to nineteen. This type of outlook is Utilitarianism; Jim could justify his actions, because it is for the greater good of society. By intervening Jim causes one death instead of twenty deaths, which would justify the means of killing. Not killing someone to save a mass of people is more wrong than just killing one person because of the damage that is caused. More people survive and are happy when one Indian is killed; therefore, Jim could justly kill one Indian. …show more content…

Including the Indian that Jim would have killed in the first place to save the others. If Jim refuses, Pedro might not kill all twenty of the Indians, so if Jim does kill one he could be causing more harm. But, if Pedro does kill all of the Indians he is morally at fault for doing the incorrect thing; even by killing the same Indian that Jim, himself, was about to kill. If killing that one Indian is morally okay when Jim does it, why is it not okay morally when Pedro does it? It would be okay for Jim to not kill any Indian because Pedro could end up sparing all of them, and because Pedro is only encouraging a criminal act; which should be morally wrong if Jim does it, just as well as it should be morally wrong when he does it. So, Jim should not kill the Indian and potentially let all twenty

Show More
Related

  • Jim As A Christ Figure In Huckleberry Finn Research Paper

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim prioritizes other’s needs before his own by sacrificing his freedom to save other characters. When the doctor could not save Tom without assistance, Jim steps out from where he is hiding to help the doctor. In doing so he was “...r[i]sking his freedom...” (Twain 215);whereas, he could have let Tom die to save his own life. But instead Jim willingly risks getting put back into slavery to help save someone else, Tom. Once again, when Huck was staying with the Shepherdsons, Jim decides to wait for Huck. Jim fixes the raft and creates a plan to save Huck and go on with their

    Read More

  • Code Of Conduct In Treasure Island

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through a turn of events, Jim is captured by the mutineers. However, he is not killed; Long John Silver protects him and refuses to let the other pirates lay a hand on the young boy. “To me he was unweariedly kind…(106)” This made these rough men suspicious of their leader, thinking that he was dealing with the enemy. By defending Jim, Silver broke the pirate code of conduct of sticking together.

    Read More

  • How Does Jim Mature In Huck Finn

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there were countless times that Jim was mistreated and hurt. Jim was a slave, but Huck Finn developed a strong friendship with him. He felt as if he shouldn’t be trusting Tom the whole time, yet still did. Ultimately, Tom knew that Jim was set free and was only planning and following through with the escape to have fun. The way Jim was treated was very harsh, and people took advantage of it, knowing that he was a slave and couldn’t do anything about it. The ending was not appropriate. At the end of the book, Jim did not get the ending he deserved. He was mistreated and faced hardships of being the minority race, so he had to do what people told him to do if they were white.

    Read More

  • Deontology in Jim and the Indians

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jim has found himself in a quandary. When arriving in a South American town he has happened upon a captain and his army about to assassinate twenty Indians in order to deter other Indians protesting against the government. Jim is treated as a guest to the town and offered the privilege of shooting one of the Indians in which case the captain will let the other nineteen go, however declining this offer will mean the captain will carry on as planned and kill all twenty.

    Read More

  • Relationship Between Jim And Huck's Dilemma

    259 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Jim and Huck dilemma, speaks several volumes throughout the book. Huck’s decision to protect Jim in his time of need shows Huck’s ability to think quickly in a desperate situation. His ability to kill two birds with one stone prove to be useful through the story plot. Not only did Huck help a friend escape from a horrible fate, he kept his morals in the process. It also shows his loyalty towards his only friend.

    Read More

  • Huck's Inescapable Moral Dilemma

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    In abortion, the doctor is faced with a difficult decision. Should he take the life of an unborn child? What if the child was deformed, or was otherwise going to be born into a possibly unhealthy environment? Is taking away the opportunity to live life morally wrong or not? There are many more questions that face the doctor as well as the mother of the fetus. As the mother and the doctor are faced with this dilemma, sometimes what they feel is morally correct is not legal- as abortion is illegal in certain states. Huck would definitely be breaking the law if he freed Jim. Jim is just a slave to most of the people. He is just property that can be sold or used until "it" wears out. Huck sees more than just the slave qualities in Jim. Huck sees life. Similarly many people see life in an unborn fetus and have real qualms with killing a developing child. Another example of an inescapable dilemma is guns. Should it be legal for man to have the power to purchase such an item whose sole purpose is to drain life in general and human life?

    Read More

  • Bernard Williams Negative Responsibility Essay

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    Traditionally, the utilitarian philosophy defines the ethical importance of acting for the greater good and welfare of society, which will bring about the most good for all people. In this way, the utilitarian will usually take a position on a certain act through the premise of “act” utilitarianism and “rule” utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism makes certain exceptions about the “right” moral decision based on individual acts; as, in contrast, rule utilitarianism is based on adhering to the “right” act no matter what the circumstances. In both cases, utilitarianism would argue that a “right” ethical decision will have the best overall consequences, no matter what type of sacrifice is made. For instance, Jake tells John (1) that he will kill one man to save the lives of one hundred people, or that (2), he will kill all of the people. If Jake kills the one man, then John will have no ethical or moral obligation to feel remorse for the act, since he has saved the lives of ninety-nine people. However, Williams would countermand this argument through the concept of “negative responsibility” for murdering the

    Read More

  • Morals or Goals?

    674 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book “Guests of the Nation” clarifies the fact that morals is not in present in such an environment. No matter how close the relationship of the soldiers and the prisoners had grown, they both had a goal to accomplish. Because of the death of the soldier’s allies, killing the prisoners symbolized revenge. Without revenge, the morale of a battalion would decrease. In the state of war, this could mean the difference of a win or lose. As a result, the soldiers are faced with a dilemma: follow their duties to achieve their goal or follow their morals risking the achievement of the goal. To accomplish the goal of winning the war, all soldiers must put aside their morals and fulfill their duties.

    Read More

  • The Utilitarian Argument

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    The utilitarian argument can also be used to say that hESC research and use is unethical. This philosophy has a viewpoint that considers the right action to be the one that does the greater good ( ). You could say curing people with disease or injuries are a good thing to do. But would it be the best thing to do? Wouldn’t having a whole new life from birth be better than curing an eighty-year-old Alzheimer’s patient? Using that example, the greater good would be not to use embryos for research. Another question utilitarianism uses asks to determine morality is what will happen as a consequence of doing something. One consequence of using embryos would be that a life is ended before birth. A whole life would be ended before

    Read More

  • Adversity In Huckleberry Finn

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Explaining his motive to leave, Jim tells of how he overheard Miss Watson talking about selling him. Selling Jim, her slave, would in turn separate him for his wife and children. This situation gives rise to Jim escaping and running away to Jackson’s island. Jim remarks that Miss Watson told him earlier in the novel “She awluz said she wouldn' sell me down to Orleans”( HF 85). Miss Watson directly violates what she told Jim, and this situation demonstrates how little her word means to an African American. After Jim and Huck meet the fraudulent King and Duke, the two treat Jim as if he was inferior to them although they see how much Huck cares for him. They make Jim sleep in the rain, and they trick him into believing they are actually royalty. The King and Duke sell him into slavery when Huck is not around to protect him. Their actions depict the southern view of slaves, and how slaves should be treated based off their terms. In contrast to white society’s view of Jim, in the African American community, Jim is admired and respected for his ability to tell stories. Jim vividly explains,” Dey’s mighty good to me, dese niggers is, en whatever I want ‘m to do fur me I don’t have to ast ‘m twice” ( HF 146). The slaves he met from the Grangerfords’ respected him because they heard of him and his abilities. Although in many

    Read More

  • How Did Huckleberry Finn Change Society

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jim has despised white people since he was born. The slave age has took a toll on how black people feel about them and Huck has changed the point of view for Jim. He had to trust Huck and since he has seen that a white person can show compassion and respect to him, Jim could actually give his trust to Huck. "Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim" (Twain 81). Twain shows a relationship and equality to both individual which he wanted the audience to know that everyone is the same, and have the same rights and feelings even if a person has different colored skin. Another person is the doctor who treated Tom Sawyer. The doctor saw Jim as a considerate person when he helped him with the bullet in Tom’s leg which led to a situation where Jim’s life was at stake, and the doctor said “the nigger never made the least row nor a word from the start. He ain’t no bad nigger, gentlemen” (Twain 254). The Doctor could of made Jim go back in confinement and maybe even killed since he escaped with Tom and Huck, but he overcame the situation and his own morals to save Jim and eventually make him a free man. Huck has been living with the Widow since his last adventure with Tom Sawyer and he wants to change for the better good, “At first I hated School, but by and by I got so I could stand it. So the longer I went to school the easier it got to be. I was getting sort of used to the Widow’s way, too” (Twain 14). Huck wants to conform and he had to break his own morals to be head and shoulders above for himself and the

    Read More

  • Research Paper On Slavery In America

    194 Words  | 1 Pages

    Jim shows the state of a slave. How they lack basic information because they have been deprived of a life filled with learning how the world works and learning basic social information, like how babies are made and how people get married. This is the current condition of a slave in America. This is very unfortunate. Jim thinks the only way he will have a wife is if he buys her. He thinks the only way that he will have children would be if he buys them. this, ultimately is not ture. However, if Jim were to have biological children they would probably be sold or remain slaves. The mere thought that Jim actually believes he must buy his wife and kids is very hard to comprehend. How could a nation as great as the United States treat people so unfairly?

    Read More

  • Huckleberry Finn Equality

    1376 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the offer of Huck’s simple solution, he brushes off the idea as if he’s done this many times over and knows how fun it can be. His selfishness stresses his dismissiveness of the situation and convolutes the simplicity to stretch out the game for as long as he can, to keep Jim enslaved for his person benefit. Tom takes advantage of Huck's trust in his supposed leadership as they are old friends but by doing so, he leaves Jim to rot. By allowing Jim to stay locked up, Huck allows the cycle of slavery and racism to continue and is prevented from stopping this by Tom. Huck continues to propose possible escape plans while increasing their complexity but is egged on by Tom to create more confusion and problems to solve. When describing the possibility of sawing Jim out of the cabin and resembling his fo-murder, Tom continues to reject his ideas, ”It's real mysterious, and troublesome, and good... but I bet we can find a way that's twice as long” (177). Once again, readers are met with Tom’s convoluting nature. Despite his supposed acceptableness of Huck’s proposition, he continues to demand for a

    Read More

  • Examples Of American Utilitarianism

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    If Jim was a utilitarian, then he would shoot the Indian to save the others as it would do more good than bad for everyone in this certain situation. The people on the raft were practicing the same because they should be three hundred yards to not be pulled in. If I was in the Indian killing situation I don’t believe morally I could kill a man but at the same time I know to save everyone it is the right decision. In the other situation I think I would Want to save him but at the same time if the sinking ship will kill me I don’t know if it’s a good idea.

    Read More

  • Utilitarianism: The Golden Gospel's Rule

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Golden gospel’s rule "Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you" is a quote people live by as a representation of Utilitarianism. From that, Utilitarianism is an ethical philosophy created by John Stuart Mill in which the happiness of the greatest number of people in the society is considered the greatest good. Utilitarianism can also be looked at as an effort to provide an answer to the practical question “What ought a man to do?” Its answer is that he ought to act so as to produce the best consequences possible. Mill realized the importance of the Golden Rule in maintaining safe and useful relationships between members of society. The Golden gospel’s rule is compared to the standards of morality to dictate whether this statement actually

    Read More

More about Utilitarianism: Jim Doesn T Kill One Indians

Open Document