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Act Utilitarian and Rule Utilitarian Decisions Making decisions is hard for most people, but making a decision regarding another person life is even harder. The scenario shows a common case for a a doctor, and according to his education he could take an act utilitarian decision or a rule utilitarian one. Act utilitarian acts are those that are consider to be right if there is maximized utility, and a rule utilitarian acts are those that are more of an idealistic code. Both of them are to be used in different decisions that are to be taken in life, and depending on the decision taken there will be consequences. (Mason, 2000) …show more content…
Also, the doctor could take a decision based on the fact that he contributes with large sums of money to local charities, this will be also considered an act utilitarian decision because it is been taken based on how much can be achieved by experimenting the drugs on him rather than on the teacher, who apparently doesn 't "give much" to the society. A rule utilitarian decision will be to give it to the teacher. She seems to be a lost cause because of how she entered the hospital. But if the doctor was to take a decision based on her being the one who supports her family and being a school teacher who doesn 't have as many opportunities like the artist, he will be taking a rule utilitarian decision. The rule utilitarian decision may be more of a fantasy world because the teacher is described as a person with fewer opportunities in this case, so choosing her, will be to choose a case that is not likely to succeed, and not likely to give any fruits for the …show more content…
Maybe it is idealism to think about trying to save the teacher instead of saving the artist, but it is not just about saving, it is about considering the whole situation. The artist has the opportunity of looking for alternatives because he has the financial means to do so, maybe with the recommendation of the doctors he may be able to acquire the drug by other means, also in case he is not able to receive the experimental drug he can alternate with other treatments that may be expensive but then again he has the financial means to afford it. The only chance the teacher has is if the doctors decide to try an experimental drug on her, she is the main support for her family, and the teacher salary is not likely to be sufficient to support a family and pay hospital bills, nevertheless look for an alternative cure for cancer, which leaves the teacher almost