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How Does Dr. Myrick Use Of Utilitarianism

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In the film called Extreme Measures, Dr. Myrick thought he could help paralyzed people by regrowing nerves and controlling their growth patterns. Except, Myrick needed human subjects to carry out the experiments because growth factors code to specific species. Most of the subjects would die and Dr. Myrick was aware of this fact. Myrick justified killing these people because the subjects would be dying for a good cause. If he was successful, millions of people would have been able to walk again. Even though Dr. Myrick wanted to save many people from being paralyzed, his research project and experiments were not ethical.
Using people for research and experiments without consent is wrong. In chapter one page 3 of The Elements of Moral Philosophy, …show more content…

Myrick’s idea that he would be able to help millions of people is utilitarian based. In the book The Right Thing to Do, on page 14 it explained the principle of utility is that we should do whatever will produce the most happiness for everyone. Utilitarianism is flawed because it can be used to justify an act like murder. In chapter 7 of The Elements of Philosophy, it described a situation where Sigmund Freud was ill and wanted his physician to euthanize him to put him out of his misery. Utilitarianists support the decision of the physician to intentionally kill Freud because it would create the most happiness. In this case, Dr. Myrick uses utilitarian idealism to justify killing homeless people for his research. Dr. Myrick believed using human subjects for his research project would help him find a cure for paralyzed people. If he were successful, this would bring happiness to millions of people. With the theory of utilitarianism Dr. Myrick should do whatever he needed to do to produce the most happiness for people everywhere. Even though Dr. Myrick’s actions would help many people, he harmed people in the process. The people that were taken off the streets would not be happy. They were not given a choice to die, and Dr. Myrick would intentionally kill them in the process of testing his research. Therefore, Dr. Myrick’s decision to take people and kill them for his research was not

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