Throughout “In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing,” Slater argues that to better react in an emergency, the general public should be educated on the bystander effect, pluralistic ignorance, and social cueing. In her essay, Slater references the Kitty Genovese Case in which 38 people witnessed Kitty’s murder without action against it. The public outraged at the report of the Kitty Genovese Case. In a moral fit, however, as Slater points out, the majority of the general public would have done the same. By including a successful study of college students that were twice as likely to help in an emergency after being educated on the stages, Slater recommends and encourages awareness of Darley and Latané’s five stages of helping behavior. Additionally, …show more content…
Slater posits, “People, the witnesses, those who flicked on their lights, could both hear and see. They did nothing” [1]. Slater's essay contradicts the primary concept behind John Stewart Mills ‘harm principle.’ The witnesses in the Kitty Genovese Case neglected responsibility and directly violated the harm principle. By not speaking out about what they had witnessed, these people indirectly played a part in Kitty Genovese’s rape and murder. Additionally, the harm principle was violated in the New York University experiment by the participants that did not respond to the confederate student having a perceived seizure. Regardless of the situation or number of people witnessing, by not responding to these participants violated Mills’ harm principle. Slater's essay also connects to the ethical concept of deontology. Deontology is the study of duty ethics and is characterized by every individual's duty to do the right thing, regardless of the consequences. Deontology poses the question: should we all follow the same principle? The NYU experiment and the Kitty Genovese Case, as mentioned in Slater’s “In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing,” refute deontology principles. The witnesses in the Kitty Genovese Case and the participants in the NYU experiment, according to deontology, had the duty to assume personal responsibility and react to the events they were witnessing. By staying dormant, the witnesses and participants disregarded deontology and their moral