In this regular feature, we take a look at what’s going on in the world and suggest ways of using current issues to illustrate philosophical ideas…
It seems Utilitarianism is alive and well in global decision making – here are some great illustrations of classical utilitarianism at work.
1. Utilitarianism & Social Housing
Should people over 65 be encouraged to move into smaller houses to free-up millions of family size homes?
This story is a good example of classical Utilitarianism. According to the Intergenerational Foundation, there are an estimated 25million unused bedrooms in the UK. These family sized homes could be an important tool in tackling the housing crisis in the UK. Do over 65s have a duty to move and make way for the younger generation? How reasonable are the arguments in favour & against? What kind of a society sidelines minority groups like the elderly and is this the kind of society we want to live in?
2. The release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit
What better illustration of classical utilitarianism! the exchange of 1 Israeli soldier for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom were serving life or multiple life sentences for terrorism charges. Can the hedonic calculus justify this action? What possible repercussions could occur from this decision? Use this story to plot possible outcomes then keep an eye on the news (or the ALevelREblog) to see whether any of your students were accurate in their predictions. It should highlight one of the key problems in using teleological approaches to ethics – the impossibility of predicting the future!
3. 3 people die after stopping HIV treatment on advice of the Church
At least 3 members of an evangelical church in London have died as a result of stopping their HIV treatment after pastors advised them to rely on God to heal them.
The evangelical church which has roots in Lagos, Nigeria claims: “Mrs Badmus proudly displays her two different medical records confirming she is 100% free from HIV-Aids following the prayer of Pastor T B Joshua.”
This story raises all sorts of issues that are relevant to philosophical discussion. Not least about miracles, but it also raises important questions about the role of the Church in contemporary society. What do these claims do for religious belief in 21stC? Should the government impose restrictions on the Church regarding what they can and can not give advice about? You could even use this when looking at Falsification in religious language: how do you imagine the pastors of the Church respond when people are not cured by God, and what would Anthony Flew say about it?
4. The Good Samaritan (again!) and the Virtue Theory
Last but not least, Thought for the Day this morning was a modern tale of the Good Samaritan. The story was of Yue Yue, a 2 year old Chinese girl who was run over on Thursday morning. Surveillance camera footage of the incident shows the toddler being hit by a white van, then being hit by another van and ignored by nearly 20 passersby for seven minutes before she was given help.
Have we got our priorities right in life? what values or virtues do you think we demonstrate most and what could we do with practising a bit more? This similar to an experiment carried out in 1973 by American social psychologists Daniel Batson and John Darley.
Darley and Batson designed an experiment aimed at exploring differences in behaviour. Subjects in this experiment were students at Princeton Theological Seminary. As each subject arrived, he was informed that he was to give a talk that would be recorded in another building. Along the way to the place for the talk, the subject encountered a “victim” slumped in a doorway. The question was under what conditions would a subject would stop to help the victim.
Half of the subjects were assigned to talk on the Good Samaritan Parable; the others were assigned a different topic. Some of the subjects were told they were late and should hurry; some were told they had just enough time to get to the recording room; and some were told they would arrive early. Judging by their responses to a questionnaire, they had different religious and moral orientations.
The only one of these variables that made a difference was how much of a hurry the subjects were in. 63% of subjects that were in no hurry stopped to help, 45% of those in a moderate hurry stopped, and 10% of those that were in a great hurry stopped. It made no difference whether the students were assigned to talk on the Good Samaritan Parable, nor did it matter what their religious outlook was.
Are we really as moral and righteous as we would like to think we are? what are the main factors that affect our own decision making? When it comes to the crunch, how sure can we be that we would react in the way we would like to?
Who said philosophy isn’t relevant in our modern society? Happy teaching 
One of the most challenging things for students when studying philosophy is remembering which philosopher is which. I would use countless activities to try to help my students remember who said what – some more effective than others – but I am always on the look out for new ideas. There has been a growing trend of creating facebook pages for different philosophers – I really like this idea and it can look good on the whiteboard during open day – I wonder what Kant might write on Bentham’s wall for example? (actually, I’d be really interested to hear from anyone who has done this – I always shied away from it as with my students, it would have been a logistical nightmare monitoring them all)
