Imagine That Five Patients Will Die Unless They Receive New

question 3

Multiple Choice

Imagine that five patients will die unless they receive new organs from a healthy stranger. From a utilitarian point of view, it thus seems right to kill one innocent patient to save five.

• A) Utilitarians can respond that all things considered the overall consequences of killing healthy patients would be negative, because patients would no longer trust their doctors.
• B) Utilitarians can respond that all things considered the overall consequences of killing healthy patients are hard to predict, which means that we have a compelling reason for not killing healthy patients.
• C) Utilitarians respond that all things considered the overall consequences of killing healthy patients can be expected to be negative under some circumstances, which means that we have a compelling reason for not killing healthy patients.
• D) All of the above

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Definitions:

Retrospective Study

A research method that examines historical data from past records to study outcomes or disease progression.

Prospective Study

An observational study in which participants are followed over time to observe outcomes, such as the development of a disease.

Correlational Study

A research method that examines the relationship between two or more variables to determine if they move together in any way.

Ex Post Facto

A Latin term meaning "from after the fact," often used in legal contexts to describe laws that apply retroactively.