The Ethics of Prometheus Bound
Can ethical theories determine the goodness or badness of a fictional character? While these belief systems can certainly be applied to fiction, there can be no single moral interpretation for a story, because ethical systems vary so greatly. Christian deontological ethics, Kantian deontological ethics, and consequentialist ethics all have individual ways of assigning moral value to actions. In Aeschylus’ tragedy Prometheus Bound, Prometheus steals fire from the Gods to save humanity and bring them a better life. Because the wrongness of his theft conflicts with the goodness of its benefits, Prometheus’ actions can have vastly different moral interpretations based on the ethical philosophy applied.
Christian …show more content…
Under no circumstances could Prometheus’ actions be defined as moral under Kantian ethics. That is because Kantian ethics determine an action’s morality based on its maxim, or the “general principle underlying the action” (Warburton, 42). This ethical philosophy states that for an action to be classified as moral, it must be performed out of a sense of duty. Kant “believed that as rational human beings we have certain duties” (Warburton, 42). Because Prometheus states in the text his reasons for helping humanity, it would be inaccurate to state that Prometheus felt it was his duty to help the humans. In the play, he instead says that he helped the humans out of “pity” and “love” for them, but never duty (Lines 357 and 638, Prometheus Bound). As Prometheus fails to mention a sense of duty as the motivation for his actions, Prometheus could not have been acting morally from a Kantian perspective. If one were to argue, however, that Prometheus did feel a sense of duty toward doing the right thing, even then Prometheus’ actions would still be seen as immoral. Immanuel Kant, the man who first defined Kantian ethics, wrote in Groundwork of Metaphysic of Morals that one should “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction.” This …show more content…
In consequentialism, the correct action to take when faced with a problem is the one that produces the most positive consequences. It “judge[s] whether an action is right or wrong not on the intentions of the person performing the action, but rather on the consequences of that action” (Warburton, 46). Consequentialism, in some circumstances, may consider actions as moral that would be considered immoral under other belief systems. Even killing can be justified under the correct circumstances. Consider the classic “trolley problem” - If one were a trolley driver about to run over five people, but could pull a switch to go onto another track where a man was standing, what would be the morally correct thing to do? Consequentialists would define the morally correct action as pulling the switch, thus killing one man to save five lives. Because the death of one is a relatively favorable consequence in comparison to the death of five, this would be the morally right consequentialist action. From a consequentialist perspective, the consequence of an action is all that matters (hence the name). As such, even though Prometheus stole the fire, his actions were morally right as they brought all humans a better life and prevented the end of humanity. Though it did anger and upset the gods, Prometheus’ actions caused all of humanity to be happy, free, and alive, outweighing the gods’ negative feelings. Because
Can ethical theories determine the goodness or badness of a fictional character? While these belief systems can certainly be applied to fiction, there can be no single moral interpretation for a story, because ethical systems vary so greatly. Christian deontological ethics, Kantian deontological ethics, and consequentialist ethics all have individual ways of assigning moral value to actions. In Aeschylus’ tragedy Prometheus Bound, Prometheus steals fire from the Gods to save humanity and bring them a better life. Because the wrongness of his theft conflicts with the goodness of its benefits, Prometheus’ actions can have vastly different moral interpretations based on the ethical philosophy applied.
Christian …show more content…
Under no circumstances could Prometheus’ actions be defined as moral under Kantian ethics. That is because Kantian ethics determine an action’s morality based on its maxim, or the “general principle underlying the action” (Warburton, 42). This ethical philosophy states that for an action to be classified as moral, it must be performed out of a sense of duty. Kant “believed that as rational human beings we have certain duties” (Warburton, 42). Because Prometheus states in the text his reasons for helping humanity, it would be inaccurate to state that Prometheus felt it was his duty to help the humans. In the play, he instead says that he helped the humans out of “pity” and “love” for them, but never duty (Lines 357 and 638, Prometheus Bound). As Prometheus fails to mention a sense of duty as the motivation for his actions, Prometheus could not have been acting morally from a Kantian perspective. If one were to argue, however, that Prometheus did feel a sense of duty toward doing the right thing, even then Prometheus’ actions would still be seen as immoral. Immanuel Kant, the man who first defined Kantian ethics, wrote in Groundwork of Metaphysic of Morals that one should “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction.” This …show more content…
In consequentialism, the correct action to take when faced with a problem is the one that produces the most positive consequences. It “judge[s] whether an action is right or wrong not on the intentions of the person performing the action, but rather on the consequences of that action” (Warburton, 46). Consequentialism, in some circumstances, may consider actions as moral that would be considered immoral under other belief systems. Even killing can be justified under the correct circumstances. Consider the classic “trolley problem” - If one were a trolley driver about to run over five people, but could pull a switch to go onto another track where a man was standing, what would be the morally correct thing to do? Consequentialists would define the morally correct action as pulling the switch, thus killing one man to save five lives. Because the death of one is a relatively favorable consequence in comparison to the death of five, this would be the morally right consequentialist action. From a consequentialist perspective, the consequence of an action is all that matters (hence the name). As such, even though Prometheus stole the fire, his actions were morally right as they brought all humans a better life and prevented the end of humanity. Though it did anger and upset the gods, Prometheus’ actions caused all of humanity to be happy, free, and alive, outweighing the gods’ negative feelings. Because