what is right

            
            
            
            
             In the story "Abandon Ship" we need to exam the choices of the first officer, Alec Holmes, as the lives of the survivors on the lifeboat were put in his hands. We need to ask ourselves if the decisions that he made were in the best interest of those on board or even his own life. We may also ask ourselves if the decisions he made followed the philosophy that of a utilitarian or that of a Kantian. .
             Alec was faced with many hard decisions that not only determined his life but those around him as well. To better understand the choices that Alec made we need to first look at the situation. Alec was put in charge of the lifeboat because the luxury liner, far from land, had exploded and sunk extremely quickly. When the captain of the ship died from fatal wounds and transferred his command of the lifeboat to Alec, he commanded Alec to, "Save as many lives as you can". We also must realize that Alec knew that the S.O.S had not been sent. So even though he was hopeful that help would come, the chances of that happening were slim. With all of these points in mind we must come to a understanding that Alec had many hindrances in his decision making process.
             Based on Alec's decisions, one can rule out the use of utilitarianism philosophy. Alec decided that because the S.O.S call had not been made that he would need to row the lifeboat to the coast of Africa about fifteen hundred miles away. The officer also knew that he needed to lose some of the dead weight on board so he had to put all the dead and injured into sea. If Alec was a utilitarian he would have realized that throwing the injured overboard no matter what his good intentions, would cause him to be put on trial for the deaths of those people he had thrown overboard. In this case Alec really was put on trial for the lives of the men that he had thrown over board. .
             Did he deserve to be put on trial for the lives that were lost? Was it the most civilized thing to do since the lifeboat was saved? In the views of a Kantian philosophy, yes it was the right decision because Alec made his decision based on good intentions.