Normative Ethics

            In the short story, The German Refugee, the narrator and a German refugee, Oscar, develop a unique friendship. The narrator, a poor senior in college, tutors immigrants in the English language to make some extra money due to the poor economy after the Great Depression. His student Oscar is much like his other students, an educated refugee, however Oscar is quite a challenge for the tutor. Oscar came to America as a lecturer. However, "the thought of giving the lecture in English just about paralyzed him (Malamud 440)." Oscar had left his wife and was troubled with depression from his life changes. As they performed the English lessons, step by step a friendship emerged, and even though Oscar had given up on the lessons, the narrator still visited Oscar trying to help him right his lecture.
             Eventually, Oscar began to confide in the young American, and told him he had once tried to commit suicide during his first week in America. The narrator shows kindness and compassion, still trying to help Oscar write and translate his lecture. However, they never get past the first page. Instead of writing the lecture on every visit, the two both sit in silence in the heat of his apartment. "It was sticky, hot July and the heat didn't help at all (Malamud 442)." The narrator then decides to buy a second hand fan for Oscar. An action that however minute is the right action to perform. Although the fan only last a week, the narrator's action of kindness is good, by three normative ethicist, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and John Stewart Mills, this small action performed can be shown to be the right action.
             The moral normative theory, Subjectivism, from Hume's philosophy examines the moral pleasure the narrator receives by doing this action. Subjectivism states that an action is the right action for an agent if and only if the agent when performing this action gains moral pleasure from it, or as Hume would say, "An action, or sentiment or character, is virtuous or vicious; why? because its view causes a pleasure or uneasiness of a particular kind.