Imagine you work in a hospital. You discover that a

Imagine you work in a hospital. You discover that a doctor is about to make an important decision. “Dr. X” is doing research that might help save many hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of lives. But to complete that research, she needs to actively kill a perfectly healthy person to study how a recently-dead, healthy heart works. There are no volunteers, and there is no time to wait for a volunteer. “Dr. X” has decided to use a much older, homeless person with no friends or family. No one but you and the doctor know this is about to happen. The homeless person will not experience any pain as a result of the experiment. Let’s also say, for the purpose of this scenario, that “Dr. X” won’t get “caught” unless you say something to the authorities. You’re wondering whether or not you should try to stop Dr. X, perhaps by publicizing what she’s going to do and getting the authorities involved.

Answer these questions:

(a) How would utilitarian ethics respond, and why?

(b) How would Kantian ethics respond, and why?

(c) And which side, if either, has the most rational and well-argued position–and why?