Ethical Analysis of the Parable of the Sadhu Essay

Ethical Analysis of the Parable of the Sadhu The Parable of the Sadhu is a story of men climbing the Himalayas that run into a moral dilemma. These are not just any men. These are groups of men from many different cultural backgrounds. As they are climbing the mountain they run into a nearly naked Indian holy man that is near death. The moral dilemma comes into play when they are forced to make the decision to backtrack down the mountain to save the man and probably never reach their ultimate goal, or ignore the needs of the desperate man in order to fulfill their personal desires. By looking at the situation and what the men did it is clear that they acted through the ethical thought process of egoism and social contract. They acted†¦show more content†¦Through the ethical thought of social contract, there are rules that are necessary to maintain stable and harmonious social relations among people. The Sherpas, the New Zealanders, and the Japanese all did the bare minimum for the Sadhu. They did this because they be lieved they were bound by a social contract to their fellow man to benefit from the formation of social structures. The hikers were there for the experience of the Himalayas. This was also their sole purpose on the trip and had a social responsibility to the men in the group over the Sadhu, and by that belief they had to respect the purpose of the trip. This meant not getting in the way of the others. With the social contract theory, in life, should we sacrifice doing the right thing because it puts others around us in a discomforting situation? These were the two beliefs that the mountaineers went by. Through Kantanian thought there would be one rule that everyone is required to follow. This rule in the authors mind would be to do the right thing. In this situation through Kantanian thought the man should have been saved because that is the right thing to do. Weather it was because you wanted to or because they had a duty to it, it still should have been done. Since the men clearly didn’t want to do the right thing these men should have acted out of duty, which in Kantanian thought is a greaterShow MoreRelatedThe Parable of the Sadhu by Bowen Mccoy: An Analysis of Ethics967 Words   |  4 PagesThe Parable of the Sadhu by Bowen McCoy Objective The objective of this study is to answer specific questions relating to Bowen McCoys work entitled The Parable of the Sadhu and specifically to examine ethics on both the group and individual level as it is applicable to this situations in McCoys story. Part I The work of McCoy (2009) states that there is a need to identify a specific set of requirements or characteristics to describe the individual that is ethical in the area of leadershipRead MoreAnalyzing the Parable of the Sadhu1559 Words   |  7 Pageswhile helping the Sadhu is clearly not. Action was ethical. However the fact that McCoy feels guilty reflects that he was unable to promote his long term interest. Hence it becomes ambiguous to justify his actions. Kantian Ethics: Should abide by the following 2 principles: *Maxim should become a universal law *Never treat people simply as means to an end but always at the same time as ends in themselves In the parable, Stephen says that the hikers would have treated the Sadhu differently if heRead MoreParable of the Sadhu Essay827 Words   |  4 PagesParable of the Sadhu: Analysis from three general approaches. The Parable of the Sadhu presents a complex situation which action immediate action was necessary. Sadhu, an Indian holy man, was discovered naked and barely alive by a group of multicultural mountaineers during their journey. Each ethnic group did a little to help the Sadhu, but none assumed full responsibility. Their priority was in climbing the mountain rather than carrying Sadhu to the village where other people could help him