CA250 Professional Ethics Assignment

Gupta Akash Ajay Kumar

ID No.:- 11640100

Heinz Dilemma

This Kohlberg’s dilemma is about a man named Heinz, whose wife is dying from a special type
of cancer, but there’s one drug that can save her. That drug was a form of radium (a radioactive
element) and was discovered by a druggist in the same town. The drug costed around $400 to
make but he was charging $4000, i.e. 10 times the original price to sell it. Heinz, went to druggist
and after knowing the price he asked everyone he knew to contribute, but he could get $2000
only. He requested the druggist to give the drug and he would pay him later, but the druggist was
firm at his decision as he had intention to make money from his invention. So, Heinz, in order to
save the life of her wife considers the option of breaking into the drug store and steal the drug
from the druggist.

So, here as we observe Heinz, is in an ethical dilemma, where he has to choose between saving
his wife by committing a crime which is ethically wrong.

In my opinion, Heinz should steal the drug, as it is matter of life and death of a person. Consider,
a parameter on which you decide how much you are going to lose after doing something. So,
according to that, stealing has lesser loss as a whole as compared to losing a life. Although
ethically wrong, but morally it is correct for Heinz to steal the drug and save his wife. In this
case, Heinz is obligated to steal the drug, ethically he should have arranged the money and buy
the drug, but since he has very less time left and a life has to be saved he is bound to do
something out of the rules of society.

One case arises, where suppose Heinz doesn’t loves his wife, in that case according to me, he
should first make sure that life of a person is saved. So, in that case also he should steal the drug
to save the life of that woman. Also, if the person was stranger, Heinz must look for saving the
life first and then his ethics.

For the case, where it is a pet animal instead of his wife I would like to consider two cases:
 Case-1: Where he returns the remaining money to druggist and pay for his losses, in that
case he should steal the drug.

Case-2: Where he is unable to pay druggist for his losses, there Heinz must not steal,
because Psychological studies show that humans are more depressed when they lose their
spouse, rather than pet animals. So, I think Heinz must not steal and rather lose his loved
pet.

So, generally one should do everything to save a life unless it hampers or endangers others’ lives
as well. A calculated risk can always be taken to save lives but that risk or deed must not take
someone else’s life.

Reference: Kohlberg Dilemmas (https://bit.ly/2vo4u9N)