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
It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome. Another way of looking at this is what action creates the greatest amount of good for the most people. By helping the Sadhu many men’s dreams are getting ruined for the benefit of only one man. Through this ethical thought process the men did the right thing. They looked at the outcome of the situation and decide what would be best for the group and left the man behind. The last ethical thought process to be applied to this situation is egoism. This is when people act in their own self interest. The author’s main purpose of going to Nepal was to achieve the once in a lifetime experience at an ancient holy place for pilgrims. This would prove to be the best interest for the author as shown by his actions, while helping the Sadhu was not in the author’s best interest. If I were to have been in this situation, I would have followed the virtue ethics ethical point of view. I believe that the life of another man exceeds my personal need for a material accomplishment. I would have lived by the virtues of kindness, and charity, and chastity. These men acted out of lust, a lust for personal enjoyment that of which was conquering the summit. I also believe that it takes courage when turning your back on a dream to save the life of someone else. This is also a