What is your answer?
You promise to go to Suzy's party. But you need to break this promise to drive a sick friend to the hospital. So you ought to break the promise. Why?
{ 1 } - a promise is only a prima facie duty, and thus isn't a genuine duty.
{ 2 } - the duty to help the friend here outweighs the duty to keep the promise.
{ 3 } - it would promote the most good to break the promise.
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Directions: Click on a number from 1 to 3.
1 is wrong. Please try again.
You promise to go to Suzy's party. But you need to break this promise to drive a sick friend to the hospital. So you ought to break the promise. Why?
{ 1 } - a promise is only a prima facie duty, and thus isn't a genuine duty.
{ 2 } - the duty to help the friend here outweighs the duty to keep the promise.
{ 3 } - it would promote the most good to break the promise.
The duty is genuine, but it's overridden by another duty.
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2 is correct!
You promise to go to Suzy's party. But you need to break this promise to drive a sick friend to the hospital. So you ought to break the promise. Why?
{ 1 } - a promise is only a prima facie duty, and thus isn't a genuine duty.
{ 2 } - the duty to help the friend here outweighs the duty to keep the promise.
{ 3 } - it would promote the most good to break the promise.
One duty is more binding than the other. Only intuition can tell us which duty is more binding in the concrete situation.
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Before continuing, you might try some wrong answers.
3 is wrong. Please try again.
You promise to go to Suzy's party. But you need to break this promise to drive a sick friend to the hospital. So you ought to break the promise. Why?
{ 1 } - a promise is only a prima facie duty, and thus isn't a genuine duty.
{ 2 } - the duty to help the friend here outweighs the duty to keep the promise.
{ 3 } - it would promote the most good to break the promise.
This is the utilitarian answer, and Ross would reject it.
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the end