This work is an evaluation, through the criterion of utilitarian ethics, of the resolution
of an intense moral dilemma in Victor Hugo’s 1862 masterpiece, Les Misérables. The
dilemma is faced by the main protagonist Jean Valjean. Valjean, a former convict, has
redeemed his life and has become mayor of a French city under an assumed name. Years
later, he learns that someone else has been erroneously arrested as him, and Valjean is
faced with the choice of letting this man be convicted and sent to a horrible punishment
in the galleys, or revealing his identity and facing reimprisonment himself in order to
save him. In doing the latter, he acts according to the demands of deontological ethics,
for which the author of the novel explicitly commends him. Nevertheless, this work avers
that in making the latter choice, Valjean, in terms of utilitarian ethics, acts immorally.
It affirms this by showing, through the writings of Jeremy Bentham, that in morally
evaluating an action in utilitarian ethical terms, the happiness and unhappiness caused
to everyone affected by his act must be quantified and balanced against each other.
Due to the effect that the loss of their benevolent mayor has on other characters, the
saving of one individual cannot be seen to be productive of the greatest good. This work
then examines possible objections to this evaluation and through writers on ethics and
Bentham himself, shows that these objections do not invalidate the central argument of
the work.
Primary Language | English |
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Subjects | Creative Arts and Writing |
Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | May 15, 2017 |
Published in Issue | Year 2017 Volume: 23 Issue: 90 |
Journal website: https://folkloredebiyat.org
The journal’s publication languages are both English and Turkish. Also despite articles in Turkish, the title, abstract, and keywords are also in English. Turkish articles approved by the reviewers are required to submit an extended summary (750-1000 words) in English.
The journal is indexed by TR-Dizin, Web of Science (ESCI), DOAJ, and many other indexes and datebases.
Within the scope of TR DIZIN 2020 Ethical Criteria and as of the year 2020, studies requiring ethics committee approval must indicate Ethics Committee Approval details (committe-date-issue) in the article’s methods section. With this in mind, we request from our author candidates to edit their article accordingly before sending it to the journal.
Field EdItors
Folklore:
Prof.Dr. Hande Birkalan-Gedik
(Frankfurt University- birkalan-gedik@em.uni.frankfurt.de)
Prof. Dr. Arzu Öztürkmen
(Bosphorus University- ozturkme@boun.edu.tr)
Edebiyat-Literature
Prof. Dr. G. Gonca Gökalp Alpaslan (Hacettepe University - ggonca@
hacettepe.edu.tr)
Prof. Dr. Ramazan Korkmaz
(President, Caucasus University Association- r_korkmaz@hotmail.com)
Antropoloji-Anthropology
Prof. Dr. Akile Gürsoy
(Beykent University - gursoyakile@gmail.com)
Prof.Dr. Serpil Aygün Cengiz
(Ankara University - serpilayguncengiz@gmail.com)
Dil-Dilbilim/Linguistics
Prof.Dr. Aysu Erden
(Maltepe University - aysuerden777@gmail.com)
Prof. Dr. V. Doğan Günay
(Dokuz Eylul University- dogan.gunay@deu.edu.tr)