ENGLI 1101 PROVIDE A BRIEF OVERVIEW CASE QUALIFIES ETHICAL ISSUE / TU ENGLI 1101 PROVIDE A BRIEF OVERVIEW CASE QUALIFIES | Page 5

Ham, Mission Management, Launch Integration,
Debris Assessment, the various commentators, and
perhaps our own initial inclinations, we opt for a
high dose of paternalism at one of the most significant points in the
lives of these people. Perhaps we
believe that this knowledge really is more harmful
to the astronauts and to others than keeping it from
them. Under such a belief, perhaps consequentialism
trumps deontology. If, however, we are simply keeping the astronauts
in the dark to protect them against
their own fears, or even to protect ourselves against
our anxieties for them, then this seems an unreasonable cost to their
autonomy. Of course it would be
painful to know the end was coming; but it would
take a resolute paternalism to shield them from this
knowledge, something we would not tolerate in other
professions who work with people who know they are about to die.