MORAL DILEMMAS: CAN THEY EVALUATE THE UTILITARIAN THEORY?

Deontology and utilitarianism, acting for duty according to certain principles, and maximizing happiness for the majority, respectively, are assessed through dilemmas (e.g., must one person be sacrificed to save five?). It has been questioned whether the answers to these dilemmas reflect these moral positions. The present study analyzed whether the harm acceptance reflects a utilitarian stance. We reviewed studies that related the response to dilemmas with indicators of utilitarianism according to five criteria that we established. We conclude that the responses reflected utilitarianism according to some of the criteria, but higher validity analyses that include the variables that affect responses to the dilemmas are required. We proposed conditions to assess whether the responses reflect utilitarianism in future studies.