Let's apply a scenario here. Imagine that a large boat is sinking. There is a life boat that can save 4 of the beings on board. Five of the beings on board reach the life boat. Four people and one dog. You have to throw one being overboard. What is the ethical Utilitarian approach to this?
This is very complex, for in the Utilitarian viewpoint a range of variables must be taken into consideration. A utilitarian must take into account the pain or suffering of everyone affected, not just immediately present; therefore we have to assume all survivors on the life boat lost all of their family and friends on the sinking boat. This way, the only being affected is the one getting thrown overboard. Also, we must assume that whoever is being thrown overboard is killed painlessly with a lethal injection before being dumped in the ocean. This way, no being's death will be more painful than the other. For a Utilitarian, the being who is least happy now & is not likely to be particularly happy throughout his life should be thrown overboard.
So, who should be thrown overboard?
(Highlight below for answer)
Since dogs are generally easily satisfied, this generally means that one of the humans should be thrown overboard. To an Utilitarian, it is not the species of the beings capable of contributing to the overall happiness of the moral universe, but the amount they contribute that matters.
"If a being suffers, there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration. No matter what the nature of the being, the principle of equality requires that its suffering be counted equally with the like suffering of any other being." -Peter Singer
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