Assignment task:
Absolute duties vs. conflicting duties
Making consequentialism reasonable requires some fine distinctions, but we can see how such distinctions might help explain the complication of duty in A Few Good Men, as in the dilemma faced by Dawson and Downey. Dawson's final remark to Downey says that they should have protected Santiago rather than brutalize him (even though they were commanded to do so). That priority implies that the duty to obey their commander was defeated by a stronger duty.to protect the weak.
The question is how to interpret this apparent conflict of duties. In your view, is the best reading of Dawson's explanation
- that defending the weak is an absolute duty but obeying one's commander is not an absolute duty; or only
- that the question is not whether duties are absolute, but only which duty is strongest (most compelling)