Action for Satisfaction

By: Jean Ester Cortejo

From the film "Man for all season" the character I chose was Cardinal Wolsey. He was once a Chancellor
of England. He was shown in the film having a conversation with Thomas More the protagonist,
discussing about the divorce of King Henry VIII, King of England and Queen Catherine. On the other
hand,the character I chose from the film "Thank you for smoking" was the kidnapper who orchestrated
sticking nicotine patches to the body of Nick Naylor, the protagonist of the film.

Question, What is their Moral Framework? As we all know, moral framework is composed of moral
principle and moral theory. So the moral theory of these two characters are Act Utilitarian. They would
do anything just to produce the greater good for the greatest number of people even if it means hurting
someone. For example, Cardinal Wolsey showed great support for the divorce of the King and Queen just
to produce an heir for the throne. He said, "All right. Good. Pray by all means. But in addition to prayer
there is an effort. And my effort is to secure a divorce." "Let the dynasty die with Henry VIII and we'll
have dynastic wars again. Blood-witted barons rapping the country from end to end. Is that what you
want? Very well. England needs an heir. Certain measures, perhaps regrettable, perhaps not, there's
much in the church which needs reformation, Thomas. All right regrettable, but necessary for us to get
an heir." He believed that the mistress, as a fertile woman, can give birth to a son which will become an
heir rather than the wife. These statements reflects how frank the Cardinal was, in his stand and is
willing to make effort just to suffice what the King and the kingdom wants. However in the kidnapper's
part, he was straight forward in saying, "Nick, we want you to stop killing people. So many people. Half a
million people year in the US." but also used indirect approach by asking, "Nick, how much do you smoke
a day?" and "What does any man want? The love of a woman, crisp bacon, an average life span of 80
years." Both of these characters showed that what they did was for the best for great number of people
therefore showing their moral principle - Humanism.

So what is their moral framework? It is the Consequentialist Framework, focusing on the future effects,
affecting people directly or indirectly. Cardinal Wolsey and the kidnapper believed that representing
those individual who are concerned is the right thing to do regardless of the present consequence to the
person they are subjecting to, as long as those individuals reach their final goal. Their action gives
satisfaction to everyone - Happiness.