Moral Ethics

After reading the classic book written by Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I have noticed some themes and perspectives of the short story that attract attention towards the classic category of moral decision making. The author of this book seems to try to impose upon humanity certain aspects of social conduct and morality along with impulses of severe depravation and rather satanic activity. One of the classic categories that I see as fitting to this book is Consequentialism. As a refresher, Consequentialist Ethics basically says that an action in the right type of context can be considered “morally right” if the end results show a beneficial outcome. This can be portrayed in the book as Dr. Jekyll considers taking his life because his “other self”, called Mr. Hyde, becomes too evil and out of control to handle. Dr. Jekyll is disgusted with his evil self and knows that it would be better off to humanity if he killed himself than rather than cause harm to others. So, he sees this act of suicide as a “good and moral” act because he’d rather kill off his evil self than hurt others. Another theme from the classic categories of ethics is the theory of duty-based ethics. Duty based ethics is basically the notion that we have specific rights given to us because we are simply human, and since we live in an organized and civilized society, we are required to follow laws and duties even if they do not benefit us. Dr. Jekyll seems to understand that it is his duty to uphold moral and social law by acting a certain way unlike his counterpart, Mr. Hyde; who thinks that humanity does not possess rights and therefore commits acts unimaginable. He treats people with disdain, produces violence without a conscience, and acts as if there is no consequences for his actions because he does not react to the responsibility to uphold morality in the way that his counterpart does. Dr. Jekyll reflects on the acts that Mr. Hyde makes and passes judgment on them through the eyes of society. Dr. Jekyll notices his other self make choices without moral lenses because Mr. Hyde sees society not as a framework of moral ethics but as a space void of responsibility. Overall, I think Dr. Jekyll realizes the mistake he made by trying to live a double life. He finds that it immorality leads him to a complete loss of control even if the reason why he did this experiment in the first place was to experience the freedom of immorality without a conscience. I find this book an interesting topic of discussion because it brings forth the idea of moral decision making especially in a society that was notorious for hiding one’s evil acts in a facade of “righteousness”.