PHILOSOPHY HOMEWORK KEATING/KANT PHILOSOPHERS

Philosophy homework question: In the summer of 1995, the French navy arrested the crew and passengers of two Greenpeace ships who were protesting the resumption of nuclear testing in the S.Pacific off the coast of Tahiti, an island under French rule. Those arrested included a U.S. congressional delegate and the leader of Polynesian independence movement. There were also massive anti-french demonstartion in Japan against the French nuclear testing. Astralian Prime Minister Dave Keating asked France to call off the test. “They have no moral right,” Keating said, “to conduct these tests. It is an expression of contempt to the people they wish to call the neighbors.

QUESTION:What do you think Keating meant by this statement? Do you agree with Keating that the French had no “moral right” ro conduct nuclear testing in the S.Pacific? Discuss your answer in light of Kant’s categorical imperative. How would a utilitarian reply to this? Which response do you think is best from a moral point of view? Or both Kant and the utilitarians have a point? explain?