Assessment of the Morality of Faramirs Actions in The Lord of the Rings

One of the lesser known but vitally important characters in J. R. R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings trilogy is a noble captain, Faramir, younger brother of Boromir and son of Denethor, the Steward of Gondor. Although this character only plays a minor role in the entire storyline, his fateful actions in trusting Frodo and Sam and releasing them against royal orders to continue their journey to Mordor make it clear that Faramir was a moral man whose natural character shown through despite the exigencies of the battlefield and the implications of his decision. To learn more about this action, the purpose of this paper is to provide an examination of Faramirs actions through the lens of Kants categorical imperative and utilitarianisms greatest happiness principle to determine the extent to which Faramirs decision can be regarded as moral. Although fictional, the moral dilemma faced by Faramir is all-too-familiar to many people today who are confronted with a steady stream of moral dilemmas of their own.

Overview of the Fictional Moral Dilemma and Response

In Book IV of The Two Towers, after capturing the hobbits, Frodo and Sam in Ithilien, Faramir brings them to Henneth Annn where he learns through his hasty conversations with Frodo of...

Further, Faramir even provides them two companions with provisions and allows them to depart and continue their journey into Mordor to fulfill their mission of destroying Saurons Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. This action was especially noteworthy given the dangerous circumstances in which the rushed decision was made, the standing royal orders to detain any trespassers in the realm and the overwhelming lure of the Ring of Power to mere mortal men. Taken together, it is reasonable...…but like an alien attack on Earth, when it comes to choosing between the good guys and the bad guys, Im choosing the latter and so will most of humankind. Because it was impossible for Faramir to predict the outcome of his decision to release the hobbits and even help them on their way to Mordor, it is reasonable to characterize his action as conforming to Kants categorical imperative.

In sum, according to utilitarianism's greatest happiness principle, Faramirs action of releasing Frodo and Sam would be considered unethical, as it potentially brought unhappiness to a greater number of evil beings in service of Sauron. By very sharp contrast, according to Kant's categorical imperative, Faramirs decision can be viewed as ethical since he acted according to the moral maxim of treating rational beings as ends in themselves and not merely as means, respecting the hobbits quest rather than using them to pursue his own mortal desires or just follow…