Digital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Question #692

Text 1 Classical utilitarianism dictates that moral actions are strictly those that maximize overall happiness and minimize suffering for the greatest number of people. In this rigid calculus, the internal intent behind an action is entirely irrelevant; only the external consequences matter. If a burglar accidentally saves a trapped family's life while attempting to break into a burning home to steal jewelry, the act of saving the family remains morally good under strict utilitarianism, regardless of the burglar's original, selfish intent. Text 2 Deontological ethics, championed most famously by Immanuel Kant, insists that the moral worth of an action is rooted exclusively in the agent’s intentions and their adherence to universal duty. An action that results in remarkably positive outcomes is still entirely void of moral worth if it is motivated by selfish desires, greed, or even accidental circumstances. For an act to be truly moral, it must be performed primarily out of a conscious sense of duty, irrespective of the resulting consequences. Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely characterize the act of saving the family described in Text 1?