I don't think either utilitarianism or deontology can claim precedence over one another. We are doomed to have the two fighting in the human brain for as long a

I don't think either utilitarianism or deontology can claim precedence over one another. We are doomed to have the two fighting in the human brain for as long as there will be human brains. And different people will come up with different conclusions in the same circumstances. A third principle is "First, do not harm". Not just for the medical profession but for everybody in any circumstances. I think in many cases that one should let that take precedence over both utilitarianism or deontology. Both utilitarianism and deontology assume we are smarter than we actually are. We cannot compute the pleasure of all human beings in the aggregate. Nor are we very far-sighted prioritizing between principles in many cases. I am sure this conclusion is a disappointing one to the philosophers in the room but I think it is true.