Final

Question 1

Consequentialist Theories

Answer 1

based on examining the consequence of actions, beliefs, or theories, and judge the rightness or wrongness on the basis of those consequences or results.

Question 2

Nonconsequentialist theories

Answer 2

based not on consequences, but on whether the actions or beliefs or theories conform to some rule or principle

Question 3

Utilitarianism

Answer 3

holds that what is good is what produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

Question 4

Kantian Ethics

Answer 4

ethics is based on or primarily concerned with ethical rules or principles, which are derived from logic, from reasoning, or from human nature.

Question 5

Kant’s Categorical Imperative

Answer 5

Always act so that you can consistently will that the maxim of your action become a universal law.

Question 6

Virtue Ethics

Answer 6

Virtue ethics focuses not on ethical rules or consequences, but on the moral status of the person or agent. The purpose of ethics is to develop the individual’s moral/ethical character, or virtues.

Question 7

Moral Sense Theory

Answer 7

Holds that human have a moral sense (analogous to the physical senses) or intuition by which we can and do distinguish between right and wrong.

Question 8

Natural Law

Answer 8

Holds that humans are beings of nature and have a nature, that this nature can be know, and that ethics can be derived from laws or principles found in that nature.

Question 9

Contractarian Ethics

Answer 9

Ethics is based on a hypothetical contract among members of society.

Question 10

Collectivist Ethics

Answer 10

Claims that values and what is good or bad (as well as other things) are socially derived and determined.

Question 11

Libertarian

Answer 11

Harm principle

Question 12

Pragmatic ethics

Answer 12

Pragmatism rejects unchanging or transcendent principles and norms, holding instead that principles and views and norms both are and need to be changed in light of actual events or discoveries or situations.

Question 13

Divine Command Theory

Answer 13

right and wrong, good and evil, just and unjust are determined not by human wish, desire, or reason, or by human institutions, but by the will of a transcendent deity or deities

Question 14

Ethical Egoism

Answer 14

identifies what is ethically right with the agent’s self-interest. Claims that something is ethically right iff it promotes the agent’s long-term self-interest.

Question 15

Three Basic Parts of an Argument in Applied Ethics

Answer 15

1. Factual premise
2. Premise stating an ethical principle or theory
3. A conclusion that brings these two together

Question 16

Four Ways You can Attack an Argument in Applied Ethics

Answer 16

1. Attack the factual premise.
2. Attack the ethical theory.
3. Argue that the ethical theory or principle does not apply in the case of the factual premise.
4. Point out that there is a formal or informal fallacy in the argument

Question 17

Three Central Features of Professions

Answer 17

1. An extensive period of training is needed
2. The training to become a professional involves a significant intellectual component
3. The trained ability held by professions provides an important service to society

Question 18

Three Common Features of Professions

Answer 18

1. Credentialing or licensing
2. Organization of members
3. The profession/professional has a great autonomy in it/his work

Question 19

Is professional ethics the same as or reducible to ordinary ethics?

Answer 19

Yes…
1.

No…
1. Professions have special rights and privileges which are needed so they can fulfill their role in providing for our basin human needs. Spiderman principle… with special rights and privileges comes special ethical obligations and duties.

Question 20

What is autonomy? Why is it important?

Answer 20

Literally meaning “self-law,” autonomy is generally understood to refer to the capacity to be one’s own person, to live one’s life according to reasons and motives that are taken as one’s own and not the product of manipulative or distorting external forces. Autonomy is important insofar as it is essential to respecting the free-will and dignity of the individual person.

Question 21

What is a professional-client relationship for?

Answer 21

A Professional-client relationship is, ultimately, for the satisfaction of fundamental needs (i.e. the needs of the client).

Question 22

Tasks to be accomplished in a professional-client relationship

Answer 22

1. Analyze the client’s need or want
2. Consider alternative responses to the client’s need
3. Deciding which of the alternatives to pursue
4. Implementation of the decision
5. Education (of client or professional or both)

Question 23

Five Different Types of Professional client Relationships

Answer 23

1. Agency
2. Paternalistic
3. Contractual
4. Affinity
5. Fiduciary

Question 24

Account of fundamental (human) needs and the role of professionals in filling those needs, along with the claim that others have against the professional to fulfill his/her needs.

Answer 24

• The goods which professionals provide meet fundamental needs, which are not just mere desires.
• If I have a fundamental need which I cannot satisfy myself (e.g. healthcare), then I have a legitimate claim against those who can satisfy it (e.g. doctors).
• Insofar as the role of the professional is the satisfaction of fundamental needs, they are obliged to provide to provide their services to particular clients whether they wish to or not.

Question 25

Can the client become the enemy of the professional? What are some examples?

Answer 25

Clients can, in some cases, become the enemy of the professional. Several examples of this includes patients who won’t take care of themselves or who manipulate their doctors, clients who won’t behave properly in court, clients who falsify their financial statements.

Question 26

Stockholder

Answer 26

Anyone who has an interest in the firm because of their direct in the firm because of their direct financial investment in the form of stocks, and thus a special claim on return on their investment.

Question 27

Stakeholder

Answer 27

anyone who benefits from or is harmed by the actions of the organization

Question 28

What is dual-investor theory? What problem or question is it intended to answer (the narrow view of corporate social responsibility, as propounded by Milton Friedman)? What are Schlossberger’s five main points in his argument.

Answer 28

Dual-investor theory asserts that moral duties are built into the very concept of an organization and that organizations, business or non-business, have a duty of minimum social responsibility.
It is intended to answer of whether or not business organizations have any social duty beyond that of maximizing profit for shareholders.

Question 29

What are Schlossberger’s five main points in his argument for Dual Investor Theory.

Answer 29

1. Society provides every organization with extensive help without which it cant function
2. Every org. knowingly and deliberately employs that help in pursuing its purpose.
3. Therefore every org. knowingly and deliberately makes use of, for its purpose, benefits provided by society.
4. When one knowingly and deliberately makes use, for a particular purpose, of what another has provided, one has a duty to ensure that one’s pursuit of that purpose is not inconsistent with one’s benefactors needs, welfare, projects.
5. Therefore, every org. has a strong duty to ensure that its pursuit of purpose is not inconsistent with the needs, welfare, and projects of society.

Question 30

Schlossberger’s points and list of questions to ask in giving an ethical evaluation of organizations.

Answer 30

1. Does the org. make a good faith effort to serve its beneficiaries?
2. Is the perceived good of the org. truly a good?
3. Does the org. attempt to ensure that its efforts serve what it understands to be the good-in-general?
4. Is the org’s understanding of the good-in-general correct?
5. Does the organization succeed in those efforts (to serve the good-in-general)/
6. Do the org’s activities violate some other firm precept of morality in an unjust way?

Question 31

Freeman’s Six Ground Rules for Fair Contracts

Answer 31

1. Principle of Entry and exit
2. principle of governance
3. Principle of externalities
4. Principle of contracting cost
5. agency principle
6. principle of limited immortality

Question 32

What is paternalism in the marketplace? Do you think it is justified? Why or why not?

Answer 32

In the marketplace, paternalism occurs where the seller interferes with the customer’s freedom for his or her own good.

Is it justified? Yes, sometimes. It seems to be justified in cases where the customer or client does not have the capacity or competence to give informed consent, or adequate information. In this regard, it seems reasonable to suggest that, in the case of incompetent individuals, professionals are, like the parents of a child, justified in being paternalistic. Likewise, in cases where the customer lacks adequate information (e.g knowledge, skills, training, etc) about the product to use it in a way that is safe, the seller is justified in acting paternalistically.

Question 33

What are some ethical problems for the engineering profession?

Answer 33

• General ideas: conflict between safety and efficacy… non-linear relationship between cost and outcome
• conflict between efficiency and environmental concerns

Question 34

What is the conflict between engineering and public interest?

Answer 34

The conflict between engineering and public interest arises from the fact that engineering, unlike the sciences, is in fact laden with risks. In this regard, the question becomes, not whether or not risk is acceptable, but how much risk is acceptable. This is where a particular engineer, or group of engineers, may conflict with public interest.

Question 35

Internal good vs. external good

Answer 35

External goods are goods attached to a practice by the accidents of social circumstance (e.g. fame, power, money, etc). Internal goods are goods that can only be achieved by participating in the practice itself.

Question 36

Care

Answer 36

One of the two virtues that are necessary for professionals to enhance the social good.

Care links humans to their world, is connective.

Question 37

Virtue

Answer 37

A virtue is a practice in search of an excellence, which presupposes a disposition to engage in the practice in the first place.

Question 38

Summary of Moriarty’s Argument

Answer 38

Ethical problems in engineering result from the conflict between internal and external goods. Solution to this problem is not developing a better rule, which is not used, but developing virtuous engineers. In particular, this requires the virtues of objectivity and care.

Question 39

Four Types of Professional Information

Answer 39

1. General knowledge… available to everyone, not legally restricted, no one owns it.
2. Tricks of the trade… non-patentable, insider information
3. Trade secrets. Cannot be divulged.
4. Patented information. Publicly available but legally restricted.

Question 40

Four Types of Professional Information (Who owns it… whether an employee can take it from one employer to another)

Answer 40

1. General knowledge… general information that is available to everyone… no one owns it… can be taken from one employer to another
2. Tricks of the trade… non-patentable, insider information… technically not owned by anyone, but may or may not be able to be taken from one employer to another depending upon whether employee has signed non-disclosure contract
3. Trade secrets… owned by one employer… Cannot be divulged.
4. Patented information. Publicly available but legally restricted. owned by one employer and already know by the other

Question 41

Ethical Problems in Health Care and Solutions

Answer 41

• Should health care professionals be required to provide goods or services that they find to be ethically objectionable? No, because this sacrifices the autonomy of the professional, violates their liberty, and forces the profession to do (at least what he conceives to be) harm.
• Is physician assisted suicide ethically permissible? No, suicide is impermissible.
• Is lying to a patient ever permissible? Yes.
• Is it permissible for health professionals to provide care for a minor that runs contrary wishes of the minor’s parents (e.g. because they are morally opposed to blood transfusion)?

Question 42

What is required for informed consent?

Answer 42

1. Adequate information
2. No coercion
3. Competence to give consent

Question 43

What is a fiduciary relationship?

Answer 43

A fiduciary relationship is a relationship wherein one party entrusts something to another party with the expectation that the other party acts, with regard to that thing, in the first party’s interest. ex:

Question 44

What are some ethical problems or issues faced by nurses?

Answer 44

• Patient freedom vs Nurse Control (e.g. Patient Autonomy vs. Paternalism)
• Conflict between the ethical beliefs of the nurse and those of the patient and/or the patient’s family
• Is it ethically permissible for a nurse to lie or withhold information from a patient is some cases?

Question 45

What is the main goal or purpose of counseling?

Answer 45

The main goal or purpose of counseling is to restore the client to mental, spiritual health.

Question 46

Can the integrity of professional counselors be challenged by the demands or behavior of clients? Examples.

Answer 46

Yes. The integrity of professional counselor can be challenged when the choices, attitudes, or basic values of clients violate those of the counselor. Examples… A case in which the client wants to get divorced, but such an action, either in this instances or in all instances, violates the conscience of the counselor.

Question 47

What are nonsexual dual relationships? Are they objectionable or problematic?

Answer 47

Nonsexual dual relationship occur when the therapist is in another, significantly different relationship, with a patient.

They are problematic because they can jeopardize professional judgment, the client’s welfare, and the process of therapy itself. Creates conflicts of interest.

Question 48

Is it permissible for a professional to lie to a client? Why or why not? What test might be given to distinguish between permissible and impermissible lies?

Answer 48

Lying = any intentionally deceptive message which is stated

It is, in certain cases, permissible for a professional to lie to a client insofar as such a lie is necessary for the client’s good.

Bok’s Test of Publicity…
Lying is justified iff you could will that 1) your lie with your name attached to it 2) the reasons for your lie were made public.

Question 49

Is it permissible for a professional to lie to a client? Why or why not? What test might be given to distinguish between permissible and impermissible lies?

Answer 49

Lying = any intentionally deceptive message which is stated

It is, in certain cases, permissible for a professional to lie to a client insofar as such a lie may be necessary for the client’s good. In other words, it may be permissible for a professional to lie in such cases as the professional, placing himself in the shoes of the client, would consistently will to be lied to. This is consistent with…

Bok’s Test of Publicity…
Lying is justified iff you could will that 1) your lie with your name attached to it 2) the reasons for your lie were made public.

Question 50

What does the existence of lawyer jokes suggest about our (i.e. the public’s) thinking/feeling about lawyers and the legal profession?

Answer 50

The existence of lawyer jokes suggests, obviously, that lawyers and the legal profession are regarded as unethical.

Question 51

What is the nature of the Anglo-American legal system? What term is used for it? What does this mean about the role of lawyers in that system?

Answer 51

Anglo-Americans have an adversary system, wherein one team of lawyers is opposed to another team of lawyers. The role of lawyers in this system is to attempt to win instead of arrive at the truth.

Question 52

Taylor claims that the adversary system of justice promotes or requires or gives rise to ethical problems (“an ethical jungle” he calls it)? Why does it do this?

Answer 52

The adversary system of justice gives rise to an ethical jungle because of its emphasis on winning over-and-above truth.

Question 53

Three ethical dilemmas for defense lawyers. What are they and why do they arise?

Answer 53

1. Is it proper to make a witness to appear to be lying when you know his testimony is truthful and accurate?
2. Is it proper to put a witness on the stand when you know that he will commit perjury?
3. Is it OK to give clients legal advice when you have reason to believe the knowledge give him will tempt him to commit perjury?

These dilemmas arise because of the conflict between client confidentiality and not deceiving the court

Question 54

Pure Legal Advocate

Answer 54

One sense of lawyer in which the role of a lawyer is purely that of being a client’s legal advocate and in which being a good lawyer is equal to being an effective legal advocate.

Problems with this view arise because the Pure Legal Advocate offends against each of the criteria of being a morally good person.

Question 55

Lawyer as Moral Agent

Answer 55

One sense of lawyer in which the role of a lawyer is not reduced to being an effective legal advocate, but necessarily includes being a morally good person.

Resolves the ethical disutility in being a pure legal advocate, but is faced with the problem that clients would much rather a lawyer who can win than a lawyer who is a morally good agent.

Question 56

Cohen’s 7 Criterion of a Morally Good Person

Answer 56

A Morally good person:

• Is just
• Is truthful
• Has moral courage
• Has good monetary habits
• Is benevolent
• Is trustworthy
• Is disposed to do his/her own moral thinking

Question 57

Amy Gutmann raises the question whether virtue can be taught to lawyers. Why is she concerned with this? What is her answer and her proposal to this problem?

Answer 57

Gutmann is concerned with whether virtue can be taught to lawyers because she notes that the three predominant conceptions of legal virtue… pure legal advocate, social justice warrior, and moral agent, are each lacking insofar as they neglect the virtue of deliberation in legal practice.

Gutmann’s proposal to develop the virtue of deliberation in the legal profession is to change legal education by teaching lawyers how to better communicate with clients and teach them the knowledge necessary to make informed judgments about alternative legal strategies.

Question 58

Do you think that a lawyer in the American legal system, in his role as a lawyer, can be an ethically good person? Why or why not?

Answer 58

While arguably a rare phenomenon, lawyers in the American legal system, in their role as a lawyer, can be ethically good people. This is true because there are, in fact, lawyers who, in their capacity as a lawyer, are ethically good people. Hence, while one would possibly be justified in saying that there are few ethically good lawyers in the American legal system, one would clearly be unjustified in saying that there are no ethically good lawyers in the American legal system.

Question 59

How is the metaphor of a video camera and its operator applicable to the ethics of journalism?

Answer 59

The metaphor of a video camera and its operator is applicable to the ethics of journalism insofar as it reflects the fact that the final product, whether a video or an article, reflects the lens from which it was shot/written and reflects the decisions of the agent who is responsible for its creation.

Question 60

According to Detmer, what is/are the problem(s) with the notion of “objectivity” as it is usually held up by journalists?

Answer 60

The problem with the notion of “objectivity” as it is usually held up by journalists is the fact that it, insofar as it denies the fact that all journalists and all stories written by journalists reflect value commitments.

Question 61

Detmer offers five suggestions for improvement of journalism. What are they?

Answer 61

1. Engage more investigative journalism
2. Enlarge pool of authorities from which information is drawn
3. Don’t allow US corporate, gov. leaders to set the agenda
4. Abandon the false notion of objectivity that currently guides the profession
5. Abandon the both sides approach

Question 62

What is the role of confidentiality in journalism?

Answer 62

Confidentiality plays in important role in journalism and journalism ethics b/c much of the information that journalists receive is given, either explicitly or implicitly, on the condition of anonymity. Thus, to violate confidentiality (without the permision of the source) is to break a sacred trust and to jeopardize the integrity of the profession.

Question 63

What is the role of privacy in journalism? To whom, if anyone, should privacy be given by journalists?

Answer 63

Due to the inherently nature of media and journalism, privacy is an important consideration. Recognizing that people have a right to privacy, ethical questions arise with regard to what sorts of people have forfeited this right and to what extent they have done so. In this regard, it seems that journalists should give everyone privacy and only violate this privacy if their is a compelling, overriding reason to do so.

Question 64

Lichtenberg writes about conflicts of interest for journalists and journalism. What are some of those conflicts of interest? How and why do they arise? How might they be avoided or solved?

Answer 64

According to Lichtenberg, there are essentially two types of conflicts of interest. The first of these types might be fairly categorized as ideological. This conflict of interest arises naturally and, according to Lichtenberg, should not be considered an unethical thing insofar as it mistakes the journalist for a tabula rasa. The second type of conflicts of interest are financial. These conflicts arise either directly (e.g. someone bribing a reporter) or indirectly (e.g. the effective bribing of the journalistic institution).

Question 65

What is wrong with the notion of journalist as tabula rasa?

Answer 65

It ignores the fact that all journalists, whether they are reporters for the New York Times or editorial writers for the Washington Post, have opinions about things.

Question 66

Cohen-Almagor lists six different categories of events. What are they?

Answer 66

1. Events that have social-public meaning
2. Gossip events that are of little social value but are of interest to the public
3. Heightened events
4. Exaggerated events and twisted stories
5. Staged events
6. Fictitious events

Question 67

Cohen-Almagor claims that limitations should be placed on media coverage. What is his argument for this? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

Answer 67

Freedom of speech is a fundamental right and anchor of democracy, but it should not be used in an uncontrolled manner b/c
-unlimited liberty and unqualified tolerance might deteriorate into anarchy and lawlessness wherein democracy and one of its key institutions, the media, would be undermined

Question 68

How does the existence of new media (Internet, bloggers, Twitter, text messaging, cell phones, etc.) affect journalism and what are some of the ethical questions posed by this? (

Answer 68

• The new media affects journalism insofar as it allows everyone to be both an editor and publisher, their own gatekeeper.
• raises questions with regard to whether or not truth and accuracy can be maintained (e.g. questions of fake news and Facebook’s attempts to block it)
• raises question with regard to whether or not completeness and comprehensiveness can be maintained in a 24/7 news cycle

Question 69

What are some problems for teachers and education that came about because of No Child Left Behind? What are some problems for teachers and education raised by the Common Core Standards?

Answer 69

Problems:

• teaching to the test
• perverse incentive to improve test scores no matter what
• success of teacher measured by one high stakes test
• one-size-fits-all education undermines intellectual diversity

Question 70

Is it ethically permissible for K through 12 teachers to become advocates (for, e.g., a political or religious point of view) in the classroom? Why or why not?

Answer 70

Yes, it is ethically permissible for K through 12 teachers to become advocates for a political or religious point insofar as this is an expectation of the job. Hence, it is ethically permissible for a Catholic school teacher to teach that Jesus is God and for a teacher at a Muslim school to teach that eating pork is wrong. The reason why advocating a political or religious point of view is morally permissible in these contexts is because such views are inherent to the nature of the education that the parents of the children paid for and which the school provides.

Question 71

Is it permissible for teachers to become friends of their students? Why or why not?

Answer 71

It is permissible for teachers to become friends of their students insofar as such friendships do not harm any students and insofar as such friendship does not violate other ethical and/or legal norms. Such friendships are permissible because they enhance the happiness of students (who develop a greater desire to learn) and the teacher (who becomes more invested in the education of his students).

Question 72

What are at least three reasons that problems in ethics arise for the profession of accounting?

Answer 72

1. Conflict of interest when accountant is in a management role.
2. Conflicts of interest which may affect auditors
3. Information asymmetry

Question 73

What are some of the pressures that are or can be put on accountants to have them create false or fraudulent accounting statements.

Answer 73

1. Accountants who work for a company may be pressured by that company to cook-the-books or else lose their job, promotion, etc.
2. Accountants who are auditors may be pressured to allow the people they audit to cook the books because of the fear of losing business or because of the promise, explicit or implicit, of a sort of pay for play.

Question 74

What is cooking the books? How is it usually done? Why is it done?

Answer 74

Cooking the books means intentionally hiding or distoring the real financial performance and/or financial condition of a company. Managers most often cook the books for personal financial gain. Commonly, cooking the books is done by puffing up the income statement by reporting some form of bogus sales revenue.

Question 75

According to Jordan Goodman, in order to solve problems of unethical accounting, change is need in four specific areas. What are those four areas?

Answer 75

1. The corporate culture itself needs to change
2. Executive compensation has to be controlled
3. Corporate leaders must respect rules
4. Tough leadership must be reconciled with profit motive

Question 76

What are the four components of an ethics audit according to KPMG Peat Marwick?

Answer 76

1. An assesment of the ethical climate of the client
2. an assesment of performance incentives
3. Communication of the message about what is acceptable/unaccebpable behavior
4. Compliance and enforcement

Question 77

How might a conflict of interest arise for an accountant?

Answer 77

• Accountant works for a company that wants to cook the books and which will either reward or, at the very least, not (financially) harm the accountant if he plays along.
• An accountant serves as an auditor of a company in which he has a significant personal or financial stake.

Question 78

What unethical and/or fraudulent accounting things were done by Lucent Technologies?

Answer 78

Lucent reduced liabilities by changing accounting assumptions.
Overstated accounts receivable and inventory levels.
Recognizion of revenues not earned
Shifted current-year expenses to later periods