Unit 4 - Professional Responsibility and Whistle Blowing Flashcards
Explain why Brunk thinks a new professional ethic is needed for professionals working in the area of technology. What does he see as the major components of such an ethic?
The greatest dangers posed to humanity are those related to technology recombinant DNA/Nuclear technology and current divisions of labor diffuse responsibility to greater extents. Brunk then argues that current professional ethics rationalizes an escape from moral responsibility by defining a narrow sphere of moral responsibility by excluding everything outside of their actions in their immediate role. It does this by focusing on the actions of individuals instead of corporate or institutional entity’s. It is then considered unprofessional to make any ethical judgement outside of ones area of expertise. Next, a strong distinction is made between personal, professional morality, and politics or political morality, evaluation’s of the professional role itself is considered political. Technology has its own imperative that selects human ideas to support its need for efficiency, complexity, elegance, and self-perpetuation.
“For as our society becomes increasingly
professionalized, if this professionalism is guided by the traditional professional ethic, it means that the power of the technological imperative expands, and the more difficult it becomes for other roles in the society to counter its influence. “
To combat the technological imperative and to ensure that technology serves the moral ends of humanity Brunk argues for the adoption of a new professional ethic which rejects the rationalization for ethical isolationism and escape from responsibility characteristic of current professional ethics, what he calls Conscientious Professionalism. Professionals should take a broader structural view of the system or institution in which professional roles function and considers the moral significance of the larger system. Requires the potential refusal from the professional to take part in a greater unethical practice and all the consequences (banishment or shame from the profession) that go with it.
Brunk identifies a second moral principle in “Professionalism and Moral Responsibility in the Technological Society,” (p. 151), that he says should be part of the “ethic of Conscientious Professionalism.” Identify the principle, and explain how Brunk argues it should influence the thinking of scientists and technical people. Do you agree with his argument? Why or why not?
The second moral principle Brunk defines is that with great knowledge comes great responsibility, meaning that because the professional is more informed into the greater consequences of what they research, they are more responsible for ensuring that it is either not carried out or used in a socially responsible way. Additionally, because the professional derives the greatest benefit from technological advancement, they should bear the greater responsibility for its ethical uses.
Yes, because those who know the most about the technology can make the most informed decision into its uses and have the most power by having the ability to not take part in its development. Yes, it also makes sense to apply greater accountability to professionals so diffusion of responsibility can be combated against.
How does James define “whistle-blowing,” and under what conditions does he think it is justified?
James defines whistle-blowing as the attempt by an employee or former employee to disclose what he or she believes to be a wrongdoing in or by the organization and can be internal if it is reported to a higher authority within the organization or external if the wrongdoing is reported to outside officials.
James argues that obligations of confidentiality and loyalty to an employer cannot override the individual obligation to prevent unnecessary harm to others. One must weigh the harm done to fellow workers and the organization against the harm done by allowing the organizational wrong to continue. So long as the harm done to the coworkers and stockholders is not significantly greater, the person has a moral obligation to consider the interests of the public and blow the whistle.
The amount of moral responsibility for an organizational action depends on the extent to which:
1. the action is foreseeable
2.Ones own action or inaction is a cause of those consequences
What policies does James think corporations and institutions might adopt to make whistle-blowing unnecessary?
James argues that effective internal channels for reporting wrongdoing could be instated, reward those who use these channels, and hire people whose primary job is to investigate and eliminate organizational wrong doing, these changes could be carried out by the government or the organization itself.
Other changes could be insisting that certain kinds of records be kept, increasing fines for illegal actions, and making professionals/executives personally responsible for filing false reports, knowingly marketing dangerous products and so on.
What steps did the employees described in the article on the Challenger case take to try to avert the disaster? How did their actions fit with the steps James says professionals should take when they think activities of their organization may cause harm?
Boisjoy made substantial efforts to make NASA aware of the danger of the O-joints at low temperatures (even doing additional experimentation to prove the problem) and the erosion that would occur which would lead to the loss of lives. He then fought to form a special team that would be dedicated to solving this issue, however because the resources given to this team was so limited other members of the team continued to write to management of the probable hazard. The team then presented 13 charts to the staff demonstrating the dangers of the launch and made extreme effort to delay the launch by providing substantial proof against it however, management did not listen and carried on with the launch anyhow. Finally, after the incident the employees were honest about the events despite the harm done to their professional image and the institution they were apart of.
The actions of the employee’s fit with James steps in that the employee’s went out of their way to internally blow the whistle for the challenger flight because they 1. foresaw the consequences and 2. Knew that their inaction would cause disaster.
Although their attempts to internally blow the whistle failed to stop the launch, Boisjoy maintained his integrity by telling the truth of the situation in court despite the consequences that came to him. This shows that Boisjoy completed his moral obligation much like James advocates for.
