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Importance of ethics in our daily life
Exposition on kantian ethics
The importance of ethics in our life today
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Skyler Stone
2S2
Ethics
Course Paper Draft
Air Force Nuclear Cheating Scandal
The Air Force Nuclear Cheating Scandal illustrates the societal pressures to succeed and men doing everything in their power to succeed, even though they sacrificed their integrity along the way. In order to pass the nuclear tests, the Air Force Officers cheated on the tests, while their superiors allowed this to happen. As conflicting messages delivered from the chain of command began, the company-grade officers began to feel the pressure to score high test scores. In total, nine high leadership level officers have been relieved of their positions for failing “to provide adequate oversight of their crew force.” Additionally, Col. Robert Stanley, the head of the
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341st Missile Wing resigned. Over one-hundred lower level officers were associated with the report during this scandal with either participating in or having knowledge of the cheating that had been taking place. Of those men, only nine have been cleared of all charges and allowed to continue serving their country. The remaining members are facing punishment which range from letters of counseling to being charged through the courts-martial. The Air Force became aware of these infractions while probing three different airmen on a drug related incident. As the Air Force was investigating these charges for drugs, the Air Force gained access to the phones of these men. During the investigation, test material was found on the phones. While the authorities had said that the cheating had taken place in August to September of 2012, Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson said that the cheating had been occurring since November 2011 and up to November 2013. One should not compromise their integrity for anything. Once integrity has been compromised on something like these tests, these men and officers cannot be trusted to do their jobs diligently and with the proper integrity. This being said, the higher level officers should not have allowed any sort of cheating to be happening. Not only is it morally wrong, but that behavior is unacceptable in the military. Air Force officers pushed for a 100% test grade on the nuclear tests. This caused some to feel the need to cheat, as it had been around in the culture in Montana for years. In addition, leadership had given conflicting messages in regards to integrity and test performance. This blurred the line between unacceptable cheating and acceptable help on the tests. The “leaders lost sight of the fact that execution in the field is more important than what happens in the classroom.” The options that the company-grade officers faced were to not cheat and accept the lower grades, or cheat and pass these tests. A few moral theories that must be looked at are Kantian Ethics, Utilitarianism Ethics, Relative vs. Objective Ethics, and Military Ethics. Officers of exemplary character, when faced with these same circumstances, should not allow themselves to cheat and act immorally. If the cheating were to continue, the moral issue would be whether or not to allow yourself and others to continue cheating.
While looking at Kantian Ethics, one must look at the whole picture. If one officer is to cheat on the nuclear tests to do well and to get the leadership officers to appreciate his work, then every officer must cheat. If every officer were to cheat, then the nuclear officers would be following the rule “it is permissible to cheat.” However, this rule could not be adopted universally, because everyone would become void of honor and integrity. In addition, this rule could not be adopted into the Air Force, as their honor code is “We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.” While this is a negatively connoted code, the code still stand true that no one shall cheat or tolerate anyone who does. As this is directly specified, the rule “it is permissible to cheat” cannot be adopted in the Air Force. Therefore, using Kantian Ethics, the officers should not cheat. The next ethical theory to look at is Utilitarianism Ethics. This principle bases off of the most happiness. Since every member was passing the tests, making this Air Force base look good on paper, many people were happy. However, by cheating on these tests, the officers may not be adequately prepared for war and securing these nuclear warheads. This could cause many people do die on their behalf, causing unhappiness for a great amount of people. Therefore, using Utilitarianism thinking this act is immoral. The next theory is Relativism. Relativists believe that throughout the world there are a variety of moral systems that are each different and supported by groups of people. Relativists also believe that “morality is a matter of history and geography.” In Montana, the superior officers stressed that each lower-level officer must pass the tests with 100%’s. Additionally, the supervising officers would turn a blind eye to the ones taking the test
and allow the officers to choose whether or not to cheat or not. With the superior officers allowing the cheating to take place, a relativist would deem that in this instant, cheating is acceptable. As the officers and ultimately the culture were turning a blind eye to the cheating, relativists would believe that cheating was a moral act at this time. However, on the other hand objectivists believe that there are particular acts that are right and other acts that are wrong. They believe that all humans should follow certain behavioral actions because they are right in themselves, no matter where or when this takes place. While the culture was allowing the cheating to take place, overall throughout history cheating in order to gain an extra step on somebody is inherently wrong and should not be tolerated. Having said this, using objectivists theories the cheating is wrong and should be discontinued altogether. The correct solution is to discontinue the cheating and begin cracking down on the officers that do not want to change, as this is the only way to ensure that the officers handling the nuclear weapons are up to par in integrity and honor. This is the only morally right course of action and additionally will help improve the national security of the nation.
Milgram complies with a follow-up questionnaire of a subject. In the follow-up, the man was appalled by the way he was able to be obedient throughout the experiment and states that his wife referred to him as Eichmann, a WWII Nazi official who maintained an alibi of merely following orders (Milgram 84). Complying with Szegedy-Maszak and Milgram, Robert Hoyk, a doctor of psychology, found similar results in the work office. In his article “Roots of Unethical Behavior,” he found that bosses can direct employees to do unethical actions which the employees morally question. But due to fear of losing their job, the employees perform these acts (Hoyk). Milgram would agree with Hoyk and add that for his experiment, the “experimenter” was simply a man in a lab coat and did not threaten with any form of consequence. How does that relate to Szegedy-Maszak and the Abu Ghraib scandal? In the article “Military Orders: To Obey or Not to Obey?” written by Rod Powers, the oath in which all military personnel must swear to is written. The oath states, “. . . and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice” (Powers). As mentioned by Powers, these recruits are instilled with the practice of obeying immediately and without question (Powers). In fact, if military personnel do not obey their superior officers, it is considered a crime by Articles 90, 91, and 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. According to the same site, such acts are punishable by death (www.usmilitary.about.com). Szegedy-Maszak might conclude that this could be a possible reason as to why those American troops found that they were
Black Hearts is a great example of the reality on how severe bad leadership skills can ripple throughout a unit and impact its overall mission. This book serves as a guide for future leaders of America and will set the examples of what not to do in leadership positions. The lessons we can take from these soldiers can help us as potential leaders to become more competent and effective. The fact that this book focused on the hardships, poor decisions and sound judgment of the soldiers it helped emphasize on what was not the best choice of action and leaves a moment for you as the audience to think how you would of done it better. So right or wrong there was a lesson to be learned and the book did a good job including the reader. This book puts you in the shoes of a small group of soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment and gives you an up close and personal take on the experience of the soldiers, from the bottom of the the ranks all the way up to the commander. 502nd Bravo Company 1st platoon deployed in the fall of 2005 into one of the most dangerous battle zones in Iraq known as the “Triangle of Death”. Thrown into the heartland of a growing insurgency, with undefined goals and a shortage of manpower, Bravo Company began piling up casualties at an alarming rate. They suffered many losses, as well as mental anguish. Because of the long and tragic deployment, a collapse in leadership began to unfold causing one of the most tragic, brutal, and infamous deployments in U.S Army history. There were many reasons that caused the deconstruction of leadership, and eventually, the actions of the soldiers accompanied by the lack of control, lead to the rape and murder of an innocent Iraqi girl and her family. This is a story about character...
LM01, Ethical Leadership. (2012). Maxwell Gunter AFB. Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education (AETC)
Professional Military Education schools teach the Army Ethic and evaluation reports for leaders affirm this ethic. The Army punishes individuals, especially leaders, who violate this code. The Army administratively punishes Soldiers who do not adhere to this code, and the severity of punishment increases with rank. One recent and highly visible example of this is former General Petraeus’s adultery and the subsequent professional sanctions he experienced. The Army grows its own ethical code and maintains it through the American people.
Numerous examples of the system of authority exist today: the American government is a system of authority and even the staff of a school is a system of authority. There is always a person one rank higher, a person to please. The best example of this would be the Marine Corp, as demonstrated in the film A Few Good Men. A prime example would be Colonel Jessup; as the commanding officer every marine knows to obey his commands. Col. Jessup’s arrogant behavior and need to receive respect demonstrates how authority can distort human behavior; his power not only corrupted him, but it also provoked the order of the Code Red which kills Santiago. According to Rod Powers, a US Military expert, Article 90 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice states that willfully disobeying a superior officer is considered a crime (Powers). This justifies the actions of Dawson and Downey as they were simply obeying authority and risked punishment if they were to disobey or refuse to carry out the Code Red. Stanley Milgram, author of “The Perils of Obedience”, discusses how the subjects in his experiment were in fact against administering the shocks; however, they could not disobey the experimenter who was conducting the experiment (Milgram 86). This supports the decision Dawson and Downey reached to obey Lt. Kendrick’s order to complete the Code Red on William Santiago. Authors Kelman and Hamilton also
Earlier in March 2014 the senior leadership of the Air Force, to include the Secretary of the Air Force, the Chief of Staff, and the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, made a statement to all airmen. They stated that “being an Airman is more than a job, when we voluntarily raised our right hands and took an oath to support and defend the Constitution, we became members of the profession of arms”, they also said that along with our profession of arms we are given and accept a sacred trust given to us by the American people, that to be worthy of this trust we must “build our lives and shape our service on the foundation of our core values”, and that when Airmen fail to live up to our core values, the reputation of all who serve is tarnished” (letter to airman, Mar 2014). Recently, I was tasked to deliver a briefing for the J3 monthly training day. This tasking was a result of my negligence in updating a certain system that is vital to the J3 watch floor. My briefing, although filled with correct information and guidance, was also slaked with profanity and unprofessional gestures. Regardless of any circumstances that may have been the cause for these actions, the actions needed correction. Correction was given, which was responded to by more profanity and provoking actions. After I showed such disrespect to my non-commissioned officer in charge, he escorted me to my supervisor and my actions were made known to him. During this time I was still acting very contentious and disrespectful, making snide comments and standing with such contempt as if to say “are you done now”. This of course escalated into more serious action by my leadership which very well could have been avoided had I done my duty correctly in the first place. The...
Davenport’s various violations of the Code need to be considered from another point of view as an example of responsible disobedience. As Dr. Davenport and Antwone are both members of the military, there is a certain camaraderie experienced between them that the general public does not experience. Taking this into consideration, Dr. Davenport may be expressing responsible disobedience as he violates various standards in the Code in an attempt to respect the intricacies of the military culture (Cottone & Tarvydas, 2007). Because the military is a culture of its own, it is difficult to say whether any or all of the situations that resulted in an ethical violation were justified. It is easy to say that Dr. Davenport violated principle ethics during his work with Antwone but virtue ethics may support Dr. Davenport as he interpreted the standards in the context of the military culture (Cottone & Tarvydas, 2007).
To choose whether or not it was morally sound to use the atomic bomb, we must first examine the background as to what circumstances it was dropped under. In 1945, American soldiers and civilians were weary from four years of war, yet the Japanese military was refusing to give up their fight. American forces occupied Okinawa and Iwo Jima and intensely fire bombed Japanese cities. But Japan had an army of 2 million strong stationed in the home islands guarding against Allied invasion. After the completion of the Manhattan Project, For Truman, the choice whether or not to use the atomic bomb was the most difficult decision of his life. First, an Allied demand for an immediate unconditional surrender was made to the leadership in Japan. Although the demand stated that refusal would result in total destruction, no mention of any new weapons of mass destruction was made. The Japanese military commander Hideki Tojo rejected the request for unconditional s...
When put into the position of complete authority over others people will show their true colors. I think that most people would like to think that they would be fair, ethical superiors. I know I would, but learning about the Stanford Prison Experiment has made me question what would really happen if I was there. Would I be the submissive prisoner, the sadistic guard, or would I stay true to myself? As Phillip Zimbardo gave the guards their whistles and billy clubs they drastically changed without even realizing it. In order to further understand the Stanford Prison experiment I learned how the experiment was conducted, thought about the ethical quality of this experiment, and why I think it panned out how it did.
Strong internal rivalry between the after-merged Boeing and McDonnell Douglas Corp is also contributing to company’s ethical scandals. As competition between each party gets stiffer, employees might tend to resort to ethical breaches to gain competitive advantages so as to outshine each other.
Thesis This paper aims to provide a brief history of the ethical issues of hazing in the military. The impact on various stakeholders is also provided before an analysis of the causes of hazing in the military and recommendations on how military leaders can promote tradition and a sense of belonging in a hazing-free military. The Issue Hazing is an issue that has attracted much attention over the last few decades. College fraternities, high school programs, professional sports, and the military have all had their fair share of attention.
By 2001 the telecommunications market was softening; meaning prices were falling due to an excess of supply and a decrease in demand as the dot com boom ended. WorldCom had already signed contracts with third party telecommunication companies promising to complete their calls. These multi billion dollar contracts were actually costing more in expenses than what the company would or was receiving in revenue (Sandberg, Solomon, & Blumenstein, 2002).
I would like use Rule utilitarianism and Kantian deontology to help determine what course of action could be morally justifiable in this case. Rule utilitarianism says “A person ought to act in accordance with the rule that, if generally followed, would produce the greatest balance of good over evil, everyone considered.” (Mappes & Degrazia, 13) So according to rule utilitarianism, when one faces a moral dilemma one should map out the consequences of one’s action and then act in so as to produce the greatest net amount of utility or happiness. So if I was faced with a moral dilemma concerning whether or not I should cheat on an exam, I should follow the rule that creates maximum happiness, which in this case would be that I should not cheat because if every one in the world cheated on every exam then there wouldn’t be a need to take or give exams. There would no longer be a dependable system to gauge a student’s knowledge on a subject. Kantian deontology however follows a different path. According to this moral theory, consequences are of no matter and duty is what is important. (Lecture, 01/27) Just as in rule utilitarianism, Kant says that an act can be considered morally right when it is in observance with a rule. This rule, however, must satisfy the conditions of what he calls the categorical imperative. There are three formulations of the categorical imperative (Lecture 01/27) that each maxim or rule must adhere to. Firstly, “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a u...
Sports are governed by sets of rules or customs and often, competition. Sports have always been a way to connect us to our past and to build optimism about the future. Sport’s a way to bond the people despite differences in race, age and gender. However, today the game that is supposed to teach character, discipline and team work is teaching cheating. And in today’s world, with fame, endorsement, drugs and so much to gain, it is not surprising that athletes are cheating in sports. Cheating in sports is not new thing; it started the day when humans first discovered athletic competitions. According to the Los Angeles Times (August 20, 2006) “More than 2,000 years before Mike Tyson bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear and was disqualified in the boxing ring, Eupolus of Thessaly, a boxer in the Olympics of 388 BC, bribed three of his opponents to take dives. Historians consider Eupolus' crime the first recorded act of cheating in sports” (Pugmire 7). We have been seeking an easier way to win. Cheating in sports, which recently has manifested in diverse forms, is more a result of increasing pressure to win from the sponsors and team management, especially in the context of sport becoming a career rather than an act of recreation. What actually constitutes cheating? When does gamesmanship stop and cheating start? And should we try to stop cheating in sports? The use of illegal drugs, huge amount of money and betting is ruining the fame of sports. Hence, cheating in sports is caused by drugs and the desire for endorsement and fame which are getting more effective in recent.
Cheating is against the rules of all corporations, institutions, and life. It is not viewed as morally correct because as one cheats, one is taking the easy way out and disrespecting those who work hard for the same outcome, therefore breaking binding contract of respecting others around you. It is tempting though, as we know the outcome if we are not caught, and it is mostly one of achievement. Immanuel Kant believed that “an action is moral when it is done out of duty, rather than out of consequences.” If we were to decide our actions based on what will happen by us doing them, then we wouldn’t be acting in a moral way because we would always be choosing the actions that would benefit us each time. We would never help others if it would not benefit us in return and, we would be willing to harm others if in the end, we would get a beneficial outcome. What guides our actions is our maxim, or what drives us to choose to do something. But, Kant says that this action is not morally correct if our maxim is not a universal law, or can be adopted by everybody around us. Using Kant’s analytical terms and tactics to define a moral action, I will explain that cheating in an exam is in no way a morally correct action and therefore in order to act in a morally correct way, I should not cheat.