ETHC445 Full Curse 2017 March

Question

ETHC445 Full Curse 2017 March

Question # 00573937
Course Code : ETHC445
Subject: Law
Due on: 08/12/2017

Posted On: 08/12/2017 06:50 AM
Tutorials: 1

Rating:

4.9/5

Question

ETHC445 Week 1 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 March

dq 1

Helen's Wisdom of Friends Dilemma (graded)

Helen wants to move to a new community, and she is applying for a job with a small retail establishment. She is confident that she is fully qualified and will be able to perform well if she gets the job. The employer, however, has advertised for someone with three years of retail experience, and Helen only has two-and-a-half years. She is considering whether to exaggerate slightly on her resume in order to improve her chances of getting the job.

Helen asks three friends to offer their advice on what she should do.
-- Henry says, “Go ahead and claim three-and-a-half years of experience; they’re going to be so happy with your work that by the time they check (if they ever do) it won’t matter.”
-- Jennifer says, “I’m sure you’ll arrive at the best decision on your own; I’ve always known you to be an honest person.”
-- George says, “It is never all right to lie, even when you are unlikely to get caught and it seems relatively harmless to do so.”

To begin our discussion this week, let's discuss some of the following questions:
1. Which of the Three Primary Schools of Ethics is each of Helen’s friends relying upon?
2. Can you imagine other people using the same approaches to arrive at different kinds of advice?
3. Do one of these Three Primary Schools of Ethics feel like the style you usually use already?

dq 2

Study of Ethical Philosophy (graded)

The study of Ethics and Philosophy is one which brings many different kinds of "thinkers" together. One person's philosophy on Ethics is another person's philosophy on Evil. We will be working this term on constructing personal ethical bases and understanding how Ethical Codes (both personal and professional) are created and followed.

To start us thinking about the different areas of philosophy and ethics, and how we fit into the different molds or world views, let's discuss the differences and similarities between these views.
To do this, let's look at the role of right and wrong, laws which regulate behavior, principles vs. morality, and the role of ethics in our society.

To start out we'll answer some of these questions and create more of them as we go. Pick one of the following and respond to your classmates thoughts and views:

1. Do we need ethics if we have laws? Why or why not?
2. Is it ethical to change our own views of ethics based on the situation we are in?
3. Can we "legislate" ethics?

4. How does Aristotle's "virtue ethics" mirror your ethical view, or how is it different?

ETHC445 Week 2 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 March

dq 1

When Siding with the Majority (graded)

As our opening page states, Mark Twain warned that "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."It is likely that your parents warned you "not to follow the crowd," or your school counselors warned you about "peer pressure."

The United States utilizes a democratic republic form of government, which espouses the "majority rule" in many instances. For example, when passing laws, Congress and state Legislators use majority voting. When electing our officials, the majority rules. But, is our government unethical?

This week's thread will look at two or three "examples" of majority findings or rules.
We will bring new ones in throughout the week, so be sure to visit back at least every other day and post your thoughts.

Here is our first one for the week:
The great majority of people seem to find nothing objectionable about the use of commercials in children's television programming. Yet a distinguished panel commissioned by the National Science Foundation found reason to disagree. After reviewing 21 relevant scholarly studies, they concluded:

It is clear from the available evidence that television advertising doesinfluence children. Research has demonstrated that children attend to and learn from commercials, and that advertising is at least moderately successful in creating positive attitudes toward and the desire for products advertised. The variable that emerged most clearly across numerous studies as a strong determinant of children's perception of television advertising is the child's age. Research clearly establishes that children become more skilled in evaluating television advertising as they grow older, and that to treat all children from 2 to 12 as a homogenous group masks important, perhaps crucial differences.

Do you think the majority view is correct in this case? What difference would it make that a majority thinks this way?
Do you think the use of commercials in children's television programming raises any ethical questions? Do explain.
Do you wish to place evidence for what you say before your classmates?

dq 2

The Struggle of Good vs. Evil (graded)

Personal struggles with one's own tendencies, desires, lusts, and self-interest have placed people in conflict with other people and their own communities farther back than any of us can read. We read about the struggles of others in history -- what about ourselves? Yes, us! What about our experiences of being ourselves?

When we look back in history, we find people who are not so different from us -- struggling with their human nature -- and trying to live ethical lives in whatever way they can do so. They aspire to live ethical lifes and find themselves failing again and again.

St. Augustine in the 5th Century held that although we feel free to make choices in life, our true nature as human beings includes a persistent disregard for what is good. On this view, we are sinners whose only hope for redemption lies in the gracious love of a merciful deity. Whatever I do on my own, Augustine would argue, is bound to be wrong; whatever I do right, must be performed by God through me.

St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th Century brought Aristotle’s theories back into “vogue,” soon after St. Augustine’s death (if 800 years is soon, that is.) He allowed humanity to have a bit of secularity along with faith, and his ethics allows for a Natural Law which can be found in the heart of man. Please be sure to listen to our Saints' Debate on the lecture tab before working in this thread.

So, here we are in the 21st Century with all the sophistication and technology of the age. Does this account of human nature fit well with your own experience of human action? That is, do you observe (in yourself and others) an inclination toward evil instead of toward good? Bring in examples of scenarios which bolster your view, or which tend to bring your view (or others) into question.

ETHC445 Week 3 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 March

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Applying the Death Penalty (graded)

First, here is a word of caution. With this discussion comes a tasking to discuss the death penalty in two ways: first, as an expression of the social contract, where one person has killed another in a violation of that other person’s right to peace and safety, and second, as a rules-based function of the justice system being applied to a difficult situation.

What do you see going on that is a violation of the Hobbes/Locke social contract idea?
And you might also connect it with any of the Three Schools, plus Aristotle, that you have read in past weeks—and especially with the rules-based ethics model.

Here's the situation: In Manatee County, Florida, a judge sentenced a man to death—the first time this had happened in the county for over 19 years. Sentenced to death was a 25-year-old man for the January 7, 2004, murder of both of his parents by bludgeoning them to death in their bed with a baseball bat.

Now, with your social contract ethicist hats on, tell us what you make of this quote by the judge at the sentencing, quoted from the front page of the November 17, 2007 Bradenton Herald: "You have not only forfeited your right to live among us, but under the laws of the state of Florida, you have forfeited the right to live at all."

Have at it, good folks. But, rather than running off with reactions and opinions about the death penalty in general, please do keep it in the context of our social contract discussion for this week and also connected with ethics of justice.

dq 2

Living in Our State of Nature (graded)

Social Contract theorists say that morality consists of a set of rules governing how people should treat one another that rational beings will agree to accept for their mutual benefit, on the condition that others agree to follow these rules as well.

Hobbesruns the logic like this in the form of a logical syllogism:
1) We are all self-interested,
2) Each of us needs to have a peaceful and cooperative social order to pursue our interests,
3) We need moral rules in order to establish and maintain a cooperative social order,

Therefore, self-interest motivates us to establish moral rules.

Thomas Hobbeslooked to the past to observe a primitive “State of Nature” in which there is no such thing as morality, and that this self-interested human nature was "nasty, brutish, and short" -- a kind of perpetual state of warfare

John Lockedisagreed, and set forth the view that the state exists to preserve the natural rights of its citizens. When governments fail in that task, citizens have the right—and sometimes the duty—to withdraw their support and even to rebel. Listen to Locke's audio on the lecture tab and read his lecturette to be able to answer this thread.

Locke addressed Hobbes's claim that the state of nature was the state of war, though he attribute this claim to "some men" not to Hobbes. He refuted it by pointing to existing and real historical examples of people in a state of nature. For this purpose he regarded any people who are not subject to a common judge to resolve disputes, people who may legitimately take action to themselves punish wrong doers, as in a state of nature.

Which philosophy do you espouse?

In coming to grips with the two and considering your experience of society as it is today, think out loud about what you experiences as the State of Nature, and tell us what you would be willing to give up in exchange for civil order and personal security?

You might consider what you have already given up in exchange for security as well as what might be required in coming days.

ETHC445 Week 4 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 March

dq 1

Ethics of Controlling Environmental Innovation (graded)

Increasing food supplies are necessary to sustain growing populations around the world and their appetites for great food, quality products, and continuous availability.

A great deal of expensive research is invested in developing technologies to deliver productive agriculture. Horticultural efforts to breed hybrid crops are seen as far back as history can observe, and there have been efforts to domesticate improved animals, as well. Gene splitting was a 1990s technology to improve the health and productivity of farm crops. With the 21st century have come genetically modified foods (GMF) through the use of nanotechnology to cause changes at the genetic and even molecular levels. These are very expensive technologies, and many new products have been patented and otherwise protected as proprietary products of intellectual property.

Drive out to the country during growing season, and you will see signs identifying that the crop has been grown with a protected seed that cannot be used to produce retained seed for planting in the next growing season.

In terms of this week’s TCOs, what ethical issues are raised by this legal process of patent protection, and how do we see the primary schools of ethics used in these proprietary measures? What, in this deontological week and in our learning to date, informs our understanding of this situation, and what should be done about it?

dq 2

Kant - Accomplice to Crazed Murderer? (graded)

Kant’s famous First Formulation of the Categorical Imperative reads:

“Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” Kant taught morality as a matter of following maxims of living that reflect absolute laws. “Universal” is a term that allows for no exceptions, and what is universal applies always and everywhere. Lying, for any reason, is universally wrong.

Be sure to listen to Kant's audio lecture before posting this week!

So, consider the famous case of the Crazed Murderer. In your town the Crazed Murderer comes to your door looking for your friend and wanting to kill him. You know that your friend went home to hide. What do you tell the murderer? When he leaves and runs up the street to your friend’s house, what do you do?

ETHC445 Week 5 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 March

dq 1

Life & Death; Politics & Ethics (graded)

There are three basic propositions in standard Utilitarianism (Please be sure to listen to Mill's audio lecture before joining this threaded discussion):

1. Actions are judged right and wrong solely on their consequences;
that is, nothing else matters except the consequence, and right actions are simply those with the best consequences.

2. To assess consequences, the only thing that matters is the amount of happiness and unhappiness caused;
that is, there is only one criterion and everything else is irrelevant.

3. In calculating happiness and unhappiness caused, nobody’s happiness counts any more than anybody else’s;
that is, everybody’s welfare is equally important and the majority rules.

In specific cases where justice and utility are in conflict, it may seem expedient to serve the greater happiness through quick action that overrules consideration for justice. There is a side to happiness that can call for rushed decisions and actions that put decision-makers under the pressure of expediency.

Here is a dilemma for our class:

You are the elected district attorney. You receive a phone call from a nursing home administrator who was a good friend of yours in college. She has a waiting list of 3,000 people who will die if they don't get into her nursing home facility within the next 3 weeks, and she currently has 400 patients who have asked (or their families have asked on their behalf) for the famous Dr. Jack Kevorkian's (fictitious) sister, Dr. Jill Kevorkian, for assistance in helping them die. The 3,000 people on the waiting list want to live. She (the nursing home administrator) wants to know if you would agree to "look the other way" if she let in Dr. Jill to assist in the suicide of the 400 patients who have requested it, thus allowing at least 400 of the 3,000 on the waiting list in.

1. How would we use Utilitarianism to "solve" this dilemma?

2. What ethics did your friend, the nursing home administrator, use in deciding to call you?

3. What ethics are you using if you just "look the other way" and let it happen?

dq 2

Dealing With Emergencies and Outcomes (graded)

Chapter 9 of our text includes the terrorism situation at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and it needs to be read before engaging this discussion.

The principle of utility involves maximizing happiness as a desirable outcome of decisions. Although it does not get directly said, there is an inverse intention to minimize the undesirable outcome of disaster. Utilitarian decisions are directed toward outcomes—that is, the consequences of decisions.

The Olympic hostage situation was a high-tension moment, full of dangerous surprises and strategies to deal with the situation that did not work out for the best. Among the strategies was the idea to kill the leader of the terrorists so as to disrupt the terrorist plot and to allow a good outcome in which the hostages would be saved. In the situation it was also entirely possible that a terrible outcome might occur in which all would die. The situation was an emergency.

The German legal system might eventually take the terrorists and their leader to trial, but first there was the need to end the hostage situation. The account in our text ends with, “But it was the lesser of two evils.”

As utilitarian ethicists this week, how shall we reason through to the decision of the law enforcement authorities at the 1972 Munich Olympics?

ETHC445 Week 6 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 March

dq 1

Applying Rand's Objectivism (graded)

Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophyhas been touted by her detractors as the philosophy of self-interested selfishness.

Her four epistemological principles are:
1. Metaphysics: Objective reality of the world and the objects in it.
2. Epistemology: Reason as the one and only key to understanding.
3. Ethics: Self-interest in what behavior is but also what it should be.
4. Politics: Capitalism through the performance of deeds by individuals who are self-interested.

In the early 1960's, a student asked a spokesman for Objectivism what would happen to the poor in an Objectivist's free society.
The spokesman answered, "If you want to help them, you will not be stopped."

If one reads Rand's works, Atlas Shrugged, or The Fountainhead, one will conclude that this would be the answer Ayn would have given to that student as well.

What do you conclude from the answer given by the Objectivist spokesperson?
Is Objectivism, like Moral Relativism, the opposite of ethics?
And what clue in what she taught leads to your conclusion?

dq 2

Working Conflict Resolution Methods (graded)

Different ways to analyze ethical behaviors and dilemmas exist, and many of them will help direct you to the correct or "best" solution to a problem.

As we discussed in week 1 in the "tough choices" .pdf, sometimes right vs. right or wrong vs. wrong decisions have to be made.

In the lecture this week, you are given three ethical dilemma resolution models to try out on a dilemma provided there. Please review that interactive before posting to the threads this week, and let's bring your questions and comments about the "proposed" solutions here to the threads. We will talk about that through mid-week, and then I will post a new dilemma here where we will, as a group, begin analyzing it using the different methods.

You will need to be able to use these three models (Blanchard and Peale, Laura Nash and Front page of the Newspaper) on the final exam ... so let's be sure to practice all three of them together this week.

So, to start this off, let's address the dilemma in the Week 6 Lecture interactive (in the middle of the page). You MUST read the lecture and run the interactive in order to participate in the threads this week!

1. Review the sample solution to the Laura Nash method.

Do you agree with that analysis? If so, what parts do you think really helped you work through the dilemma? If not, which parts do you not agree with?

2. Review the sample solution to the Front Page of the Newspaper method.

Do you think this is one of those types of dilemmas for which this model works? If not, why not? If so, why? How did using this method help you work through the dilemma?

3. Review the sample solution to the Blanchard and Peale method.

Do you agree with the analysis? If not, why not? If so, in what way did this help you analyze this dilemma?

Pick ONE of the above 3 questions and let's get started.Or, respond to another student with details about why you agree or disagree with their analysis. Feel free to kindly debate with each other. Do not take things personally if someone disagrees. Be sure to show that you have viewed the lecture and interactive and that you attempted an analysis for "high quality" posts this week. After Wednesday, I will bring in another scenario and we can analyze that one together as a class.

ETHC445 Week 7 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2017 March