Ethics Midterm

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

A video doesn't decide when to be on or off. Similarly, should a journalist do the same: should they report children? Anything they see?

Natural Law Ethics

"i do what i am supposed to do, according to nature" (Locke and Jefferson

What is a professional-client relationship for?

- Client goes to a professional because the client has a need or want that can only be satisfied by the professional - Client knows the end goal but not the means, and the professional can guide or provide the means

Descriptive vs. Normative accounts

- Descriptive describes something without bias - Normative describes whether or not that action is ethical

Descriptive ethics vs Normative ethics

- Descriptive: Describes what a certain group thinks -Normative: Describes what should be universally done based on ethical theories

Descriptive ethical relativism vs normative ethical Relativism

-Descriptive: Describing the differences in ethics between cultures - Normative: Picking a universal ethics system that is best for all cultures

What is autonomy? Why is it important?

- Autonomy is the ability to decide for yourself, being free from external interference or control - Importance: 1. Autonomy makes one a moral agent, and gets the respect that is due 2. Autonomy creates greater sense of responsibility and job satisfaction

Bayles 3 central features of professions

(1) An extensive period of training is needed (2) The training involves a significant intellectual component (3) The trained ability provides an important service to society

Bayles 3 salient features of professions

(1) Provide an important service that you can't get without going through a professional (2) Monopoly over provision of services and entry into profession (3) Not much public control of professions and professionals.

Kantian

(Immanuel Kant) 1st version: Always act so that the maxim of your actions become a universal law. 2nd version: An action is only right if the agent would be willing to be treated the same way if parties were reversed 3rd version: Always act so that other people are ends and not means to an end

Is it permissible for teachers to befriend their students? Why or why not?

- By befriending students, this creates a bias towards that student, raising questions of whether grading can be done without bias - It is human nature to make allowances for our friends, thus it is not ethically permissible to befriend current students.

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

- Changing accounting assumptions - Overstating accounts and inventory levels - Recognized revenues that were not earned - Shifting of current year expenses to later periods - Improper reclassification of reserves into income - Wrong reduction of inventory - Reduction on bad debt even though they had risen

Whistle blowing conditions (6)

- Appropriate moral motive - last resort - Compelling evidence that wrongful actions have occurred - Blower must be able to cite specifics with recent evidence - Must have a good likelihood of success - Get legal help

Review Schlossberger's points and list of questions to ask in giving an ethical evaluation of organizations. Know those questions.

- Does the organization make a good faith effort to serve its intended, objective, and conceptual beneficiaries - Is the perceived good of the organization truly a good - Does the organization attempt to ensure that its efforts serve the good in general, either directly or by serving a role within practice - Is the organizations understanding of the good in general correct - Does the organization succeed in those efforts - Do the organization's actions violate morality

Socialist, Communist, Marxist Ethics

- Emphasizes community goals - social ownership of production and social distribution of wealth - Favors government power, taxes, and regulation - pro-proletariat - critical of free market system because it produces inequality of outcomes

Cohen lists 6 different categories of events. What are they?

- Events that have social-public meaning - Gossip - events that have little social value but of interest to the public - Heightened events - Exaggerated events and twisted stories - Staged events - Fictitious events

Review Alexandra and Miller's 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.

- Fundamental needs are not just mere desires; there are rational and moral normative consequences to fundamental needs - If one cannot satisfy a fundamental need by themselves there is a legitimate claim against those who can satisfy - Role of profession is to satisfy clients fundamental needs whether they wish to or not - Profession is required to be properly functioning in order to satisfy fundamental need

Review Cohens 7 points of a morally good person.

- Is Just - Is Truthful - Has Moral courage - Has Good monetary habits - Is Benevolent - Is Trustworthy - Is disposed to do his or her own moral thinking

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?

- Journalists are humans to and have opinions. It may be difficult to be objective. - Journalists may want to be politically involved in areas they should remain neutral in - Journalists who involve themselves in their opinions can't be trusted to report objectively - Journalists should refrain from performing at events with a political focus in agreeance with their opinion - Four mistaken views 1) Journalists shouldn't have opinions 2) Journalists who are politically involved can't do fair journalism 3) Journalists will entangles them in ways that compromise fairness and accuracy 4) Journalists political involvement create the appearance of bias and should be prohibited

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

- Media shouldn't aid in staging, exaggerating, or promoting events. - Media acts irresponsibly when they report on rumors, report to create a drastic response, report in a way that endangers lives, and report on something for no reason other than viewers should be able to see it if they can see it - Yes I agree with him. I believe that it is unethical to report on rumors. It is not driven to inform the reader, but rather solely because news outlets know they will gain more profit from rumors than more boring traditional news.

What are some problems that came about for teachers due to no child left behind? What are some problems for teachers and education raised by the common core standards?

- NCLB lead to teachers teaching for the test, not for learning. Only taught what appeared on state/federal exam - CC furthers this by encouraging test fraud due to national standards

Is professional ethics the same as or reducible to ordinary ethics? Why or why not?

- No - Professionals require certain privileges which allow them to provide the requires services to the public - Having special rights and privileges results in having special ethical obligations and duties.

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

- Paternalism - for seller to decide for the client what it will sell to the client - Whether or not it is permissible for a store owner to take a paternalistic attitude towards a customer Ex: some motorcycles are extremely powerful but also dangerous

What are at least three reasons ethical issues arise for the profession of accounting?

- Pressure on accountants and auditors to portray the company to be meeting their goals - Accountants tend to need to serve two parties: bosses and the public - Rules for accountants are strict but allow for a lot of flexibility, different interpretation of the rules

How does the existence of new media affect journalism? What are some ethical questions posed by this?

- Questions of whether ads will take away from the editorials. Old media acted as gatekeepers to info. - News comes much quicker than usual. Not daily, minutely - Ethical issues: ads in editorials that can be paid for by opinionated sources, sites are tracking web usage to cater to users tendencies

Five criteria for a good normative ethical theory

- Universality: Applies to everyone - Consistency: Should not conflict with other ethical theories - Culbpability: Punishments if judgement is violated - Importance: Should be taken priority over other judgements - Fairness: Should be fair

Ethical Argument

-Factual: States argument neutrally - Ethical: Describes the ethical answer to an argument - conclusion: Best way to solve problem based on facts and ethics

informed consent (3 things)

- information: must understand what they are agreeing to - No coercion: should be making decisions without being coerced - Competence: Must be competent to give consent

Ethical criticisms of capitalism

- leads to unequality - Market place is too complex for adam smiths invisible hand model - Corporate welfare protects businesses - Competition is not good - Exploitation and alientation

Review the list of ethical problems in health care, as given on the class handouts. Think about four or five specific problems in ethics of health care, and think about how you would solve several of them.

- patient autonomy - patient confidentiality - informed consent, who pays for it, is health care a fundamental human right

How to disagree with a conclusion of an ethical argument

1) Disagree with factual premise 2) Disagree with ethical principle used in argument 3) Say that ethical principle doesn't apply to argument 4) Mistake in logic (fallacy)

Detmer offers 5 suggestions to improve journalism. What are they?

1) Engage in more investigative journalism, less handouts 2) Enlarge pool of authorities from which information is drawn 3) Don't allow US corporate and government to set the agenda 4) Abandon the notion of objectivity that guides the profession 5) Abandon the both sides approach in presentation of opinion

3 basic parts to an ethical argument

1) Factual Component (Mary stole money from employer) 2) Ethical Principle (Stealing is ethically wrong) 3) Conclusion (Mary did wrong in stealing money from employer)

Monroe Freedman posted 3 ethical dilemmas for defense lawyers. What are they and how do they arise?

1) Is it proper to make a witness appear to be lying when you know his testimony to be truthful? 2) Is it proper to put a witness on the stand when you know they will commit perjury? 3) Is it proper to give your client advice when it may tempt them to commit perjury?

What five tasks usually need to be accomplished in a professional-client relationship?

1. Analyze the client's need/task 2. Consideration of alternative responses 3. Deciding which from among the alternatives the professional and the client will pursue 4. Implementation of the decision 5. Education

Methods for Fixing accounting ethics

1. Corporate culture needs change 2. Executive compensation has to be controlled 3. Find corporate leaders who respect the rules 4. Reconcile tough leadership with profit motive

Accounting unethical areas

1. Falsifying revenues 2. Recording revenues in the wrong period 3. Falsifying costs and expenses 4. Treatment of liabilities 5. Mergers and acquisitions and related accounting tricks

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

A dual relationship occurs when a therapist is in a significant other relationship with a client. Yes, this can be problematic. It can erode the professional nature, but most importantly it creates the possibility of a conflict of interest. The nature of psychotherapy would completely change if this was ethically permissible

Taylor claims that an adversary system promotes or gives rise to ethical problems. Why does it do this?

A lawyer most want to win their case, with or without finding the ultimate real truth. This means doing things such as denying truthful testimony, or supporting false testimony

Cohen distinguishes between pure legal advocates and moral agents? What is this distinction? What is its importance and consequences?

A pure legal advocate can't be a morally good person. As defined below, several of the 7 points of a morally good person are broken when attempting to be a pure legal advocate.

Review Faber's account of five different types of professional-client relationship.

Agency Relationship: - Professional works as the agent to the client. Agent follows above steps to satisfy client. Client is responsible for education about the problem and the solution Paternalistic Relationship: - Relationship where the professional base nearly all of the responsibility. Appropriate when the client can't join the relationship in a free manner Contractual Relationship: - Voluntary agreement between 2 parties, or amongst 3 or more parties Affinity Relationship: - Similar to contractual relationship, differ in the basis of the relationship in the grounds of trust. - Division of responsibilities may change at any time without a specific contract Fiduciary Relationship: - Professional has responsibility to educate client on problem and possible responses, client makes the final decision

According to detmer, what are the problems with objectivity as it is held up by journalists?

Although journalism is meant to be objective, often sources come from handouts from the government, favoring the US government's perspective. This doesn't allow for the audience to evaluate government policies critically.

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

An assessment of the ethical climate of client encompassing culture, environment, motives and pressures An assessment of performance incentives Communication about what is acceptable or unacceptable ethical behavior Compliance and enforcement

Virtue Ethics

An ethical philosophy claiming that morality's primary function is to develop virtuous character (Aristotle

What is the role of confidentiality in journalism?

Confidentiality of sources, protect the identity of whistleblowers, leakers. - Often a protected right by freedom of press

What are some ethical problems for the engineering profession?

Conflict between the engineers interest and the public's interest Safety vs Efficacy Ex: most powerful medication has largest side effect Relationship between cost and outcome is not linear Some stopping point must be located, and there is no hard rule where this should be located

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.

Dual investor theory suggest that organizations tend to have a duty of minimal social responsibility. - The concept of an organization says that the fundamental goal of an organization is to serve the good - Businesses exist to serve society by profiting. - Narrow view=no social responsibility - Central Arguments: 1) Organization can't function without society 2) Organization knowingly employs people for the organization's goals 3) Organization makes use of benefits from society 4) Must make sure one's purpose is consistent with sponsors, give back the equal amount 5) One must ensure pursuit of purpose is consistent with the needs of society

What is a fiduciary relationship?

Educate the client, analyze the problem, but let the client make the final decision

What is the conflict between engineering and public interest? See Broome's account of this problem.

Engineers shouldn't introduce public risk into engineering work for expediency, cost, or any other reason. Relationship with public should be informed consent variety - Affected parties should be aware of risks of engineering work - Parties should consent

Ethics Based on Religion

Ethics are based on a higher deity

Review Schlossberger's account of four different types of professional information, as well as the question of who owns this information and whether and what information an employee can take from one employer to another.

General knowledge - available to everyone, not legally restricted Tricks of Trade - ways of thinking, shortcuts, approaches Trade secrets - can't be divulged, made known to others Patented information - Publicly available but restricted

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

Gutmann states there are 3 types of lawyers: - Standard conception (pure advocates) - Justice conception (seeks social justice) - Character conception (live a good life in the law, exercise practical judgement) Issue is all these conceptions neglect the virtue of deliberation in legal practice. Gutmann states that this issue stems from legal education. - Teach lawyers how to better communicate with clients - Teach knowledge to make informed judgments about alternative legal strategies

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

Have the business seem to meeting its earnings goals, even if they don't

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

Hiding or distorting the real financial performance and/or financial condition of a company, most often performed with defraud. - done for personal financial gain, justify a bonus, hide poor performances, keep stock prices high

Contractarian Ethics

Imaginary contract among members of society, treat people under a veil of ignorance (Contract is made without knowing where your standing is) - Rawls

Review the issues in client confidentiality. What is it? What is its importance? Can/should it be breached? Why/when? What are some professions in which confidentiality is important?

Keeping professional confidences from the public is in the public's best interest, however there are cases where this needs to be breached. Keep privacy, autonomy, loyalty. Positively benefits to society when professionals can be trusted with secrets 4 requirements for justified infringements: 1) Objective must have realistic chances of success 2) Infringement must be necessary 3) Must be the least infringement possible 4) Agent must seek to minimize infringement

What does the existence of lawyer jokes suggest about our feelings about lawyers and the legal profession?

Lawyers are dishonest and greedy, and would rather win in the courtroom than do what is right

Libertarian Ethics

Less government, to provide the most individual liberty (opposite of socialism) -Adam Smith

Is it ethically permissible for K-12 teachers to become advocates in the classroom? Why or why not?

No. The goal of higher education is to promote autonomy. By becoming an advocate you are only promoting allowing others to guide your opinion.

What are some ethical problems or issues faced by nurses?

Nurses have a lack of autonomy, a lack of authority, and are often overworked, all of which prevent them from fully aiding patients In this case, the nurse has 2 choices: 1) Take the assignment and risk harming a patient 2) Refuse assignment and risk losing job

Review Emanuel and Emanuel's account of four models of the physician-patient relationship.

Paternalistic - Limited patient involvement with medical decisions Informative - Places responsibility of decision on patient after given info Interpretive - Physician in counseling role, patient makes decision Deliberative - Patient and Physician consider course of action together

Moral Sense and Ethical Institutionalism

People have a natural moral sense about what is right and what is wrong (Ethical naturalism) (Hutchenson, Hume, Ross, Wilson)

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

Private conduct should only be publicized if it is relevant to an officials performance in a public position.

Is it permissible for a professional to lie to a client? Why or why not? What test could be used to determine whether it is permissible?

Reasons for lying: - To prevent harm - To achieve personal gain - Fear - To help a client Publicity test for lying - A lie is permissible if it would be ok to attach their name to their reason and their lie and have this information publicized

How might a conflict of interest arise for an accountant?

Receiving money for accountant services and money for consulting services, conflict of interest

Review Moriarty's use of virtue ethics to solve problems of engineering ethics. (R&Z, 203-211) Look especially at his accounts of character, dispositions, virtue, conflict between goods, objectivity, self-transcendence, and the virtues of care and objectivity.

Rules aren't always helpful. Not always sufficient to solve problem, and rules can be disregarded. Instilling the correct virtue in a profession is more useful Ex: whistleblowing is not just an option in ethics, it is required, and is thus more useful in solving issues

What is the distinction between a stockholder and a stakeholder? What is the purpose or goal of stakeholder theory? Review Freeman's "Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation," (R&Z, 168-172), especially his six ground rules for fair contracts.

Stockholder: A person who holds a stock in a company - financial interest in company Stakeholder: Any party who is affected or can affect operations of a corporation (A person who has a part in the functioning of the company) - Owners, Employees, Suppliers, Customers Sole responsibility of company is to increase profit for its stock holders 1) Entry and Exit 2) Governance 3) Externalities 4) Contracting Costs 5) Agency 6) Limited mortality 1) The principle of entry and exit - any contract that is the corporation must have clearly defined entry, exit, and renegotiation conditions, or have methods or processes for so defining these conditions 2) The principle of governance - the procedure for changing the rules of the game must be agreed upon by unanimous consent 3) Principle of externalities - if a contract between A and B imposes a cost on C, then C has the option to become a party to the contract the terms are renegotiated 4) The principle of contracting costs - all parties to the contract must share in the cost of contracting 5) Agency principle - any agent must serve the interest of all stakeholders 6) The principle of limited immortality - the corporation shall be managed as if it can continue to serve the interests of stakeholders through time.

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

Tabula Rasa=Clean slate No tabula rasa. Readers will actively search, not passively receive information.

What are some of the main difficulties experienced by teachers K-12 in the US? What are some reasons for these problems?

Teachers burnout - Routine becomes less interesting, become annoyed by kids Very few top colleges output teachers - Lower pay Overpopulated classrooms

According to Jordan Goodman, in order to solve problems of unethical accounting, change is need in four specific areas. What are those four areas? (On the Blackboard handout)

The corporate culture itself needs to change Excecutive compensation has to be controlled Can we find corporate leaders who respect the rules How do we reconcile though leadership with the profit motive?

What is the main goal or purpose of counseling?

To empower the client. This allows for them to act autonomously, which allows them to think, choose, and act for themselves

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

This is an adversary system, whose nature is to put two lawyers against one another. This promotes lawyers acting unethically.

Utilitarianism

What is right is what produces the most good for the most amount of people (Bentham and Mill)

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

Yes Ex 1: Doctor whose patient refuses to take the medicine prescribed to them Ex 2: Teachers whose students refuse to do assigned work

Can the integrity of professional counselors be challenged by the demands or behavior of clients? (Yes.) What are some circumstances in which this can occur?

Yes, their integrity can be challenged by clients. Take for example, a client who wishes to get a divorce, which the counselor believes to be immoral. If the counselor helps the client towards this goal, it will compromise their integrity. In this case, the counselor should do their best to empower the client's autonomy, and encourage them to make the decision on their own.

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

Yes. An example being, surgeons. They must cut open a patient, which is technically an unethical act, but they do it to save the patient's life. It is a part necessary to the profession, thus ethically permissible.

Pragmatic Ethics

acts should be judged by their results

Human Rights Ethics

basing decisions off basic rights that humans should have (life, safety, free speech, freedom, being informed, due process, property) - bill of rights, UN, cultural bias

Ethical Egoism

the belief that individuals should live their lives so as to maximize their own pleasure and minimize their own pain (Ayn Rand)