Whistle Blowing Discussion
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Anne Arundel Community College *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
140
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
2
Uploaded by matthewrbyers
Paragraph #1: What moral obligations apply to the whistleblower? What moral obligations apply
to the employer?
The Whistle Blower has many variables to consider. They will face hate, love, admiration, anger,
charges, fines, and even the death penalty. They must consider their own lives as taking this step will eliminate their freedom for some time or drain their bank accounts. Their moral obligation is
to the public. They know information that we do not and it falls upon them to tell the world, even
if that means they will be exiled from their part of the world.
The employer faces a different set of moral obligations. They must be fair a just to everyone in their organization. They must create fairly mandated rules and enforce them without fail. What the employers oversee and create must be good in nature. Their goals in the company must serve a good purpose. Whistle Blowers are needed because many employers do not follow their obligations and force the Whistle Blowers into an insanely difficult dilemma.
Paragraph #2: How does the issue of national security apply in these cases? When is a whistleblower a traitor? Explain.
When a Whistle Blower for example, Edward Snowden, is involved in an issue of national security, they are instantly in a higher dilemma than a Whistle Blower within a company or organization. The consequences of their future actions will be more severe. The Whistle Blower becomes a traitor when the information they leak, didn’t really need to be leaked. If it doesn’t affect everyone as a whole and the information is vital to the safety of our country, and they choose to leak that data, then, they are a traitor. It’s a very thin line, but if you go against your country/place of employment out of a materialistic want then you are a traitor no doubt. If you go
against your country/employer out of a moral obligation to what you feel is right, you are never a
traitor in my eyes.
Paragraph #3: Do employees working in the information technology profession have a greater moral responsibility than other professionals? Why or why not?
No. All professionals should share the same moral responsibility. The employees in Information Technology might run into issues more than other employees but they all should share the same moral responsibility. This responsibility entails that the employees act in a fair a just manner and they take it upon themselves to stomp injustice and release the truth. If they see something that should be fixed, all employees should stand up and take action. This applies, not just to employees, but also every person in the world. If everyone would stand up against these immoral
actions, the world would be a much nicer place to live.
Paragraphs #4 and #5. We have discussed a number of ethical theories this semester, including 1)
Virtue Ethics, 2) Utilitarianism, 3) Deontology (Kantianism), 4) Just Consequentialism (Moor), and 5) Social Contract Theory (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Rawls). Choose two of these 5
ethical theories and discuss in detail how you think each of the two theories apply to the issue of whistleblowing, devoting one paragraph to each theory. Be sure to provide several specific examples that demonstrate how the chosen ethical theories apply to whistleblowing.
In Whistle Blowing, the persons ethical thinking is very important. If the person who sees something inherently bad doesn’t have a good set of virtues, they might turn the other way. This is where Virtue Ethics plays a huge role in Whistle Blowing. To be a whistle blower that puts others above yourself, you must have a great set of morals to put yourself at risk for the good of everyone. There is a famous Spider-man quote, “With great power, comes great responsibility”. This quote embodies a great virtue, if you have the ability to stop something negative, you should do everything in your power to prevent that negative consequence because it is your moral obligation. I feel as though a lot of Whistle Blowers must feel this way to do the things they have done.
When you act on something to tell the world you are putting the good of everyone first. In Utilitarianism, the good of everyone outweighs the consequences no matter what. When you Whistle Blow, you make a sacrifice. You give up your rights, freedoms and even finances, to show the world what is going on behind the scenes. You must understand that when you find some type of injustice that needs to be fixed, you ruin your life to set that injustice correct.
It takes, in my opinion, both Virtue Ethics and Utilitarianism to be a Whistle Blower. You are noticing a bad thing and choosing to do something about it. When you thwart this problem and make it known to the public, you are now condemning yourself to consequences because you chose to put other strangers above your own wants and needs. We can only do what we feel is right and hope that we were not in the wrong. Works Cited
The Whistleblower's Dilemma: Do the Risks Outweigh the Benefits?
(Links to an external site.)
Fallout From Snowden's Sharing of NSA Secrets
(Links to an external site.)
After the whistle: Revealers of government secrets share how their lives have changed
(Links to an external site.)
DHS whistleblower testifies before House Intelligence Committee
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help