Applied Professional Ethics - Assignment Example

Assignments Assignments 10. One of the fundamental moral principles presented by Kohlberg’s theory is the respect of persons and their individual rights (Beabout and Wennemann, 1994). But what defines a person is a challenge as it is used synonymously in order to refer to “human beings”. As a result, it is difficult to determine who a person is and who therefore deserves respect. Such questions become significantly more important when dealing with ethical issues such as abortion, animal testing, and euthanasia, to name a few. In these cases, separate entities are involved which may classify as distinct individuals or more appropriately, persons. Yet these persons do not get a say in how their ends are decided indicating an noncompliance with the ethical principles guiding behavior. 11. 1. Morally, the notion that governments and thieves are similar is correct because they both employ forceful measures in order to get people to comply. Just as a thief, governments may also unjustly use their powerful legal authority and power to influence change which affects the decision making of other individuals without their consent (Beabout and Wennemann, 1994). 2. While assistance of the needy by governments may go against the principles of libertarianism, it may however benefit the needy which has been seen as the responsibility of governments in several civilized societies. However, these acts may involuntarily transfer the share of labors’ wallet into the needy’s wallet which is morally unfair to the laborers who work hard to earn money. 12. In his essay, Kai Nielsen has made a case against the stereotypical notions of the socialist system as essentially insufficient in terms of morality. He has identifies several features of socialism that aligns with basic value systems of the society including justice, equality, rights, freedom, and autonomy. By empowering the labor and the working class of the society, socialism aimed at providing greater equality and justice to the stratified social classes. These basic values are consistent with the view that social privileges, as Beabout and Wennemann (1994) mention, should not be restricted to any particular class which may trigger certain biases. By inhibiting the misuse of social privileges and encouraging equal rights, the measures promote individual autonomy. 13. In the article, Garrett Hardin advocates a halt in the supply of food to needy countries. This concept is backed up by the reasoning that giving free food to the needy countries may encourage negative policies which do not make an effort to control their population or handle their resources well. More appropriately, the act of giving aids to needy countries in the form of food is unfair to the laborer who works hard to maintain sustenance whereas on the other hand his hard earned money is used to aid needy countries. Again, it is against the libertarian aspect which tends to involuntarily deprive one off his own share of money (Beabout and Wennemann, 1994). 14. Peter Singer has addressed the growing moral issue of the American society pertaining to the negative view of charity and donations. The view that the needy are unfairly taking a share of their wallet is countered by Singer who points out that morality has slid as individuals prefer to spend on expensive extravagances rather than donating the amount for the basic necessities of needy individuals. Contrary to Gilligan’s concepts of co-dependency (Beabout and Wennemann, 1994), Singer refers to the dilemma as a moral issue which is a responsibility rather an act stimulating dependency on richer countries for aid. Thus, he explains how it is a moral duty to help the needy when most individuals are living in excess surplus spent on unnecessary items. 15. Christopher Wellman has employed an entirely different path to make a case for helping the needy by pointing out how national as well as international institutions play in order to cause the inefficient and unequal distribution of resources. As a result some countries are wealthy whereas other are poor and needy of aid. However, this condition of economic well being does not absolve the wealthier nations of their responsibilities towards the needy countries because the issues may be created as a result of their own acts rather than the other party’s own actions. Institutions must evaluate their own actions where their decisions serve the best interest of the people as they impact not only them but people around the world (Beabout and Wennemann, 1994). 16. 1. In his article, Amartiya Sen refers to ethical issues including poverty, starvation, and property rights with a special emphasis on the role of entitlement and the moral implications of guaranteed minimum entitlement in the presence of property rights. Sen mentions how entitlement rights enable any person to know how much s/he can get in exchange. Failure of entitlements result in poverty and starvation. 2. Sen considers hunger to be a moral issue which can be solved by institutionalization. Sen considers the right to not be hungry as more of a moral right rather than an institutional right, unlike property right. The institutional structure plays a vital role in directing political decisions by keeping ethical implications in account. According to Sen, institutionalization of the issue can help prevent hunger and famine as the issue takes a political shape involving the constitution. 17. Considering the size of the hunger issue, Pogge makes a case against the opponents of hunger alleviation programs who claim that such programs are too expensive to maintain. Furthermore, Pogge points out that various issues facing poorer countries is a result of unequal distribution of resources and the dominance of wealthier states on poorer ones who commit serious crimes inducing hunger and poverty in other nations. The process is explained as a cycle of historical procedures leading to crimes that put weaker countries at risk of poverty and hunger. Thus, it is established that wealthier nations have a responsibility to make efforts to alleviate hunger from weaker states. 18. Following globalization, various retail organizations have shifted their manufacturing factories abroad to developing countries in order to produce products at lower costs. This helps the companies save millions of dollars in manufacturing costs thereby increasing their profit margin. These contracted factories, usually located in developing countries, is referred to as sweatshops. These sweatshops are characterized by poor working conditions with workers required to work long hours in severe environments. Plus, the workers are overworked and underpaid for their efforts. Arguments defending the use of sweatshops only consider the interest of factory owners who exploit the laborers in order to generate high profits (Beabout and Winnemann, 1994). On the other hand, morality speaks against the exploitation of factory workers working in overcrowded and poor conditions on significantly low wages. 19. Most sweatshops are located in developing countries where the producers benefit by exploiting laborers by denying their rights as workers. Most sweatshops are called so due to their poor working conditions and the unethical interests of the producers. The treatment of workers in these sweatshops raises the question of morality where workers are often bound and forced to give their services. Even more important is the question whether companies should contract such manufacturers that are cheap sweatshops. While some companies do display an effort to monitor the working conditions of their contracted factories abroad, there is little evidence if these efforts are ongoing or are even carried otu in legitimate ways. Sweatshops undoubtedly provide companies with much cheaper goods and it is the duty of these companies to ensure that the contracted manufacturer treats their employees well. 20. Case Study Report Background Brazil is the largest country in Latin America in terms of area and size. Despite a rapidly growing economy, Brazil is experiencing a high population growth rate which threatens to push its population towards serious poverty lines. The cost of living is high and families find it difficult to dwell in an age of high inflation rates and rising prices. Its cities are sprawling at an alarming rate as people migrate from rural to urban and metropolitan cities of Brazil. Statement of Problem As the population of Brazil plunges at a rapid rate, the country is finding itself under severe financial crisis as a result of limited resources and growing needs to cater to. As a result of population growth, migrations have taken place to major metropolitan cities of Brazil creating slums in those regions. These places are symbolized by economically underdeveloped regions and poor living conditions and standards. Poverty, hunger, health, education, clean water, and sanitation have become major issues which the government is finding hard to deal with. Analysis The presence of a large number of poor people as a result of high population growth calls for attention by the government. Also, the fact that Brazil is doing well economically yet struggling with poverty suggests the societal and institutional failure to distribute the wealth justly among the population. This reflects the unjust control of wealth and resources by the elites which harms the well being of the poor masses. Perhaps, morality in this case is guided by utilitarianism: greater good for greater number of people. However, moral principles also suggest that taxing the elites to bail out the poor may be unfair to the higher ups even though it is their moral responsibility to help their needy countrymen (Beabout and Winnemann, 1994). Possible Solutions As established earlier, the case represented the failure of institutions and the government to control the population and to distribute wealth equally among its people. Hence, it is a moral responsibility to ensure the fundamental rights to its people including education, health, clean water, and sanitation, just to name a few. Tax laws could be introduced to tax higher income families in order to pay for the service of the needy people. However, the taxation should not be ridiculously high so to punish the higher income groups for their high income. Recommendation Course of Action Possible set of actions include: Population control programs. Institutionalized granting of fundamental rights including education, health care, clean water sanitation, and municipality services for proper living conditions. Income tax on the income of higher income groups so as to pay for these developmental endeavors. Allocation of government funds for road building and other developmental projects to plan the areas of cities in order to circumvent the negative effects of sprawling slum areas. This would also help raise the standard of living and the hygiene conditions. Implementation The government will play an important role in the implementation of the recommended actions as approved by the governmental institutions. Also, non-governmental organizations are central to initiating population control programs educating the public about damaging effects of a high population thereby helping to curb high birth rates and hence population growth rates. Conclusion The governmental system is critical to addressing the issues of a large population and its damaging implications on lifestyle and hygiene of the public. Thus, the issue needs governmental actions to slow down population growth rates and laws to efficiently spend the limited resources on the well being of its public. References Beabout, G.R. and Winnemann, D.J. (1994). Applied Professional Ethics. Lanham: University Press of America. Read More