Assignment: Ethics, Law and Cybersecurity
You should type your responses directly under the appropriate question. Be sure to include your name on your quiz. Only the first three questions.
1. How do religion, law, and philosophy each provide different grounds for justifying a moral principle? How can each perspective be applied in analyzing the moral principle "Stealing is wrong"? Be sure to elaborate and provide your "theoretical" rationale in support of your position. (knowledge)
2. You have just been appointed to the board of directors of TAMU.com, however, the dot.com company has been experiencing some difficult financial times that have resulted in revenue losses in three of the last four quarters. As you take your new position, you discover that two proposals are on the table. Each proposal has been put forth as a means for dealing with TAMU's immediate financial problems. Proposal #1 recommends all employees be retained, but that an immediate wage freeze for all employees be imposed for the next six months. (Employees may even be asked to take a 5 percent cut in pay if things do not improve by the end of that period.) Proposal #2 recommends that wages not be frozen, but that 5 percent of the company's workforce be laid off. (One piece of reasoning behind this proposal is that taking more drastic measures will "protect" 95 percent of TAMU's workers and will send a message to Wall Street and local investors that TAMU is serious about improving its financial position and that it will soon be a stable company once again.) The board is evenly split, seven members for proposal #1 and seven for proposal #2. Yours will be the tie-breaking vote. In your deliberation, describe how an act utilitarian, a rule utilitarian, a rule deontologist, and act deontologist would reach each solution to this dilemma and on what basis. Which solution seems most plausible? Be sure to elaborate and provide your "theoretical" rationale in support of your position. (comprehension)
3. Do you feel that any of the four traditional ethical theories examined in chapter two are adequate to handle moral issues that arise as a result of cybertechnology? Is a brand new ethical theory needed, as some have argued, for the Internet age; or can a comprehensive, integrated theory, such as the one proposed by James Moor (i.e., his theory of "just consequentialism") be used successfully to resolve moral issues involving cybertechnology? Explain your answer. Be sure to elaborate and provide your "theoretical" rationale in support of your position. (comprehension)
4. Consider a case in which the United States government, with the approval of the majority of Americans, decides to round up all Arab-Americans and relocate them into internment camps. Imagine that you have a friend who is an American citizen of Arab descent. She asks you to protect her from the authorities. You have known this person all of your life, and you are convinced that she is a loyal American. You agree to hide her in the third floor of your house. A United States federal agent knocks on your door and asks if you know the whereabouts of the person you are hiding. How would you respond to that agent? You now face a genuine moral dilemma because you cannot both keep your promise to your friend and tell the truth to the federal agent. Initially, your gut reaction might suggest that the solution to your dilemma is really quite simple. For example, you might believe that a far greater good will be served by lying to the federal agent than by breaking your promise to your friend. However, to embrace the moral principle inherent in that line of reasoning is to fall back into utilitarianism. We have already seen some of the difficulties that can result from trying to be a consistent and thoroughgoing utilitarian. Could you consistently universalize a moral principle that states: "Whenever you must choose between telling the truth to authorities and breaking a promise to a friend, always honor your promise"? Will that principle work in every case? Will Ross's theory help in this situation? Explain your answer. Be sure to elaborate and provide your "theoretical" rationale in support of your position. (comprehension)
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.