Problem
Whistleblowing
This sharing practical knowledge report will address one particular situation, whistleblowing. watch the movie Snowden (2016). The movie portrays former CIA employee Edward Snowden in a positive light, but you can also think about the harms to the CIA, the country, or anyone else involved that resulted from the disclosure of confidential information. (If you cannot watch the movie for any reason, you can read an article on Edward Snowden.) This assignment will allow you to apply the four principles to the Snowden case.
The four principles are:
A. Seeking the best results: to seek results that are the most beneficial and least harmful to individuals and to society.
B. Treating individuals justly and fairly: to treat individuals justly and fairly by not discriminating between them on irrelevant grounds and by paying attention to their individual needs.
C. Respecting autonomy: to respect people's autonomy as far as possible within a society in which the legitimate interests of all must be considered.
D. Acting with professional integrity: to behave with integrity by acting in accord with the stated or implied values, undertakings and objectives of the profession.
Part I
For part I of this sharing practical knowledge report, you should watch the Snowden movie and then create a post
i. Briefly summarizing the key facts;
ii. Identifying an ethical question posed by the facts (you can focus on one main question); and
iii. Applying two or more relevant principles to answer the question.
Sample ethical questions are: what reasons or conditions provide sufficient basis for whistleblowing? When should a public employee disclose confidential information? When should a person disobey orders? Or come up with your own question! A large part of doing ethics involves being able to spot or identify the ethical issues. Developing moral sensitivity so that you can see the ethical issues in different situations is an important part of becoming an ethically-minded or morally-minded professional or public servant.