Blog Scenario 1 Overview: You are staying at your best friends place for a week to visit. Your friend lives abroad in in a country known for having extremely strict drug laws. Although your friend does not take illegal drugs, you do and you bring drugs into his home. At the end of the vacation, you still have some of the illegal drugs left. You are very worried about trying to bring the drugs through the airport and on an international flight. As a result, you leave the drugs in a drawer in the guest room at your friends home. You make it home without incident.
A week after you left, your friends house was raided by the police on suspicion of drug use and possession. The police find the drugs you had left in your friends guest room drawer. He is arrested and quickly put on trial. Your friend insists that the drugs are not his. He even submits to a drug test, which he passes. None-the-less, your friend is found guilty of drug possession, which carries with it a severe penalty: 5 lashings with a bamboo cane and 5 years in prison. (Note that lashing or whipping for crimes is still practiced in some Asian countries. Remember, the US judicial system and laws do not apply to this case).
Blog Scenario 1 Questions:
What do you do? If you go back, your friend will likely be released but he will lose his job due to being arrested. However, you will get at least the full sentence stated above. So, what do you do – if you go back and try to get your friend out of his punishment by turning yourself in and confessing to the crime of drug possession? Or do you leave him to his fate and count yourself lucky that you were not caught? Explain your reasoning in detail for whichever option you pick.
Is there an alternative approach to these two options? If so, what is it and what are the ethical implications of the alternative actions you propose?
Evaluate and discuss the ethical issues surrounding the use of physical punishment (5 lashes with a bamboo cane) as part of a criminal sentencing. Does use of this painful and scarring physical punishment seem to match the crime? Do you support or oppose use of such physical punishment, why or why not? Is there any crimes you can think of that would, in your mind, be appropriate for use of physical punishment short of death?
Blog Scenario 2: The following scenario is one pulled from the news and is a real story. Several years ago, a Princeton University student with a satisfactory school record was discovered to be a parole fugitive from Utah for crimes of theft and fraud. The student/fugitive used false documentation and a false name to obtain admission to the university, but on admission he none-the-less performed well in classes. His identify was ultimately discovered by the University when inconsistencies in the students records were identified.
Blog Scenario 2 Questions:
Assess and discuss the moral permissibility of the students actions in general and in the context of virtue ethics. One thing to consider, who is actually harmed by the students actions explain in detail.
Assess and discuss the Universitys options under the guidelines provided by virtue ethics.
In the final analysis, what action should the university take and why? Be sure to explain your reasoning in detail.
