Question

Identify the conflicting obligations and decide whether the action taken is morally right.

***. An executive of a large company learns that the company is violating the state anti pollution law by dumping chemicals into the lake bordering its plant. The state inspectors are being bribed to ignore the violation and the executive takes no action. Is the action taken morally right?

***. A doctor on duty in a hospital emergency room one Halloween night treats a 15-year-old boy whose eye was injured by an exploding firecracker. He notices the boy is drunk. Because the extent of the injury is not certain, he has the boy admitted to the hospital and notifies his parents. When they arrive, the boy is under sedation, so his drunken condition escapes their detection. Nevertheless, the doctor informs them that their son had been drinking. Is the doctor's action morally right?

Answer 1

In the first case the moral obligations that arise are the reputation of the company is at stake if the news comes out . But the situation also violates the rules and sets of procedures which the company follows . It is against the environmental procedures . Also the bribing of inspectors is a fine example of morally incorrect behavior . The executive takes no action . It is completely morally incorrect as it is the duty of the executive to maintain fair practices in the company and follow the set of rules and procedures .

In the second Situation the main moral obligation is the confidentiality ethics .But the child is minor so it is the responsibility of the doctor to inform the parents . Breach of confidentiality is the main conflicting obligation doctor is facing. But the doctor is adding according to the ethic of beneficence and nonmaleficence . The action taken by the doctor is morally right .