Ethics: Group A Essay Samples

Section 1

Breach of contract has both legal and moral aspects. In the case presented, the columnist behaves fully ethically. First, a contract has no ethical binding in so far as abiding to it is concerned. It is based on this basic fact that contracts have clear methods of terminating them. The most common method of terminating contracts is by giving a notice to one of the parties involved. Since this is what the columnist did, ethically speaking, the columnist is right to terminate the contract for whatever reason. Secondly, higher pay is good for any employee since it may increase the happiness of the employee and that of the dependants. If she earns very little money in the current contract that does not cater fully for her, and her dependants, it would be wrong for her to turn down the second offer and continue to suffer. The only reason the first contractor would view her as evil is if she fails to notify them early so as to take precautions to find her replacement. She has no intent to hurt anyone or even deceive anyone into leaving and, therefore, her action is right and acceptable.
St. Augustine held that faith must precede reasoning. For this reason, therefore, He would be against the columnist terminating the contract. St. Augustine would advocate that she be faithful to the first contractor and avoid the temptation of higher salary she was offered. Breaking the contract would amount to total loss of the initial faith and hence make her acts evil. On the other hand, St. Aquinas would support the breaking of the contract. Aquinas held that humans have the power to reason and chose their actions. He asserts that reason is the proper action of human beings (Internet Encyclopedia of philosophy, n.d). In this case, the reasoning would supersede faith and remove the guilt associated with breaking the contract.

Section 2

The doctor is not justified to withhold information the information on the condition of the pilot. First, the doctor must adhere to the oath and code of conduct he had signed- to do what is best for the patients and seek to save lives. If the doctor withholds such information just because the pilot is about one to retire, the doctor would have put many lives in danger in the event that the pilot suffers a heart attack while flying. The good of the majority in this case would be put at stake. Therefore, for the best interest of the majority, and for the truthfulness of the doctor to his profession, the doctor must release the information. Is there any benefit of just letting the pilot to retire while in service? There is no guaranteed benefit on the side of the pilot if he continues flying with the heart murmurs. He also risks his life and, therefore, for the best interest of the pilot, the doctor ought to release the results.
St. Augustine would be against the release of the result arguing that by faith, the pilot can fly for the remaining month and retire. If the doctor releases the results, he would be forfeiting his faith in God that the pilot can survive for a month. To claim that the heart murmurs are potential threat is evil and ought not to be entertained by faith. Augustine held that evil did not exist as what humans perceive as evil, in an ultimate sense is good (“St. Augustine on the problem of evil,” n.d). On the contrary, St. Aquinas would support the reporting since by all reasoning, there is evident potential threat both to the pilot and the passengers he would fly. The doctor ought not to be guilty since there is a compelling reason for releasing such information.

References

Internet Encyclopedia of philosophy (n.d). Thomas Aquinas: Moral Philosophy. Retrieved on January 17, 2015 from http://www.iep.utm.edu/aq-moral/#H4
St. Augustine on the problem of evil (n.d). Retrieved on January 17, 2015 from http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/world_civ/worldcivreader/world_civ_reader_1/enchiridion. html