Like my previous post, "Protecting the Young from Moral Corruption", this one is intended as a pre-reading question to get you thinking about some of the issues that come up at the beginning of our next class reading.
Imagine the following situation (A.):
You discover a loved member of your family, one who is doing well in everything, with no obvious problems, smoking marijuana with a group of friends one evening. She assures you, and you believe her, that it is the first time she has owned or used this drug. Since she has no previous record, a first offence for possession and use is likely to result in a permanent criminal record, but not a prison sentence.
- Is her possessing and using drugs such as marijuana in this situation morally right or wrong?
- Is the morally right action to report her to the police or not so that the law can take its course?
- Would you report her to the police?
- If your answers to 2. and 3. above were not the same (both "Yes" or both "No"), does that mean you would deliberately choose to do something you know to be morally wrong?
Another imaginary situation (B.):
You discover that your best friend has cheated on a final exam. If the university finds out, he will be expelled in disgrace.
- Is cheating on a final exam morally right or wrong?
- Is the morally right action to report him or not?
- Would you report him?
- If your answers to 2. and 3. above were not the same (both "Yes" or both "No"), does that mean you would deliberately choose to do something you know to be morally wrong?
If your answer to either of the questions 2. above was that it is morally better not to report the person:
- What is the reason that makes it morally right for you not to report them?
- Is it morally right not to report any similar crimes, or only in the particular situation above? If only in these situations, what is special about them that changes the morally appropriate response?
- How far along the scale of unjust (morally wrong) actions would you go before it would definitely be morally right to report anyone, even your caring and loving parents?
Would it be morally right to report them for tax evasion? For drunk driving? For stealing a chocolate from 7-Eleven? For killing a street dog? For beating a street dog to death? For hitting a stranger in a fit of understandable anger (he deliberately scratched the car or some such thing) ?
- Why is it morally right to deliberately act to harm someone you love and who loves you?
- Do you think most people would agree with you? Why or why not?
Please add your response in a comment below, either to this post or to any comment on it. You can of course leave more than one comment, and you can come back and reply to later comments that interest you.
In situation A., I think that
ReplyDelete1) possessing small amouth of Marijuana for personal use is not morally wrong, though unlawful. It just brings harm to her own health, or, in other word, it should be "unhealthy wrong".
2) To report her to the police is not a morally right action. On the other hand I think it is a morally wrong action, because it seems like I throw away my own responsibility about the welfare of my family and let the government take care of it, which should not bring a favorable result.
Situation A:
ReplyDelete1. Her possessing and using drugs such as marijuana is moraly right because she has a right to use it in human right aspect. However,if we consider it with the concern for other family members it's morally wrong because she is hurting them who love her and always want the best for her.
2. I agree with Liu that it's right in law, but my conscience will not let me report her to the police. Yes, sometime I choose to do the thing that even I know it's morally wrong because my consience always wins my mind whenever I'm in such as this situation.
I don't mean that because I love them so I let them do whatever they want. Of course, if it's wrong I will have my own way to solve the pronlem that will not hurt our relationship but effective.