Ethics and Morality: The Theories of Ethics and Morality
The subject in this case faces an ethical dilemma, where she has to choose between reporting an ethical concern and just playing along or doing nothing at all. Both choices have serious consequences -- reporting would mean that i) she loses her job and livelihood because of a confidentiality breach, and ii) she stops her organization from producing the environmentally-friendly hovercraft, and consequently, becomes the reason why the world will never enjoy clean unpolluted air. Playing along, on the other hand, would mean that she watches as 200,000 innocent lives are lost as a result of the hovercraft's incompatibility with existing models.
The subject has a duty to uphold confidentiality in all dealings that have to do with the company. Disclosing such information to the press would amount to breach of this duty. However, as a member of a corporate body, she also has a duty to always look out for the welfare of the community. Utilitarianism requires people to always go for the action that maximizes the best interests of the majority -- in this case, the deontological duty owed to the citizens overrides that owed to the company, which essentially means that the subject is obliged to report the study allegations first to their boss, and then to the press in case no...
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