Chiong, Malcolm Ellijah Zachary E.

GE-MDW TTH 4:30 – 6:00 PM

Assignment: Rights Ethics Research

We had a discussion on deontology and its possible

problems. Rigidly following deontology can produce results that
many people find unacceptable.

Problem: Suppose you’re a software engineer and learn that a

nuclear missile is about to launch that might start a war. You can
hack the network and cancel the launch, but it’s against your
professional code of ethics to break into any software system
without permission. And, it’s a form of lying and cheating.
Deontology advises not to violate this rule. However, in letting
the missile launch, thousands of people will die.
Question: What would be a Rights Ethics oriented approach to
this problem be?

-Rights theory is a normative theory which means that it is a

theory that focuses on how people should or ought to behave in a
right-mannered way. With respect to rights theory, an action of
decision that respects the right of other people would be
considered ethically correct. “RESPECT” is the key word to rights
theory, that is considering and upholding the rights of others is
the foundation of rights theory. In relation to the above-
mentioned scenario, a rights ethics oriented approach would
definitely break his duty or obligated work and would prefer to
abide what he thinks would adhere to rights theory, which is to
hack the network and save thousands of people and prevent a
war. A rights ethics oriented would definitely choose to respect
human rights than adhere to his duty as a software engineer.