Jay Arnold

CprE 394 Ethics Essay

Ethics is an idea that most people should naturally follow, but it sadly isn’t the

case. Even big car companies like Ford have a history of not following the code of

ethics. Why even have a code of ethics if other people or companies may not follow it?

The purpose of the code of ethics is to let those acting on behalf of a company or

organization how they should conduct themselves.

Some situations may be easy to follow a code of ethics. It may even be done

subconsciously by a person. When I’m faced with an ethical situation, I have to think a

lot before acting or saying. If I don’t think about every situation possible, my course of

action may not be the correct one according to the code of ethics. It is a lot harder said

than done, but I think everyone should think about what is right and wrong according to

the code of ethics.

This course had a few examples of ethical issues. The first one talked about

private data that is supposed to protect individuals. A person is working on the project,

but was given private information that isn’t supposed to be seen or used. He wants to

not use the data, but his boss wants the data in the project. The next example is Ford

cutting corners on their car to get more profit. Ford created the Pinto. It was a cheap

and inexpensive car. A fault was found in the car where the gas tank would hit a bolt or

something during an accident, and then burst causing the car to go into flames. THis

fault was found in the tests, but Ford approved the car anyways. This fault caused many

deaths and injuries. Another example is Volkswagen cheating emission tests.

Volkswagen knew some of their cars wouldn’t pass the emissions tests, so they

installed a device that would lower the emissions during a test. This allowed all the cars

to pass the tests. Volkswagen was later penalized and had to pay a lot of money for

cheating the emissions tests. The last example is an issue with an Amazon Echo. A

person drowned in a home while others were there and there was a suspected murder.

There was an Echo device in the home, that could’ve had data to help prosecute the

suspected murderer. Amazon didn’t give away the Echo data. It is clear that all of these

have ethical issues.

The class had very similar ethical considerations compared to my own. For the

data project issue, we all said that the person working on the project should tell their

boss that it is not ethical to include the private data. For the Ford issue, Ford was in the

wrong. They should not have approved that car with the gas tank fault. If they didn’t

approve it and fixed it instead, it would’ve saved lives. For the Volkswagen issue,

Volkswagen should have gone back and engineered their cars to be more efficient.

Instead, more emissions went into the environment. The Amazon Echo issue is a little

bit trickier. I understand that the data would probably help convict the suspected

murderer which would bring justice to the family of the person that passed away. But if

Amazon did give away the information, it would mean our privacy is at stake. If these

devices are in many homes, who knows what Amazon could do with that data. It is

definitely the hardest ethical issue of them all.

The case study I chose was the Volkswagen issue. I believe the three best

virtues of ethics that relate to this case are honesty, integrity, and responsibility.

Volkswagen higher ups lied about not knowing that their cars had these cheat devices
installed. They were not honest with the organization that is responsible for testing

emissions. Integrity is important for this case study because Volkswagen knew that their

cars weren’t going to pass, but they approved them anyway. THey knew they were in

the wrong, but they cheated to not be caught. That breaks integrity. Lastly, Volkswagen

has the responsibility of creating cars that are not only safe to others, but safe to the

environment. They did not hold that responsibility. I think all three of these go well with

this case study because Volkswagen broke each of them. I don’t think the other virtues

were as good as the three I picked. Charity doesn’t really work because the case study

didn’t have a situation of helping others. Fidelity could work for this case because

Volkswagen wasn’t faithful to their employees, but I just don’t think it was as good as the

three I picked. Lastly, self-discipline could definitely have been a virtue for this case.

Volkswagen wanted to sell these cars to get money. They weren’t self disciplined. If they

were, they would’ve gone back and fixed the cars. Instead, they were greedy and didn’t

restrain themselves. I don’t really know of another ethical virtue that could be applied to

the case study that isn’t included in the virtue of ethics.