week 8 response

Classmate: Danielle 

Please respond to the post . Explain why you agree. 

My ethical philosophy is: Courage is foundational. Always try to have it. No one shows courage 100% of the time but striving for it in every decision and life event can set the tone for a life well-lived. This virtue can support many other virtues and elements of moral philosophy. I am a Christian, so divine command theory has its place in my life, but I am also a citizen of the United States and a veteran who lived under certain expectations and regulations that had nothing to do with divine command. I am one of the millions who wish to participate in society in this country. Social contract theory plays its part by reminding me of the expectations of behavior if I wish to remain a contributing member of society. Morality consists of a certain set of rules, governing behavior, that rational people will accept, on the condition that others will accept as well (Rachels & Rachels, 2019).  We are rational beings, and rational being follows certain social norms, believing that others will do the same for them.

Integrity is another virtue, but my philosophy is that one cannot exist without the other. I view courage as doing difficult things, despite the fear associated with it. I strongly believe in integrity in all aspects of life. Integrity can compel us to show courage if we know what the right thing to do is. Courage can compel us to have integrity. If we know something is the right thing to do, but we are afraid of the consequences, we will do it anyway.

The actions of John Doe violate common definitions of academic integrity. Integrity is defined as having good moral character, upholding moral and ethical codes, and maintaining honesty, and breeches are prevalent in students of higher education (Keener et al., 2019). John Doe is a college student of lower socioeconomic status. He is avoiding his religious beliefs and focusing on his lower economic status to justify his decision to violate his schools academic integrity policy.

If I consider my philosophy along with the actions of John Doe, his reasoning for his actions is not good enough. There are no exceptions to policies of academic integrity, and they are usually laid out right away in a course syllabus. John Doe is a rational being and an adult. He knows what he is doing. It is immoral to violate an institution’s academic integrity policy, even once. He has done so repeatedly. In the situation, he lacks integrity, but also courage. He lacks the courage to find a different way to acquire the resources he needs to pass his courses; despite the discomfort and financial strain, it may cause him. Using the veil of ignorance, consider the policies he is violating. Academic integrity policies are put into place by institutions to ensure that all students receive their grades fairly and that all work is submitted as their own. It trusts that all students will abide by these policies, regardless of who the student is. This is for all students. I cannot justify John Does reasoning for his actions.

References

Keener, T. A., Peralta, M. G., Smith, M., Swager, L., Ingles, J., Wen, S., & Barbier, M. (2019). Student and faculty perceptions: Appropriate consequences of lapses in academic integrity in health sciences education. BMC Medical Education, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1645-4

Rachels, J., & Rachels, S. (2019). The Elements of Moral Philosophy (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education