Morality and ethical question from a student

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Sustar
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Morality and ethical question from a student

Post by Sustar »

Let's say there is a girl named Sandra. She would like to do a doctorate. Her family can't support her financially so she is in need of a scholarship. To get the good grades for a scholarship she has to do an additional project. Her college is not well equipped with computer workplaces to study and most of the times they are all occupied. Since she has to work for rent and co. she doesn't have much time to wait for a free workplace at her college.
That's why, on her free evenings she uses the library of a local business association. There are lots of unused computer workplaces which have the necessary equipment.
Sometimes she's getting asked from a librarian who works there if she's authorized to be there and she says "yes" so she can keep studying there without problems. With the ressources from that library she managed to finish the projects and got good grades and the scholarship.

Now the ethical and morally questions I have:
1. Did she do anything wrong?
2. Did she get the librarian in trouble for doing this and lying to him?
3. Did she have an unfair advantage in comparison to other students?
4. Could she have done something different to achieve this?
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Jack D Ripper
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Re: Morality and ethical question from a student

Post by Jack D Ripper »

The kinds of responses you will get will likely be based on one of two things. Either someone will follow some ethical theory that they believe, or they will look at it from a practical viewpoint and then go with their feelings about it. Of course, someone might ignore the ethical question and respond to the legality of what she is doing. Depending on what you are doing, that might be the more relevant question than what you are asking.


So, I will give you answers, but if you filled in more details, then I might give different answers. Completely different answers.


1. Did she do anything wrong?

Unless there is another detail that you will tell us that would change my mind, no. She did not damage anything (or at least you have not told us that she has), and no one seems to have been harmed by her actions. She did not prevent anyone else from doing what they wanted to do.


2. Did she get the librarian in trouble for doing this and lying to him?

You have not told us that she has, so I will go with "no". This is something that you should tell us as part of the scenario, as it may make a difference on the responses you get.


3. Did she have an unfair advantage in comparison to other students?

Students are pretty much never on a level playing field. Some attended better schools when younger, some had better parents who helped teach them, etc. The idea that life is fair, as things are at present, is nothing short of idiotic.

This, again, is something that you should tell us as part of the scenario. It could be that all of her classmates have money and a computer and internet access at their homes. It could be that they don't have to work at all to go to school, and so they have an unfair advantage by having more time to study. So, without being told about the other students, we have no way of knowing who has an advantage.

So, as far as I am concerned, this is a non-issue. At least, it is a non-issue until all of the other inequalities are being dealt with. Which, practically speaking, means it is a nonissue and will always be a non-issue.


4. Could she have done something different to achieve this?

You have not given us any reason to think that she had any better options. So, as far as we can tell, she did the best thing possible.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence." - David Hume
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Count Lucanor
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Re: Morality and ethical question from a student

Post by Count Lucanor »

Sustar wrote: December 14th, 2020, 12:05 pm Let's say there is a girl named Sandra. She would like to do a doctorate. Her family can't support her financially so she is in need of a scholarship. To get the good grades for a scholarship she has to do an additional project. Her college is not well equipped with computer workplaces to study and most of the times they are all occupied. Since she has to work for rent and co. she doesn't have much time to wait for a free workplace at her college.
That's why, on her free evenings she uses the library of a local business association. There are lots of unused computer workplaces which have the necessary equipment.
Sometimes she's getting asked from a librarian who works there if she's authorized to be there and she says "yes" so she can keep studying there without problems. With the ressources from that library she managed to finish the projects and got good grades and the scholarship.

Now the ethical and morally questions I have:
1. Did she do anything wrong?
2. Did she get the librarian in trouble for doing this and lying to him?
3. Did she have an unfair advantage in comparison to other students?
4. Could she have done something different to achieve this?
There isn't enough information to determine if she did anything wrong, although you mentioned that she lied when saying she was authorized to be in the library. But authorization implies some kind of certification, and if there's not a formal one (such as credential to enter the library) there's a tacit informal authorization in the librarian consenting that the girl stays there. If the librarian is required to verify credentials, then he is not doing his job, but we are not told if credentials are required in the first place.

About question #3, it would be unfair advantage if she cheated the library, but we don't know that for sure.

About #4, if there's any reasonable doubt in her mind about what is the fair use of the library, she should have asked. If she just didn't know and it turns out that the use is inappropriate, it could be just an honest mistake.
The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.
― Marcus Tullius Cicero
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Re: Morality and ethical question from a student

Post by Terrapin Station »

I agree that there's not enough info for some of the questions.

At any rate, what I find unethical is that we've set up universities/we've in general structured society so that some people can't receive they education they desire because they can't pay for it. Same for health care, vocational opportunities, having shelter, food, etc.
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Sculptor1
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Re: Morality and ethical question from a student

Post by Sculptor1 »

Sustar wrote: December 14th, 2020, 12:05 pm Let's say there is a girl named Sandra. She would like to do a doctorate. Her family can't support her financially so she is in need of a scholarship. To get the good grades for a scholarship she has to do an additional project. Her college is not well equipped with computer workplaces to study and most of the times they are all occupied. Since she has to work for rent and co. she doesn't have much time to wait for a free workplace at her college.
That's why, on her free evenings she uses the library of a local business association. There are lots of unused computer workplaces which have the necessary equipment.
Sometimes she's getting asked from a librarian who works there if she's authorized to be there and she says "yes" so she can keep studying there without problems. With the ressources from that library she managed to finish the projects and got good grades and the scholarship.

Now the ethical and morally questions I have:
1. Did she do anything wrong?
yes.
2. Did she get the librarian in trouble for doing this and lying to him?
no.
3. Did she have an unfair advantage in comparison to other students?
You said nothing about other students
4. Could she have done something different to achieve this?
"This"? "this" what? You can always do something different as long as you are determined to act that way.
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Jack D Ripper
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Re: Morality and ethical question from a student

Post by Jack D Ripper »

Sculptor1 wrote: December 16th, 2020, 5:53 pm
Sustar wrote: December 14th, 2020, 12:05 pm Let's say there is a girl named Sandra. She would like to do a doctorate. Her family can't support her financially so she is in need of a scholarship. To get the good grades for a scholarship she has to do an additional project. Her college is not well equipped with computer workplaces to study and most of the times they are all occupied. Since she has to work for rent and co. she doesn't have much time to wait for a free workplace at her college.
That's why, on her free evenings she uses the library of a local business association. There are lots of unused computer workplaces which have the necessary equipment.
Sometimes she's getting asked from a librarian who works there if she's authorized to be there and she says "yes" so she can keep studying there without problems. With the ressources from that library she managed to finish the projects and got good grades and the scholarship.

Now the ethical and morally questions I have:
1. Did she do anything wrong?
yes.
2. Did she get the librarian in trouble for doing this and lying to him?
no.
3. Did she have an unfair advantage in comparison to other students?
You said nothing about other students
4. Could she have done something different to achieve this?
"This"? "this" what? You can always do something different as long as you are determined to act that way.
I am glad to see a different answer to what appears to be the main question (# 1). Too bad the opening post did not ask for the reasons for the answers to the questions.

So, Sandra, there you have it: The answer to number 1 is either yes or no, depending on who answers your question.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence." - David Hume
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LuckyR
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Re: Morality and ethical question from a student

Post by LuckyR »

Sustar wrote: December 14th, 2020, 12:05 pm Let's say there is a girl named Sandra. She would like to do a doctorate. Her family can't support her financially so she is in need of a scholarship. To get the good grades for a scholarship she has to do an additional project. Her college is not well equipped with computer workplaces to study and most of the times they are all occupied. Since she has to work for rent and co. she doesn't have much time to wait for a free workplace at her college.
That's why, on her free evenings she uses the library of a local business association. There are lots of unused computer workplaces which have the necessary equipment.
Sometimes she's getting asked from a librarian who works there if she's authorized to be there and she says "yes" so she can keep studying there without problems. With the ressources from that library she managed to finish the projects and got good grades and the scholarship.

Now the ethical and morally questions I have:
1. Did she do anything wrong?
2. Did she get the librarian in trouble for doing this and lying to him?
3. Did she have an unfair advantage in comparison to other students?
4. Could she have done something different to achieve this?
1. Yes, a very, very insignificantly small thing. But a thing.

2. Likely not. The librarian is likely a big fish in an insignificantly small pond.

3. Absolutely not

4. Of course, but this fact does not impact the evaluation of her actual choice of what to do.

This case illustrates more the relative size of issues rather than their relative rightness or wrongness.
"As usual... it depends."
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