Archive for the ‘2Q’ Category
Are Little White Lies Okay?
Statement As my daughter was getting ready for a date, I told her she looked beautiful even though she had a pimple on her neck. Q1 Analysis This is a Q1 violation if you believe that lying is always wrong or you believe that you must always be completely honest with your child. Q2 Analysis [...]
Should I Tell My Children that Santa Claus Exists?
Statement I tell my young child that Santa Claus is real. Q1 Analysis This statement does not violate Q1 unless you are making a special case for Santa Claus that you would not make for some other, equal imaginary things and don’t have a justification for doing so. Q2 Analysis This statement does not violate [...]
Should Children Be Taught "Fringe" Beliefs?
Statement The law should not allow parents to deny their children medical care. Q1 Analysis This is not a Q1 violation unless you believe that parental rights are inalienable or that medical decisions should be left to individuals. Q2 Analysis This is not a Q2 violation unless you object to others making decisions about how [...]
Should There Be Universal Health Care?
Statement The government should provide health care to everyone for free. Q1 Analysis This is not a Q1 violation if "health care" and "free" are well defined, you are not against socialized medicine, and you think that socialized medicine is ethically at least equal to the free market. Q2 Analysis This may be a Q2 [...]
Should Athletes Be Allowed to Use Performance-Enhancing Drugs?
Statement Athletes should not be allowed to use chemicals to improve their performance. Q1 Analysis This is not a Q1 violation so long as you are clear about what authority is restricting the use of chemicals, and you have carefully defined "chemicals" and "improve their performance." It may also be a Q1 violation if you [...]
Should Doctors Prescribe Placebos?
Statement A doctor could prescribe a sugar pill for a patient who isn’t really sick but needs to feel that something is being done. Q1 Analysis This is a Q1 violation if you believe that doctors should never be deceptive, even if it is for a greater good. It is also a Q1 violation if [...]
Should Stores Sell Medicine that Doesn’t Work?
Statement I should boycott pharmacy chains that sell homeopathic medicine because homeopathic medicine doesn’t work. Q1 Analysis If you are certain the medicine doesn’t work, boycott other stores that have similar problems, are sure that the store’s management is aware of what it is doing, and are defining "doesn’t work" in a consistent way, this [...]
Can I Sell a Product that Could Kill Someone?
Statement Guns kill innocent people every day, and gun dealers should be held responsible for those deaths. Q1 Analysis Whether this is a Q1 violation depends in part on what products you think qualify as so dangerous that anyone selling them should be liable, and whether you would always condemn someone selling such a product. [...]
Should a Lawyer Defend Someone Who Is Guilty?
Statement A lawyer who would represent a murderer is a rat. Q1 Analysis This may not be a Q1 violation if you believe that lawyers are only in the right when they represent people who they believe are innocent. Q2 Analysis If you would want legal representation even if you could not convince a lawyer [...]
Am I Morally Obligated to Help Others?
Statement I shouldn’t have to go out of my way to help someone else if I don’t feel like it. Q1 Analysis This is not a Q1 violation if you either don’t think that there is an ethical obligation to help others when possible or you consider your inconvenience to be morally more significant than [...]
