Description
Applying Kantianism
Choose one case study and respond to it. You should tell me what you think Kantianism
would say the right response is in each case and why Kantianism makes the
recommendation it does. Then tell me whether you agree or disagree with Kantianism
responds to the case. Why do you agree or disagree with Kantianism’s response to the
case? Your response should be about 300 words.
Case 1
Many news sources use undercover reporting as a way of gathering information. For
instance, in November 1992, two ABC News producers obtained jobs at Food Lion
grocery stores in North and South Carolina by submitting applications with false
references, misrepresenting their educational and employment experiences on their
résumés and omitting their current employment with the network. Based on their
reporting ABC later broadcasted a report on “PrimeTime Live” that presented evidence
that Food Lion’s meat department at those stores required employees to engage in
unsafe, unhealthy or illegal practices, including selling old meat that was washed with
bleach to kill odor, selling cheese that had been gnawed by rats and working off the
time clock.
Each producer worked undercover only one or two weeks at the store, and while there
used hidden cameras to secretly record grocery store employees treating, wrapping and
labeling meat, cleaning machinery and discussing meat-department practices.
In another case in the late 1800s Elizabeth Cochrane, who reported under the name
Nellie Bly, feigned mental illness to be admitted to a New York state mental institution
so that she could report on the conditions there. Cochrane’s reporting uncovered
widespread mistreatment of the patients including physical abuse from the nurses and
being served spoiled food and dirty drinking water.
Opponents of such practices object to them because they necessarily involve
deception, and in some cases fail to respect business owners’ property rights.
Proponents of such investigations argue that in many cases they are the only way to
uncover serious wrongdoing and note that many journalists turn to undercover
investigations as a last resort when other methods of getting the truth have failed or
would be ineffective. Would a Kantian think such undercover news investigations are
morally permissible? Why or why not?
Case 2
Colleges tout the value of internships. Many require internships as a part of academic
programs. The pressure is so great that some students, believing internships essential
to their future job prospects, seek even those without either academic credit or
compensation. According to the College Employment Research Institute, three-fourths
of college students will serve an internship during their undergraduate career, and up to
half of those will be unpaid.
Advocates of internships claim that internships provide valuable opportunities for
students to learn about the world of work and to apply their learning in a real setting.
They also note that some employers use internship programs to identify potential
employees, hence improving students’ prospects for jobs after college.
A growing number of people criticize the use of unpaid internships. They claim that
students work without pay for a whole semester or even an entire year, not only earning
no money, but also paying college tuition and sometimes paying for lodging away from
home and college. The Wall Street Journal (28 January 2009) reported that some
students paid thousands of dollars to external services to help locate internships. The
article points out that less affluent students do not have such opportunities. Opponents
of unpaid internships also point out that some academic institutions poorly conceive and
supervise internships, and they get off cheaply by not having to provide specific
instruction or to use campus facilities. When internships are not carefully constructed
and supervised, host companies can exploit students with menial labor that is not worth
the high price students pay in time, effort, and money. Critics of unpaid internships
object to for-profit companies improving their bottom lines using these unpaid workers.
Further, unpaid interns may take jobs away from paid workers. Would a Kantian think
that having unpaid internships as part of students’ courses of study is morally
permissible? Why or why not?
