The possibility of business ethics paper

Questions and Answers

Question 1

a)
Greenspan is being realistic
about the possibility of business ethics when he says, “for you to gain,
those you deal with should gain as well.” While business is
profit-oriented, it is built upon trust to enable further dealings. This can
only be achieved if one entity has its best interest at heart as well as
another’s, to which Greenspan claims, “having a reputation for fair
dealings is a profoundly practical virtue.”

b)
The core ethical values that I
would want to follow in my career are integrity, loyalty, accountability, and fairness.

Question 2

a)
Judges should not care much if
attorneys submit plagiarized legal briefs or motions as long as they properly
cite their source and admit their mistakes in extreme circumstances. There is
no originality in law. All legal documents are released in the public domain so
that lawyers can refer to decades-old cases without the fear of copyright
issues.

b)
Cannons punishment was less
severe because he admitted his mistake to the court and correctly informed the
client and the bar association. However, Lane did not comply with the courts
order to identify the sources he used in his brief within the required time.

Question 3

Part 1

a)
Lincoln was gifted with
critical thinking and escapism, two qualities that enabled him to survive his
melancholy. Critical thinking enabled him to be self-aware and spurred him
through his depression, it’s instructive to see how he collapsed, butcollapses
led him to a signal moment of self-understanding (Shenk, 2005). Escapism is
witnessed in his ability to divert himself from his troubles through poetry.
Lincoln suffered from depression in his early years, and he used poetry as a
means to escape, “melancholy are evident in a poem on suicide that
Lincoln apparently wrote (Shenk, 2005).

b)
I would recommend facing
depression head-on rather than denying its existence since avoiding it makes it
manifest in another manner, “The melancholy did not go away during this
period but, rather, took a new form (Shenk, 2005). Dealing with one’s
depression is the only solution to it, and while escapism is sometimes welcome,
it is never enough.

Part 2

a)
Douglas has a rich vocabulary
and is vivid in his details. These are the qualities that a thinker and writer
should have to find the right words that paint the correct picture and become
powerful and memorable. For instance, the sentence, “First, midst, and
last, you and yours were the objects of his deepest affection and his most
earnest solicitude. It drives the audience into the context and is poetic so
that it sticks to the reader’s mind while driving the message.

b)
I want to cultivate Lincoln’s
orator quality. Speech is a strong weapon, and inspiring people through it can
enable me to bring the right changes to my community.

Question 4

a)
I am a recluse, and for the
longest time, I thought that my mother abandoned me, my father denied me, my
siblings betrayed me, and my friends used me. I no longer maintain close relationships
for fear of abandonment. I am always wary of my friend’s ulterior motives, even
though they never have any. Now I realize that I am an emotional black hole. I
have been what I fear everyone else is to me all along. Perhaps my psyche is
trying to protect itself from rejection, but the only thing it leads to is a
vicious cycle of self-loathing and depression. Now I realize that I should be
grateful to my mother for all her attempts to reach out. I apologize to my
father that I could not be the man he wanted me to become. I am thankful to my
siblings for tolerating me this long without judging, and above all, I am
thankful to my friends Samuel and Lewinsky for helping me discover who I am.

Question 5

a)
The most impressionable scene
from the movie is the scene in 1:10:20 where Chuck discovers that Stephen made
up the story about his sources and fires him.

b)
Glass was blinded by success
and fame. These qualities are only good in moderation, and too much of either
can destroy a man’s credibility. Humility is the best medicine, and I chose to
be humble and accept accolades but not let them get to my head.

c)
Editors should be vigilant
concerning arrogant and over-ambitious journalists. They get the best stories,
but their actions can be detrimental to the company. Pre-employment screening
should involve deep scrutiny of the person’s inspirations and overall demeanor.

Question 6

a)
My choices in the first answer,
I chose: 1. Frank, 2. Carefree, 3. Friendly, 4. Charitable, 5. Caring. In the
second, I chose: 1. Charitable, 2. Friendly, 3. Frank, 4. Caring, 5. Carefree.
I think that my choices differ because we are all inherently selfish, so we
acknowledge ourselves with qualities that we think we have even if we do not so
we can appear good in the eyes of others.

b)
The article by Pappas (2017)
best describes this quality and describes how we instinctively put our best
interest ahead of others, a form of survival mechanism.

c)
A good life is defined by being
healthy, purposeful, and finding meaning (Matthews, 2017). Humans inherently
seek meaning and purpose, and it is for this reason, we have created deities
and gods to help us come to terms with that which we cannot achieve.

References

Matthews,
D. (2017, December 7). What Makes a Good Life? HuffPost.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-makes-a-good-life_b_9790128

Pappas,
S. (2017, February 27). Are ? HuffPost.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/are-humans-inherently-selfish_n_58b4544ee4b0780bac2bccf0

Ray, B. (Director). (2003). Shattered Glass.
Cruise/Wagner Productions.

Shenk,
J. W. (2005, October 1). Lincoln’s Great Depression. The Atlantic.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/10/lincolns-great-depression/304247/