Watch the documentary The Conscientious Objector available on YouTube.

Watch the documentary The Conscientious Objector available on YouTube.

Watch the documentary “The Conscientious Objector” available on YouTube.

For your information: You could also watch the movie “Hacksaw Ridge” featuring Vince Vaughn and directed by Mel Gibson, but it is very graphic and could be upsetting for some of you to be subjected to watch the horrors of war.

In this documentary (and/or the movie), you will undoubtedly perceive the intense social/situational/cognitive factors faced by Desmond Dross, as he struggled to make ethical decisions.

1. VIRTUE ETHICS: How did Desmond exhibit Virtue Ethics? (e.g., courage? …transparency? …perseverance? … reliability? … trustworthiness? …what else?). Please research and describe a newsworthy story in which a businessperson exhibited virtue ethics in a similar manner. Please cite scholarly sources to support your ideas.

2. DEONTOLOGY / DUTY THEORY: Desmond’s “explicit values” flowed very much from his deontological ethics; he thereby focused on the rightness or wrongness of his actions themselves, as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences. Describe how he utilized deontological ethics (e.g., ethical and/or religious commandments) to inform his behaviors. Please research and describe a newsworthy story in which a businessperson exhibited deontological ethics in a similar manner. Please cite scholarly sources to support your ideas.

3. When did he _not_ act consistently with the ethical and/or religious commandments to which he subscribed? What is your assessment of the scenarios when he did _not_ act consistently?

4. What were the short-term consequences for maintaining his integrity (i.e. integrity can be defined as the quality of being honest & having strong moral principles; moral uprightness; the state of being whole & undivided)?

5. What were the long-term consequences for maintaining his integrity?

6. How did he use moral imagination to enlist & serve his country, without giving into moral temptation ?

7. How did he avoid ethical fading, despite the tremendous pressure he faced in the army culture? (e.g., how did he ensure he had “thoughts during judgment” each and every day?)

8. Please describe how Desmond did subscribe to Utilitarian Ethics. Please research and describe a newsworthy story in which a businessperson exhibited utilitarian ethics in a similar manner. Please cite scholarly sources to support your ideas.

9. Please describe how Desmond did _not_ subscribe to Utilitarian Ethics.

10. As a business professional, how might this story inform your ethical frameworks?

Answer preview  Watch the documentary The Conscientious Objector available on YouTube.