The moral issue
Examination leakage is against the law, thus such practices are taken to be morally wrong. The scenario, in this case, is tricky. As the saying goes “a friend in need is a friend indeed”, one might be easily convinced that it would be necessary to help a friend pass his/her exams considering the financial difficulties that lingered in their world. However, that would be morally wrong according to some normative ethical theories.
Applying the Deontological principles
Kant’s Advice about the Right Thing to Do
According to Immanuel Kant, people need to act from duty for them to be considered to have acted in a morally right way. Secondly, he stated that the consequences of actions do not make a person right or wrong, rather the reason behind the action is what will render that person right or wrong (Cavalier, 2002). Kant argues that the highest good ought to be genuine in itself and good that does not necessarily need to be qualified. In this sense, something is deemed well in itself if it is essentially good or rather good without certification as long as the action does not make the matter be ethically worse. Kant adds that things that are rendered good like intelligence are not essentially good. Intelligence, for instance, cannot be rendered to be “good without qualification”. This is because a person will forge his/her way out of the academic life and in the end becomes practically incompetent.
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Attractiveness of the Advice
The merit of this advice is that the consequence of the act that an individual will take cannot be used to justify that, that person had good motives. Notably, good consequences would arise accidentally from the action that the individual took (Cavalier, 2002). Kant adds that bad consequences can arise from an action that had good will at the same time good consequences might arise from a motive that intended to do harm. Therefore, a person with the good will, will at all times act in a manner that respects the law. In this case, there is no need for me to leak out the exam answers to my friends irrespective of the situations they were facing. My intentions might be good because I do not want them to fail exams as well as I want them to be employed so that they might be able to sustain themselves. However, bad results might also crop up since during their hands-on activities after graduation, people may lose their lives because they will not be competent to work effectively.
Unattractiveness of the Advice
This advice would mean if my friends were not ready for the exams they would fail. That would also mean, they would have to spend more time in college so that they can redo the course work. Additionally, they will not be employed soonest as they were expecting, which would also imply that they will have to wait long for them to be self-sustained.
Applying the Utilitarian Reasoning
The Right Thing to Do
Utilitarian ethics is a normative ethical theory that renders an action to be wrong or right depending on the outcomes or rather consequences. In this regards, it takes an extra step to focus on the interest of others other that the interests of the one taking the action (Cavalier, 2002). Based on this theory, it would be right for me to give my friends the answers so that their desires can be fulfilled.
Attractions of the Advice
This theory perceives that the right act is one that brings the best result or the rather least amount of failure. In this regards, by me sharing the answers with my friends the best results would be them passing their exams, thus their life in college will not be prolonged and on the other hand, they would have ample time to fend for themselves.
Unattractiveness of the Advice
The advice from this theory is short term – passing the exams. However, the long-term results can go either way depending on the seriousness of my friends after their coursework. For instance, if my friends will not have mastered some basic concepts from the course work, they might end up endangering the lives of their patients while working in the field.
My Decision
The best thing for me to do would be not giving my friends the answers despite the fact that it appears to be the best thing to do. As aforementioned, this would render them incompetent. Cases of patients losing their lives due to nurses and doctors who take shortcuts to success have been evident in most healthcare facilities globally. My friends will not take that positively and it might be the end of our friendship, however, as a virtuous individual, I would take the initiative and explain to them the need to abide by rules and regulations. In addition, I would give them a vivid explanation on how such a move would not only jeopardize the lives of their patients, rather their careers will be at risk as well.
References
Cavalier, R. (2002). Online Guide to ethics and Moral Philosophy. Philosophy Department, Carnegie Mellon . Retrieved from http://www.phil.cmu.edu/Cavalier/80130/
