Information Technology Reference
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talks about “his” portion of the code, never mentioning that it was all rewritten
by his teammates.
Everyone in the class is supposed to send the professor an email grading
the performance of their teammates. The department prides itself on graduating
students who have proven they can work well on software development teams,
and students getting poor or failing performance reviews from all of their
teammates may be forced to repeat the class. Matt comes to Josh, tells him
that he really needs to pass this class because he can't afford to stay in college any
longer, and pleads for a good performance review. What should Josh do?
Decision
Josh must decide whether or not to disclose to the professor that Matt did not
even come close to doing his share of the team project, fully aware that a poor
or failing performance evaluation may prevent Matt from graduating. Josh is an
honest person, and he has a hard time imagining that he could tell the professor
that Matt did a good job when that is far from the truth. However, Josh is also
a just person, and he feels indebted toward Matt, who has done him a lot of
favors over the past four years—particularly those free rides to and from his
hometown. Josh also feels compassion toward Matt, who lost his father. It's bad
enough to lose a parent, but because of the sudden nature of his father's death,
Matt didn't even have the chance to say goodbye to him.
As he ponders his dilemma, Josh begins to realize that he finds himself in
this difficult spot because at several points in the past he didn't step up and
do the right thing. He took advantage of Matt's generosity (and gave in to his
own greedy impulses) by taking all those free rides to and from his hometown.
If he had paid his share of the gas money, he wouldn't be feeling so obligated
toward Matt. Josh also knows he wasn't a very good friend when he failed to
talk with Matt about how he was feeling about his father's death and how that
was affecting his performance on the senior project. Matt's lack of attention to
his schoolwork was definitely out of character, a sign that he was suffering a
lot. Josh now understands that he and the other teammates should have had
a conversation with the professor in charge of the senior projects when it first
became apparent that Matt was not participating fully as a teammate. An early
intervention could have resulted in a completely different outcome.
After reflecting on what he should do, Josh concludes he must be truthful
with the professor. However, he will not simply tell the professor that Matt's
performance was poor. Josh decides he will also take responsibility for his role
in the fiasco by providing a full account to the professor of how his own failure
to respond to the situation earlier in the year contributed to the unsatisfactory
outcome.
1.
In many situations it makes more sense to focus on virtues than on obligations, rights,
or consequences.
Consider, for example, why it is wrong to steal to satisfy a selfish
desire. According to Kantianism, the act is wrong because the person doing the
