Under deontology, however, choices are morally required, forbidden or permitted. For Danny, the dilemma is that the two choices he has identified are both forbidden by law. The third option - to be an internal whistleblower - is permitted. Indeed, it is morally required, because it is part of his duty to the taxpayers. Even if he were to suffer adverse consequences (i.e. If there was no whistleblower protection) he would still be obligated to blow the whistle on the fraud internally, such that national security would also be preserved.
5) the most ethical decision is to go above or around his supervisors through official or unofficial channels.
He should be a whistleblower, but his duty to national security demands that he not go through Cross for this. He may face sanction from his superiors, but he has protection under the law as a result of his obligation to identify such frauds.
6) There are possible arguments against this. One I that under consequentialist thinking, the consequences of a breach in national security are likely far worse than the consequences of the fraud, so therefore Danny should not blow the whistle in any form, since the consequences would be best, on balance, for all stakeholders combined. Another potential argument is that Danny only has a duty to do the best within the confines of his job. The limits to his duty to the taxpayers are...
Thus, he if they forbid him from addressing the fraud, then he is forbidden.
7) This process taught me that there are always choices that are not immediately evident. Moral dilemmas often stem from artificial restrictions on decision-making. When each philosophical outlook is considered, we find a wider range of possibility opens up, and ultimately this provides us with more options for resolution.
Works Cited
Whitaker, L. Paige. (2007). The Whistleblower Protection Act: An Overview. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved March 21, 2009 at http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33918.pdf
Trochim, William M.K. (2006). Deduction & Induction. Social Research Methods. Retrieved March 21, 2009 at http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/dedind.php
Mautner, Thomas. (no date). Rule-Utilitarianism. Utilitrianism.com. Retrieved March 21, 2009 at http://www.utilitarianism.com/ruleutil.htm
Edmonds, Sibel. (2007). Government Reveals its own Abuse of State Secrets Privilege. National Security Whistleblowers Coalition. Retrieved March 21, 2009 at http://www.nswbc.org/Press%20Releases/Press%20Release-Aug-23-07.htm
Hanson, Kirk & Ceppos, John. (2006). The Ethics of Leaks. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Retrieved March 21, 2009 at http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/ethicalperspectives/leaks.html
