Responsibility and Blame in a Moral Scenario Analysis

Overview of the Scenario

The scenario involves Kim, a college student whose paper must be handed in by precisely 12:00 noon or she will receive a failing grade for the entire course. Kim's husband Arnold becomes jealous and suspicious of her college life due to teasing from his friend Phillip, creating emotional stress at home. Despite this, Kim manages to complete the paper a day ahead of schedule and heads to the bus stop to deliver it to her professor in person. Her friends from school drive by and take her partying instead, and Kim does not arrive home until late that night.

In the morning, she is unable to get the car keys from her angry husband, leaving her with little time to reach campus. A phone call to the professor's secretary leads Kim to believe she has enough time to take the bus and arrive only slightly late. She submits the paper at 12:15 — fifteen minutes after the deadline. The professor gives Kim an "F" for the course. The question this scenario raises is how moral responsibility for that grade should be distributed among the various parties involved.

Professor's Responsibility for the Grading Policy

As the final arbiter of the grade, the professor bears the greatest responsibility for Kim's failing mark. It is true that Kim could have made better choices at several points in the story, and she does bear significant responsibility as well. However, it is the professor's policy that makes an entire course's grade dependent on a single deadline, which is an extreme standard even if it falls within the bounds of her academic discretion.

While the professor is not responsible in any way for the paper being late, she is entirely responsible for the decision to give Kim an "F." There are always real human problems that may prevent someone from meeting a deadline — car trouble, sick children, and a wide range of other unforeseeable circumstances entirely outside a student's control. Though Kim could have made better choices, a policy that completely disregards an entire semester's worth of academic performance in response to a fifteen-minute delay is disproportionate. The professor's rigid all-or-nothing rule, and her choice to enforce it without exception, places the greatest share of moral responsibility on her shoulders. For an overview of how academic grading policies function in the United States, the range of institutional approaches highlights how unusual such absolute policies can be.

Conclusion: Distributing Moral Blame

As the creator of the grading policy and the last avenue of appeal, the professor bears the most responsibility for Kim's "F." As a completely disinterested party with no control over the situation, Phillip bears no responsibility at all. Kim bears nearly as much responsibility as the professor, since it was Kim's own choices that caused the paper to be submitted late. Some of this blame also belongs to Cindy for not bringing Kim home when asked, to Arnold for withholding the car keys, and to the secretary for providing misleading reassurance about the deadline. Responsibility in this scenario is distributed across multiple parties, but the greatest share rests with the professor, whose inflexible policy transformed a fifteen-minute delay into a course-failing outcome.