Essay Sample on Newspaper Article Project

Moral controversy also known as a moral conflict is a state of disagreement about moral issues or policies affecting people which causes strong feelings among them. People in any given society are guided by rules and morals set to ensure that people live in harmony with one another. Without set morals, there would not be peace in society as people would interfere with the rights and freedom of others (Mizzoni, 2010). In modern societies, there are cases of moral controversy and the following example will shed light on moral controversy based on a story of Jamie Gamble published in the New York Times. Divine Command Theory and Natural law theory are going to be used to derive conclusions and suggestions based on the framework.

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The story is about an Ex-corporate Layer named Jamie Gamble who spend his entire professional life working at Simpson Thatcher and Barlett law firm. The law firm is a well-established law firm that has served major companies in the United States of America such as Facebook, Google, general motors, JP Morgan among others. For years the company has built its reputation to win trust securing multi-billion contracts from different institutions, organizations, and companies. He also worked as a long-serving lawyer for the Giant American International Group (AIG) insurance company. He worked with Richard who by then was the chairman of Simpson Thatcher law firm where together successfully advised AIG wisely while it was facing a major crisis.

Jamie Gamble retired from work and started a new life running a private law firm. After retirement, Jamie analyzed his entire career life working for various companies and came published a novel that drew attention from many. In his article as reported by the New York Times newspaper, he claimed that his employers acted as sociopaths. Employers always pushed and supported what could make money for them irrespective of its repercussions on the society. Making profit was usually their main goal regardless of the harm that could cause to employees or even the community.

Corporate systems are made up of the most powerful people in the world who in one way or the other control the economy of their respective countries. He claimed that, based on his experience working in the law firm, American corporative organizations are made up of a horrible complex network of the morally controversial system of employment. This system is of immoral employers who are only concerned about making a profit in which they may end up as oppressors, violating human rights at their expense. The issue has gained another momentum after being put forward by Jamie Gamble. Governmental and non-governmental organizations have shown their interest in protecting the rights of people from this sort of employment system. (Mizzoni, 2010).

Mr. Gamble said that he does not blame his former employers in any way, but instead blames the law which should be protecting the citizens. He suggests a new governance rule which he believes will solve this growing immorality within corporate America. On the other hand, he also believes that his suggested governance rule won't sound well to the corporate executives who believe that it will limit them to making more profits. He suggests that a set of ethical rules or laws should be devised and made to be part of the corporate bylaws. The respective firms will be expected to adhere to the rules and in case any of the stakeholders or employer breaks the rules, he should be charged for that. This will allow for human rights activists to step in and ensure that the problem is cubed to the latter.

Divine Command Theory

Devine command theory claims moral obligations as obedience to the commandments of God as outlined in the religious doctrines and teachings. It assumes the existence of a Devine supernatural being (God) who is righteous and holy. He is holy, He expects us to live a righteous life, to obey His commandments all the time by doing good to others. It claims that morality is based on God's nature and character and that what is right to us human beings is what He commands us to do. Views and contents of the Devine command theory vary depending on religious teachings from different religions and also based on the different philosophers' views concerning the theory (Terris, 2013). Despite all these differences in how the theory is perceived by different people from different backgrounds, one thing shared in common is that moral obligations depend on God.

For years, Divine command theory has remained controversial and received criticism from different philosophers such as Plato, Mackie and Kai Nielson. On the other hand, Philip Quinn, Thomas Aquinas, and Robert Adams have consistently shown support and recognizable contribution to the Divine command theory (Mizzoni, 2010). Devine theory helps us to understand the role of religion in society as well as understanding moral deliberation. It forms the basis of understanding the connection between ethics and religion.

Immanuel Kante, a famous philosopher and an advocate for this theory claims that faith in God and the afterlife is a basic requirement. According to him, we must believe in the existence of God for which without doing that, morality would be unbearable for human beings. In his view, God would help people satisfy the requirements or needs for living a morally upright life. Being morally upright does not guarantee one a happy life but one has to believe that God will reward happiness to those who are righteous (Singer, 2013). Devine command provides a metamorphic foundation in which morality can be based on.

We can use the Divine Command Theory to analyze and conclude the story of Jamie Gamble discussed in the previous part. The theory presents morality as related to the observation of God's commandment (Mizzoni, 2010). In this case, corporate stakeholders are presented as individuals with bad morals as their deed contradict the commandments of God. God commands us to respect one another and not to use other weaknesses to our advantage. Corporate leaders are presented as people who are not concerned about their employee's welfare and personal rights. They are just out to reap more profits in their firms and organizations at the expense of others (Mizzoni, 2010). We can conclude based on the theory that; these corporate leaders are wicked and immoral.

Natural Law Moral Theory

The natural law of moral is associated with an ancient philosopher Aristotle who claimed that despite all the laws that people set for themselves which is different from one place to another, a more natural law according to nature exists which remains common among them. This is the natural law of nature. According to this law, moral standards and morality are based on the nature of the world we live in and also the nature of people. It is also referred to as the moral theory or jurisprudence. It is based on what is right or wrong.it is discovered by human beings through their reasoning on what is right or wrong concerning a certain issue (Duke & George, 2017).

Christians associate the natural law to the humankind pre-fall in the Garden of Eden as depicted in the Holy Bible. The man was thereafter unable to live without salvation through Christ and also through the divine law. According to Ancient philosopher, Gratian, natural law is what is contained in the teachings of the Bible. He states that the law instructs people to do to others what they would like others to do to them. Anything that is not good for you should not be done by you to another person. He insisted on doing good things that could promote morals in society (Murphy, 2007).

Natural law can be used to draw the following from Gamble's story: cooperate stakeholders do not abide by the law of nature which requires people to treat others well. They infringe on other human beings' rights which is against the bible teachings. According to Philosopher Gratian, people in authority should treat well people under them. They should protect their interests and help promote their living standards (Duke & George, 2017).

Both theories share a lot in common for instance, they all draw their basis from the Bible where God is termed as good and so expects us to live well with others. Both emphasize on respecting the rights of others (Duke & George, 2017). They help us resolve to a similar conclusion about the case of mistreatment by co-operating leaders or stakeholders as exposed by the New York Times newspaper.

References

Duke, G., & George, R. P. (2017). The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Jurisprudence. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Idziak, J. M. (2015). Divine Command Morality: Historical and Contemporary Readings.

Mizzoni, J. (2010). Ethics: The Basics. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Murphy, M. C. (2007). Natural Law and Practical Rationality. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Singer, P. (2013). A Companion to Ethics. John Wiley & Sons.

Terris, D. (2013). Ethics at Work: Creating Virtue at an American Corporation. Lebanon, NH: UPNE.

Timmons, M. (2005). Moral Theory: An Introduction. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.