Division Officer Case

After analyzing the case and discussing the tensions with my team’s officer representative, we decided that protecting one’s personal honor and integrity should be what the division officer should focus on the most. Another topic that was brought up was the fact that since the sailors were in school, the blame cannot be put on them for not getting the work that needed to be done completed. Although it is essential to trust the senior enlisted in the division, in the constitutional paradigm mission is placed above the ship. Therefore, siding with the chief and signing off in an area that wasn’t ready could potentially jeopardize the mission if the ship had to be deployed at a moment’s notice. Even though it may not be a popular decision at the …show more content…
From a utilitarian point of view, the best decision would be the one that does the most good for the most amounts of people. If the division officer were to not sign off on the maintenance records, then the whole division would more than likely be reprimanded and given a punishment after the inspection. If the division officer were to follow the chief’s advice and sign off on the work without it being completed, then the inspectors probably wouldn’t notice the items that were not completed, the division would take care of them after the inspection, and no one would be chastised. A downside to this decision is the negative conscience that the division officer may feel for not choosing the morally right action. From this utilitarian perspective, the decision that would benefit the majority and cause pain to the least amount of people would be for the division officer to sign off on the records that the work had been completed. If this action were taken, then the division would benefit by not having to come in on the weekend to finish work that could be put off until after the inspection, and the division officer and chief would not be rebuked by the inspectors and skipper for not completing the work on time. Differing from the utilitarian and Kantian methods of approaching ethical decisions made above, virtue ethics focuses more …show more content…
To begin with, the argument to have the chief sign off even though the work had not been finished did not even consider the fact that that was completely dishonest. Utilitarianism offers the option to lie as long as the greater good still gains the greatest reward. Another flaw in the argument made above, is the assumption that the inspectors would not check to see if the work was actually completed. If this happened, then the division would be penalized, and the division officer would probably be relieved because of his dishonesty. This would be a lose-lose situation that no one would benefit from. The utilitarian argument places a great amount of trust on assumptions that may or may not benefit the greater good. It is important to not heavily rely on assumptions when trying to decide on the best path in a tough