Edward Snowden Unethical Essay

Edward Joseph Snowden is a young American computer scientist and was formally employed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that was until Snowden leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) without any authorization. This moral dilemma had many Americans wondering, is Snowden a hero, a patriot, a whistleblower, a rebel, or a traitor? His actions have driven much controversy over mass surveillance, government secrecy, and the balance between national security and information privacy. Philosophers that we have read, discussed, and studied this semester have provided us with detailed ideas, thoughts, and beliefs that pertain to Snowden’s case specifically. Plato’s views on government give a support to Snowden’s reasoning, but Pinker explains moral dilemmas

From reading Snowden’s case and conducting further research on the issue, my ability to understand and decide whether his actions were for the “greater good” are hard to depict without knowing what he actually revealed. But how do we punish those who have committed unethical actions? This is an ethical issue pertaining to how people want Snowden to be justified by his actions.

The first title many have related to Snowden is a whistleblower, and they are partially correct. A whistleblower as I have recently learned is a person who exposes any kind of evidence, whether it is information or activities, that appears to be either illegal, unethical, or not permitted within an organization that is either private or public. The information of suspected wrongdoing can be classified in many ways: violation of company policy/rules, law, regulation, or threat to public interest/national security, as well as fraud, and corruption (Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary, 2016). A whistleblower can choose to bring information or allegations to surface either internally or externally. Internally, a whistleblower can bring one’s accusations to the attention of other people within the