In January 2016, Volkswagen engineer named James Robert Liang pleaded guilty of fraud in the United States. He helped in the development of a special kind of engine called “clean diesel” that was used to cheat on the emission tests of the car. The engine was software engineered to detect when it was being tested for the emission and changes the engine to a low-emission mode. Whereas in practice, these Volkswagen cars could output forty times the amount of pollution recommended by the U.S. Emissions. One of the driving forces of the decision was the fact that they weren’t able to design an engine that would meet the U.S. emission standards while also satisfy its customers. As a result, Volkswagen has decided to agree to pay $15.3 billion in civil penalties and allow Volkswagen customers to buy Perceived from Kant’s theory, this desire to commit fraud is surely not a good universal maxim. If committing fraud is universally accepted in this world, communication and interaction between people would collapse. Furthermore, judging from his decision, it determines that Liang treats Volkswagen customers as a mere means to an end instead of as an end in itself. Liang didn’t care about the health of the customers, instead he just focuses on them being someone who would buy the car. Additionally, In Kant’s theory, the principle of autonomy is also important. It focuses on the idea that we need to act according to the principles that expresses autonomy of the rational will, meaning that we should act according to our own moral law rather than the law created by other people. This example would be really suitable as an example for the engineers that follows Liang’s instructions. If the software engineers feel that it is immorally incorrect to commit the fraud but still do it, it is unethical in Kant’s theory of autonomy as they are acting not by his/her own moral
Increasing environmental awareness, coupled with a responsible American government and improved technology, have all contributed to the comeback of low-and zero-emissions vehicles in the US. It remains to be seen whether the automakers and oil companies will once again work to halt this progress, or embrace it as the technology of a more responsible future.
...l sources of utility or consequences, but about his moral identity and integrity. Jim is presented with a situation that challenges to who he is, and not just simply what he should do. Granted, is tricky to decide on the “right” action in this case because by not partaking in the deal, Jim is staying true to his personal moral beliefs; yet he is still left with the burden of knowing that all twenty of the Indians would be killed without his interference. One could also argue that Jim would only be contributing to the problem if he too committed such acts against these innocent people and it is his duty as a moral being to not partake. It seems that Kant’s theory passes the standard of internal support and explanatory power. This is because his principles are able to fit with considered moral beliefs and are able to help individuals identify a right and wrong action.
On one of the article was the discussions about the act of dishonesty itself, and how the losses due to the cheating of the emission test stood up to losses incurred by other related problems. The writer also included the financial burden the cheating
Many great philosophers have attempted to tackle the issue of ethics and, consequently, have come up with various ethical theories in order to define ethical and moral situations. In this paper, I will be summarizing a scene from the 2004, Academy Award winning film, Crash, and further analyzing it in terms of the ethical theories of Immanuel Kant. In terms of this scene, I will be arguing that Kant’s ethical theory provides a satisfactory analysis of its ethicality.
As Sam Duncan wrote “Kant equates morality with acting freely. When we act on the moral law, we act independently of any impulse…” We all know crimes such as murder or stealing are morally wrong, but it is the decision we chose to make as we are faced with the dilemma of acting on a good or bad decision. No one else is to blame at that particular moment since it is the individual right then and there doing good or
In this essay I will use ethical framework such as Kantian deontology and Kantian ethical theory along with key principles to argue the reason for my decision whilst justifying my decision.
After all, Kant’s theories rely on his depiction of humans as being rational beings that possess a will and are both influenced by emotions and inclinations. With reason, one is able to discover the principles provided by necessary, obligatory, and universal moral laws “a priori,” with which it is one’s duty to act out of reverence for. Yet, while reason determines the will, or the “power of determining oneself to action,” the inclinations may lead one to falter. Thus, it is when a person acts from their duty as a result of a good will, as my mother does when she donates to charity, that they perform moral acts. When one fails to have the proper action or motivation, like when my roommates stole silverware, one’s will has been influenced by another inclination besides duty. Consequently, all humans possess the same rational capacity and principles of law and duty, but it is simply the effect of inclinations and emotions on the will that creates
Kant’s moral philosophy is built around the formal principles of ethics rather than substantive human goods. He begins by outlining the principles of reasoning that can be equally expected of all rational persons regardless of their individual desires or partial interests. It creates an ideal universal community of rational individuals who can collectively agree on the moral principles for guiding equality and autonomy. This is what forms the basis for contemporary human rig...
The Utilitarian moral perspective and Kant’s moral perspective offer fundamentally contrasting ethical philosophies based on the theoretical reasoning behind choosing a particular action. One difference between these theories is that Kantianism focuses on the intentions and moral obligation behind our actions, while Utilitarians emphasize on the consequences of our actions. According to Kant, one should act according to a maxim or personal principle that guides decisions. These intentions propose rules to oneself when deciding what to do (p.127, Weston). To test if one’s motives are ethical, they must decide if this is a rule that they would want everyone else to follow. Utilitarians deem an act unethical based on the
The Volkswagen emissions scandal is a series of choices made by the company and the people employed by Volkswagen to install a "cheat" button to alter the amount of emissions produced only under testing situations. Ordinarily, all vehicles on the road that run off of gasoline have a set about of CO2 and other harmful emissions produced by the burning of gasoline. Violation of these rules can result in fines and recalls. Due to an increased attention on car companies to fight global warming and air pollution a number of emissions have lowered in the over the year for tighter regulation on the amount of CO2 produced. Consequently, this reduction in the amount of CO2 produced is the source of the scandal. This change may come across as minor,
In 2014, researchers from West Virginia found out that recent models of Volkswagen vehicles were emitting up to 40 times the allowed levels of nitrogen oxides (2). These vehicles had a special software that would determine when the vehicle was in laboratory testing conditions, and the software would then alter the vehicle 's functionality to emit the legal amount of nitrogen oxides allowed by the EPA. The software was found in around half a million vehicles in the United States. In addition to the bad publicity, the Volkswagen scandal will cost the company at least $15.3 billion dollars in compensation to the owners of the affected vehicles (3). In 2016, Volkswagen engineer James Liang pleaded guilty for being a crucial part in developing the illegal software (3). The software was created because Volkswagen was unable to meet the rigorous EPA emission standards. Therefore, a small team of engineers including James Liang decided to cheat the emission exams to allow Volkswagen vehicles to be sold in the U.S.
Ethics can be defined as "the conscious reflection on our moral beliefs with the aim of improving, extending or refining those beliefs in some way." (Dodds, Lecture 2) Kantian moral theory and Utilitarianism are two theories that attempt to answer the ethical nature of human beings. This paper will attempt to explain how and why Kantian moral theory and Utilitarianism differ as well as discuss why I believe Kant's theory provides a more plausible account of ethics.
Last Sunday, the company’s then CEO, Martin Winterkorn, issued a brief statement declaring that the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG “takes these findings very seriously.” The findings revealed that the automaker used “defeat devices” to fool emissions testing, effectively concealing the reality that certain cars spew emissions some 10 to 40 times the legal limit.
Fraud in a very general term is the crime of deceiving a person in order to get them to give up something in value, usually money and usually to the criminal himself or a group of criminals. This paper will be discussing cybercrime fraud, specifically cybercrime auto fraud, the type of scams associated with cybercrime auto fraud, the criminal profile of a cybercriminal fraud, law enforcement initiatives to combat this type of fraud and the penalties that go along with committing this type of fraud.
In addition to the concerns about car manufacturing and driving, we should also consider the impact of construction areas where new houses are being built, with many truck with loads going across the country. This is an important contribution to pollution, which creates both air and noise pollution. Japan and Europe auto manufacturing based in US has recently involved activities to improve fuel efficiency of their vehicles. The European car makers planned to design a new engine and at same time to develop long distance vehicles. The autos made in Europe, for example Daimler Chrysler, recently came out with a new product which is a vehicle with 3 liters per hour, and also a diesel engine, which consumes 3.4 liters of fuel per 100 With this new idea both the auto makers and their suppliers have created a centralized body of authority in order to promote this increasing environmental issue to all under the protection of USCAR (United states council for automobile research) and in addition (USAMPILCA)