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  • Essay / Analysis of the Transcanada case in terms of moral theory and Kant's utilitarian perspective

    When Evan Vokes, an engineer by training, started working for TransCanada in 2007, he realized that there was some problems in his employer's work ethic and quickly discovered himself in a moral struggle. TransCanada is one of the largest oil and gas infrastructure companies in North America. There are federal regulations on welding procedures and testing of pipelines. Vokes found that there were no records of welding procedures and no tests had been documented. After research, he found that the welds did not meet federal regulations. This means not only was TransCanada ignoring the law, but also the risk of pipeline ruptures and potential explosions. This could have caused a lot of physical damage, but also endangered the environment and many lives. Engineers are trained not to harm the public but rather promote the welfare of the public. This struggle will be discussed in the following paragraphs. Did Vokes make the right choice in becoming a whistleblower? We will examine the situation from a Kantian and utilitarian point of view. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Kant's moral theory is based on four main parts: will, duty, maxim, and categorical imperative. These four elements guide you in deciding whether an act is morally right or not. Its main idea is that any act is morally right if it was done with good intentions. We must define the duty in order to conclude the Will. Will helps in finding the right decision, duty should be universal while maxim is a subjective principle that dictates how you should behave, as an example here the law of engineering could be the maxim. The categorical imperative is a tool that can be used to test whether a personal moral principle or your maxim is right. Will or intentions are good if they can be universalized, if they do not put anyone as a means to an end, meaning that a person would be used as a mere tool and everyone's autonomy remains intact. Finally, the conditions of any situation matter little to Kant; as long as the four parts mentioned above are satisfied and autonomy is respected, the means to an end are not enforceable, and the duty is universal, any act is morally right. Duty in the case of Evan Vokes can be defined as follows: I see a problem, which is non-compliance with welding procedures and my will is to tell myself that it is my duty to prevent this from happening. produce. Therefore, I must go public and report the issues to the appropriate authorities. From the outset, we can say according to Kant that this solution is false because the universality of duty is not fulfilled. Supervisors and even the CEO repeatedly gave Mr. Vokes instructions and cues to stop investigating and follow their orders. He confirmed this in an interview he gave in 2017: “More than once, my manager told me how disappointed he was with my performance because I wasn't doing what I was told ". They told you to ignore your conscience? “They were telling me to ignore the law of engineering.” This quote shows that he was told directly that they were unhappy with him, but he is referring to engineering law and that it is his duty to live up to it. Furthermore, the autonomy of colleagues and their superiors is threatened since the information made public could.