Logic and reasoning - Essay Example

? Logic and Reasoning                   Fallacies Involved in the Manager’s Thinking Based on the given situation, the supervisor’s decision to call the plant manager first and tell him about the injured factory worker before deciding to call 911 is actually filled with a number of fallacies. Firstly, he commits the fallacy of argumentum ex silencio, or the appeal to ignorance (Walker, 1997). He does so when, despite the seeming urgency of the situation, he somehow assumes that nobody can exactly determine the degree of this urgency and thus decides to call his boss. From the fallacious point of view of the supervisor, there is actually no evidence that the injured factory worker is indeed dying, although the latter appears in a seriously bad shape. If he did not commit this fallacy, he would decide to call 911 right away to have a medical professional EXACTLY determine the condition of the patient. Furthermore, although a doctor can exactly pinpoint which diseases are a matter of life and death, there is still always some truth in human judgment. Another fallacy that he commits is argumentum ad verecundiam, or the argument from authority (Walker, 1997). This is evident from the fact that he bases his decision to call the plant manager, not on the logic of the situation or on the evidence that supposes the urgency of the case, but on the company policy that one has to call the boss first before calling 911 – regardless of the situation. If he did not commit this fallacy, he would act on the logic of the evidence first instead of blindly following authority. A third fallacy that he commits is the slippery slope, or believing that a change in the procedure will result in otherwise adverse circumstances (Walker, 1997). The supervisor’s decision to call the plant manager may actually be a response to the suggestions of the other factory workers that one should call 911. The supervisor may think that calling 911 would be a grave violation of company policy and therefore simply decides not to violate it and thus goes on to dial the plant manager’s number. Inductive Argument In such a case, the inductive argument one should make goes like: “If anyone hurt and bleeding badly is left in such a situation for a long time, he almost always dies.” Now, “if a fellow employee is hurt and bleeding badly and is made to wait while the supervisor tries to contact the plant manager and while others cannot do anything nor call 911, the injured employee will also most likely die.” The conclusion, based on the two aforementioned premises is that, “One therefore has to take action.” This action, specifically, means calling 911 as soon as possible, without having to call the plant manager. The patient is on the brink of death and calling the plant manager certainly cannot help him, while calling 911 may be able to save his life. The inductive argument does not necessarily require the exact truth of the premises to prove the conclusion, but nonetheless maintains that the seeming truth of the premises provides “a good reason” to arrive at such a conclusion (“Deductive and Inductive,” IEP, 2003). Nevertheless, in the present scenario, no one can prove the degree of injury of the man – whether it will lead to death or not – unless he dies. Therefore, one is made to use inductive argument to at least arrive at the conclusion that he should get help ASAP, based on the unconfirmed but seemingly real premise that he is about to die. Ethics, Virtue Ethics, Deontological Ethics, and Utilitarianism The situation concerning the injured employee and the rightness or wrongness of the supervisor’s decision to call the plant manager is an ethical dilemma, or a question of ethics. Ethics is the “study of concepts involved in practical reasoning” and is the branch of philosophy that deals with “good, right, duty, obligation, virtue [and] freedom” (Oxford Dictionary, 2005). Moreover, ethics is used to find answers to questions that involve moral issues, such as in the present case where there is a seemingly urgent situation that calls for saving a person’s life but where someone decides to abide by the rules or company policy instead. Three of the branches of ethics include virtue ethics, deontological ethics, and utilitarian ethics. Virtue Ethics deals with ethical decisions made based on one’s character (Oxford Companion to Philosophy, n.d.). In the present scenario, the basis of the employees’ concern over the injured fellow worker’s condition somehow stems from the idea of virtue. Kindness and compassion are clearly two of their virtues, and obviously they are showing their concern not because of a rule or any other ulterior motive but because of their virtues. Virtue somehow is sufficient unto itself. Deontological ethics, on the other hand, seems to be the supervisor’s own philosophical stance and the basis for his decision to call the plant manager first before calling 911, no matter how urgent the situation is. Deontological ethics is “rule based” (Oxford Companion to Philosophy, n.d.). One therefore has to follow the rule first regardless of the circumstances. Nevertheless, deontological ethics is more like a question of “What rule should I follow?” rather than a direct command to follow this and only this rule and nothing else (Oxford Companion to Philosophy, n.d.). Utilitarian ethics differs from virtue and deontological ethics in that the former is based on the consequences of an action, or “How useful is a course of action?” (Oxford Companion to Philosophy, n.d.). In the present case, although calling 911 before calling the plant manager is clearly a violation of company policy, one who subscribes to utilitarian ethics would still think that this would be the best course of action to all parties concerned. Calling 911 may be a direct violation of a rule and may cost the supervisor and the manager (me), our jobs. Nevertheless, at least for the employees and for me, calling 911 would somehow produce the best possible result, which is the survival of the injured employee. This somehow implies that, in the present scenario, the choice of having to follow the rule, or calling the boss first, is not as useful as the decision to call 911 first. The utilitarian may even sarcastically ask, “What if the injured employee dies? Should obedience to company policy justify his death?” or “Which is more important here – the employee’s life or the company policy?” Some may even ask, “If the rule is indeed violated, will this violation cause a greater harm to everyone concerned compared to the harm done to the employee if he dies?” Therefore, as I see it, utilitarian ethics is the most applicable in this scenario, on the basis that human life is considered more valuable than a rule. Revised Code in the Employee Handbook Using the principles of utilitarian ethics as a guiding principle, the employee handbook should be amended concerning the appropriate action in this particular situation. Knowing that the policy when it comes to emergencies is to contact the plant manager first before calling 911, one should therefore slightly amend this rule by enumerating a few instances where the manager or the supervisor on sight should at least have the authority whether to breach the rule or not. The fact that the manager or supervisor holds their positions somehow implies that they are both trusted by the company and are expected to make sound judgment about things, such as the present situation. The manager and the supervisor, therefore, must be given the temporal authority to judge a situation as urgent and to call 911 first before calling the plant manager. The amended code may go like this: “In any case where a physical injury or any form of emergency happens within the company premises, the supervisor, the manager or any worker is expected to contact the plant manager first before making any outside phone calls. However, the supervisor or manager MAY, before calling the plant manager, make an urgently necessary call to 911 or the police in AND ONLY IN such cases: (1) Where the injury involves profuse bleeding and considerable pain that clearly warrant medical assistance, based on the supervisor’s or the manager’s own judgment; and (2) Where company facilities and first aid cannot possibly fulfill the required medical assistance for such an injury or emergency.” Personal Ethical Dilemma An ethical dilemma, such as the present scenario, can somehow be solved by utilitarian ethics, upon which the amended code stated above is based. Another example of an ethical dilemma similar to this one was the one I personally experienced in real life. There was this girl in class who I really liked and instantly became friends with. She would usually give me advice about my personal problems and the fact that I would confide to her has definitely made our friendship very strong. The problem was that one day she told me that her father had this financial problem that required an amount that roughly equaled my allowance for the month. My own personal rule during that time was never to share my money with anyone, just like how both of my parents would usually remind me. Nevertheless, after weighing things, I decided to lend around 90% of my allowance to her for her father’s financial problem. I thought that our friendship mattered more than the money, and that if I had not lent her the amount, it would have had some serious consequences on the friendship that we have shared for some time. I had to disobey my own rules and my parents’ too simply for the promise of a greater happiness with my friend. I cannot remember how I got by that month without my allowance, but the sacrifice was indeed worth it. References Deductive and Inductive Arguments. (2003). Retrieved July 27, 2011 from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www.iep.utm.edu/ded-ind/ Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. (2005). Ed. Simon Blackburn. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 65-67. Trefil, J. & Hazen, R. M. (2010). Oxford Companion to Philosophy: Ethics and Morality. 2nd ed. Ed. Ted Honderich. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 65-67. Walker, J. (1997). List of Common Fallacies. Retrieved July 27, 2011 from NoBeliefs.com for Freethinkers: http://nobeliefs.com/fallacies.htm Read More