Ethics is defined as a “process of critically examining what we believe about how human beings should live” (Werner) . In Ethics an ethical theory is used to “investigate and/or explain why a certain action is right or wrong, why we should act in a certain way, or why we should be a certain kind of person. Critically analyze and classify the moral concerns raised by particular issues.” Immigration is a huge ethical issue happening in today's society, it's featured in movies, television shows, social media, and even music. One television show that did a great job examining the ethical issue was the hit television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit is about a group of detectives who solve sexual crimes; many episodes are also based on real-life events. There is an episode in the show, in which an illegal immigrant from Congo witnesses a rape that takes place on the stairs of her apartment. She refuses to testify for fear of returning to Congo, where she and her 5-year-old daughter were brutally raped by rebels, killing her daughter 5 days later due to her injuries. The ethical dilemma arises when immigration agents come to arrest and try to deport the woman to Congo, after being promised by the assistant district attorney that this would not happen. Now we are faced with two groups of people, one of them does not know the situation of the Congolese woman (immigration) and the other who knows her, but has little or no chance of keeping her in the United States. As an audience member, you try to put yourself in the immigration officer's shoes and decide whether to do your job or let her stay here, where she will be safe from rebels in her home country, but may be fired in the process. Using ethical theories such as Immanuel Kant, Js Mill, and Aristotle can help the immigration officer determine the right path to take. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Immanuel Kant's theory is based on a person's character. He feels that certain actions are intrinsically right or wrong. “His emphasis is on the nature of the actions themselves. It is also concerned with motive, since it identifies only one motive as truly moral.” In simpler terms, Kant states “Do the right thing!” Don't think, don't hesitate, don't wonder whether or not you will benefit from doing "the right thing", because if you think or wonder, then your life will be impure and will not make you a moral person. Looking at the situation in Law & Order, the fact that the young woman is, in fact, an illegal immigrant does not take away from the fact that she is still a human being with feelings. The Congolese woman has already suffered enough in her life, especially after losing her daughter to a brutal attack. Since she has lived as a law-abiding citizen, meaning she has a clean criminal record and even helped fight justice by being a witness in a case, her being an illegal immigrant should be looked into and help her become an American instead. "Actions are right in proportion because they tend to promote happiness; wrong because they tend to produce the opposite of happiness. By happiness is meant pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the deprivation of pleasure." Js Mills states that a moral action is one that maximizes utility, or happiness, for the greatest number of people JS Mill would believe that illegal immigrants only do what is necessary to achieve a better life, even if”.
tags