Ethical dilemma:
Sport and gaining a competitive edge
June 2004
You belong to a sports team that last won a premiership in 1958. You were once one of the team’s best players, however, younger players are pressing to occupy your position in the side. If you don’t perform strongly in the first part of the season, then you will probably be dropped.
The good news is that, while enjoying a recent trip to the remote Republic of Sportiskan, you discovered that local scientists had accidentally discovered an incredible new experimental compound that acts like a kind of super-spring. On a hunch, you have added the compound to your sports shoes.
Now, you run like the wind. When you jump, you almost seem to fly. People are amazed at the change, but you keep your secret safe and explain that you are merely reaping the benefits of a strict new training regime.
As a result of your improved performance, the team is now winning games that it used to lose.
Questions about this situation:
- Do these shoes represent an unfair advantage for you or for your team?
- Would it make any difference if these shoes were being made by child labour?
- Would it make any difference if the superior performance could only be obtained by taking a dose of a newly developed ‘natural substance’ distilled from the seeds of a tree?
- What if the tree were an endangered species and the system of preparing the ‘drug’ eliminated its capacity to reproduce?
Ethical questions:
- What are the issues?
- Who are the stakeholders?
- What should you do?
- What would you do?
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