Ethical dilemma:
When to turn a blind eye
July 2005
It's a windy morning in town. Walking down the main street you see that Arnold is sitting in his usual position just outside your local coffee shop. Arnold, who has been blind for several years, has been coming to the same spot every day for the past decade where he sells pens as a way of raising funds for homeless children.
You notice a well-dressed man sitting at one of the coffee shop's outside tables. He fumbles with his wallet as he goes to pay his bill and drops it just as a gust of wind sweeps across the pavement. The breeze picks up a loose twenty-dollar note that has fallen from the wallet. The money hangs in the air for a moment before settling in Arnold's cash box.
Nobody, but you, notices this event.
Specific questions about this issue:
- What if you knew that Arnold had been a convicted paedophile?
- What if you also knew that Arnold had not offended for thirty years?
- What if the man who lost the money is a local Member of Parliament?
Ethical questions:
- What are the issues?
- Who are the stakeholders?
- What should you do?
- What would you do?
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