1. Moral Object, Intention, Circumstances The Three Sources of Moral Decision-Making

2. Lori walks into CVS. She sees a shade of lip gloss that she likes but has no money. So, she puts it in her pocket and walks out of the store without paying for it.  Moral Object?  Stealing.  Intention:  To have and use the lip gloss.

3. Lori walks into CVS with her little sister, who looks up to her and tries to be like her. Lori then sees a shade of lip gloss that she likes but has no money. So, she puts it in her pocket. Her sister says, “Lori, that’s stealing!” Lori responds, “It’s just lip gloss, this store makes lots of money anyway, and I’m worth it.” Her sister takes a tube of lip gloss and puts it in her pocket. “I’m worth it too,” she says.  Moral Object?  Stealing.  Intention:  To have and use the lip gloss.  Circumstances:  Where? In front of her sister.

4. Lori walks into CVS. She sees a bottle of Tylenol, which her little brother needs because he has a fever. She realizes she does not have enough money for it, but does not want to walk all the way back home. So, she puts it in her pocket and walks out of the store without paying.  Moral Object?  Stealing.  Intention:  To ease her brother’s suffering.  Circumstances:  Where? Walking distance from her home.

5. Lori walks into Radio Shack with her friend. According to plan, her friend flirts with the cashier while she grabs two i-pods from behind the counter and escapes. Moral Object?  Stealing.  Intention:  To have and use the i-pods.  Circumstances:  When? After premeditation.  Who? The cashier could be fired.

6. Ralph’s wife is an officer in the naval reserve and has been deployed to Iraq for a year. After missing her for a few months, he concludes that for anyone to expect him to go without sex for so long a period of time is unrealistic. So, one evening he hires a baby sitter and goes to a “swingers club,” and to find a sex partner. He meets a married woman, they like each other, so they spend the night in a motel and have sex. Moral Object?  Adultery.  Intention?  To enjoy sex.  Circumstances?  When? After premeditation.  When? After he and his wife have already had children.  Who? Someone else who is married.

7. Frank’s wife is an officer in the naval reserve and has been deployed to Kuwait for a year. After several months, he feels very much alone. One evening he gets a call from a female co- worker. She is in a panic because her computer is not allowing her to print. She has a report due at work in the morning and may lose her job if she fails to finish it. He goes to her apartment to help. He fixes the computer. She is grateful and begins to pour out her heart to him about her life’s problems. He tells her about his problems. They embrace warmly. Hugging leads to kissing, kissing leads to sex. Moral Object?  Adultery.  Intention?  To enjoy the pleasures and consolations of sex.  Circumstances?  When? Before premeditation.

8. Susan experiences a series of painful losses. Her father dies tragically in a car accident. She becomes depressed and her unsympathetic boss fires her from a job she really likes. She begins to abuse alcohol and drugs. Her friends begin to reject her and her mother throws her out of the house. One day, while walking across a bridge, she decides to jump off and end it all. Moral Object?  Suicide.  Intention?  To end her pain.  Circumstances?  When? Before any planning or premeditation.

9. Janet is wounded in a gang related shooting, in which she sees several people die, including her brother. She is traumatized by the event. She becomes depressed and fails out of college. She begins to abuse alcohol and drugs. One day, in the depths of pain and despair, she begins to hear voices telling her to end it all, and as hard as she tries, she cannot make them stop. Later that day, she jumps off a building, killing herself. Moral Object?  None. Because of her psychological state, she is not acting freely. We cannot judge her action as right or wrong, because she is not acting as a free person at all. She is not morally responsible.

10. Willy’s life is going nowhere, and his wife and children live in poverty. He feels he will never be able to properly support them. Then, his youngest son becomes sick. They do not have money or insurance to pay for his treatments. But Willy knows that he has a life insurance policy worth $300,000. So, he kills himself, making it look like an accident, so his family can afford to live decently and pay for medical care. Moral Object?  Suicide.  Intention?  To give financial support to his family and sick child.  Circumstances?  When? After premeditation.  When? After having children.

11. Jeffery prides himself on being in control. As he approaches age 76, he is beginning to experience memory loss. He starts to tire more easily and feels pain in his knees. He also has greater difficulty reading, the activity he most enjoys. As he reflects on the aging process, he fears the thought of dealing with one physical ailment after another until his body totally breaks down, and he dies. He decides that he would rather take control of the time of his death and depart life while he still has most of his faculties, rather than wait for death to take him. So, he makes arrangement to fly to Switzerland, and leaves a letter for his family, because he does not want them to intervene. Because physician assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, he ends his life there.

12. Moral Object?  Suicide.  Intention?  To control the time and circumstances of his death.  Circumstances?  When? After a great deal of premeditation.  When? Before he has spoken to his family and said goodbye.  Who? Whom is he related to? Whom is he leaving behind?

13. Herbert is looking forward to Friday night, because he will attend a celebratory event which will include the consumption of alcoholic beverages (in other words, a drinking party). He is looking forward to having a good time and getting himself drunk. During the party, he drinks, loses self control, and eventually passes out. Moral Object?  Getting drunk.  Intention?  To enjoy the experience of getting drunk, or the experiences he will have once he is drunk.  Circumstances:  When? After planning and premeditation.  Where? Is he causing scandal by doing this in front of other students?  Where? A party, at which he could hurt people or be victimized.

14.  Gerald does not find Amelia attractive, but she likes him. Knowing this, he invites her over his house, because he wants her to do his chemistry homework for him.  Moral Object?  Welcoming a guest to his home  Intention?  To use her to do his homework.  Circumstances?  Who? If she is an insecure person, she will be hurt more deeply when she finds out his true intentions.

15.  Romo, a college student, has a ten page paper due in two days, and has not started it yet. He had planned to buy one on the internet, but he maxed out his credit card. That evening, he is in the library, and sees a student, Joseph, in the same class. The student gets up from his desk, and goes into the bathroom. Romo quickly goes over to the laptop on the desk. He copies the other student’s paper onto his flash drive, then erases it from the laptop. He then prints it that evening, and hands it in as his own. Joseph tries to explain to the professor that someone must have stolen his paper, but the professor says, “Yes, I guess your dog deleted it,” and does not believe him.  Moral object?  Lying, stealing (intellectual property)  Intention?  To get a good grade.  Circumstances?  How: in a way that hurt another student.

16. Sheila goes to a party. She does not want to drink, so she gets a coke. When she is not looking, a boys slips a drug into her drink. After she looses consciousness, he takes her in a nearby room and has sex with her. Moral Object?  None. It is wrong to have sex outside of marriage, but she did not do this freely. She was a victim. It is not a “human act.” She is not morally responsible.

17. Joey is at lunch in school. He has not brought a lunch with him and has no money, because his family cannot afford it. While sitting in the cafeteria, he sees another student get up to buy a drink, so he sneaks over to his table, takes his lunch, and eats it, pretending it is his own. Moral object? Stealing. Intention? To satisfy his hunger. Circumstances ? How? In a way that will cause someone else to go hungry.

18. A doctor is researching a cure for AIDS. He gets a job in a prison, caring for prisoners on death row. Telling them he is giving them a flu shot, he injects them with the AIDS virus, and when it has built up to a certain level, he gives them a cure, telling them it is a vitamin injection. He monitors their blood to see how the cure works. None of them will develop symptoms. All of them will be executed before they even know they have AIDS Moral object? Non-consensual human experimentation. Intention? To find a cure for AIDS. Circumstances? How: if one of them is exonerated, he will have AIDS IS THIS MORAL? NO! The end does not justify the means.

19. Mrs. Jones walked to her daughter’s school to bring her home. Her daughter was waiting for her on the steps of the front entrance. But next to her was a strange man, who was talking to her and giving her a candy bar. She was filled with terror, and memories about a childhood friend being kidnapped flooded back into her mind. “Excuse me!” Mrs. Jones said as she grabbed the candy bar and threw it at the man. “My daughter does not take gifts from strangers.” She took her daughter’s hand and practically dragged her home. When they got there, she said to her daughter, “I’ll teach you never to take candy from strangers!” She turned on the stove and made her daughter hold her hand over it until she screamed in pain. Moral object: child abuse. Intention: to protect her child from strangers. Circumstances: How? In a way that could cause serious damage. THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS.

20.  Janice is having lunch with her boyfriend Steve. She’s nervous. “Steve,” she begins, “ You are a really awesome guy, and we’ve had some great times together.” Now it’s Steve’s turn to get nervous.  “Jan, what are you trying to say?”  “I met someone else, and we want to start talking, but I told him I couldn’t because I have a boyfriend.”  “Yeah you got that right! I thought we were together forever! Who is he? I’ll punch his lights out!”  “Don’t!” pleaded Janice. “It’s Craig.”

21.  “What? My best friend? You’ve been messing with my best friend behind my back?” Steve was standing and yelling.  “No!” insisted Janice. “We would never do anything behind your back. We’ve just been getting closer from all of us in our crew hanging out together. We decided that we would NOT go behind your back. That’s why I’m telling you up front now.”  “I can’t believe my best friend and girlfriend would do this to me!” Steve said. “Fine! I don’t need back-stabbers in my life!”  Janice felt horrible, but not regretful. “I’m sorry. We never meant to hurt you. But you and I can’t seem to stop fighting. Craig and I can talk things out, and he makes me feel respected. I don’t know what else to say. I hope you find someone.”