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A QUESTION OF NAMING NAMES

In early October 2003, the Washington Post reported the situation in which a Central Intelligence Agency operative was publicly identified to the press by someone connected with the Bush Administration to undercut the credibility of the operative's husband who publicly challenged the veracity of official public statements issued in the name of the President (Kurtz, 2003). In relation to the content of the article, this essay assesses the following question: Should Justice Department investigators seek to subpoena the journalists who know the identity of the leakers? In assessing this question, the ethical theories of (a) utilitarianism, (b) moral rights, and (c) virtue are considered.

Each body of ethics theory considered ù utilitarian, moral rights, and virtue ù approach the assessment of actions from a different basis. Effectively, these bases are as follows:

Utilitarian theory approaches the assessment of an action from the basis of the consequences of the outcome of the action

Moral rights theory approaches the assessment of an action from the basis of whether the action follows from a relevant right or rights without impinging on the right or rights of another person

Virtue theory approaches the assessment of an action from the basis of the character of the person taking the action

When answering the question of what actions the Justice Department should take based on the precepts of each of the ethical theories, one must accept the reality that such an exercise cannot be free of the personal judgment of the assessor. With that disclaimer in place, the three ethical theories might answer the question as follows:

1. Proceeding from a utilitarian perspective, the Justice Department could justify seeking a subpoena through a contention that the consequences of such an action would benefit a wider body of society than would benefit if no subpoena were sought. In this particular case, however, th

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A QUESTION OF NAMING NAMES. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 14:18, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1706803.html