Self-study
Ethicist: In a recent judicial decision, a contractor was ordered to make restitution to a company because of a bungled construction job, even though Support the company had signed a written agreement prior to entering into the contract that the contractor would not be financially liable should the task not be adequately performed. █████ ██ ███ ███████ █████ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ██████ ███ ████ ███ ████ ████████████
Summary
A company had signed an agreement saying that a contractor would not be financially responsible for failing to perform a construction job adequately. It was therefore morally wrong for that company to then sue the contractor for messing up the job.
Notable Assumptions
The argument’s conclusion makes a statement that it’s morally wrong for the company to sue, but the premises don’t make any explicit moral claim - they only say that the company had agreed not to sue. The ethicist assumes that it’s morally wrong for the company to go back on its agreement. We’re therefore looking for some principle that explains why the company was actually doing something morally wrong in not following the initial agreement.
16.
Which one of the following ███████████ ██ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████████ ██████████
a
It is morally █████ ███ ███ █████ ███ ██ █████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ██ █████████ ████ ██ ███ █████ █████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ███ ██████████
Would lead to the wrong conclusion. If it is only morally wrong for the company to go back on its agreement if the contractor finished their job, then it might actually be morally okay for the company to sue in this case, because the contractor messed up their part of the deal.
b
It is morally █████ ██ ████ █ ███████ ███ ██ ██████ ███ █████ ███ █████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ ████████████
Wrong trigger. The contractor here was able to make restitution - the question is whether the company was morally wrong in seeking it.
c
It is morally █████ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ████████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██ ██████ ████ ███ █████ ██████ ███████ ███ █████ ██████ ██ ████████
Wrong trigger. The company did not induce the contractor to bungle the construction job.
d
It is morally █████ ██ ██████ ███ █████ ██ ██ █████████ ████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ████████ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ███████ ████████████
Wrong trigger. The argument does not discuss the legal permissibility of the agreement.
e
It is morally █████ ██ ████ ████████████ ███ ██ ██████ █████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █ ███████ ██ █████ ████ █████████████
This directly explains why the company was morally wrong to change its mind. They had promised not to seek restitution, and then sought restitution anyways, which (E) tells us is morally wrong.