ANALYZE AND EVALUATE THE FOLLOWING CASES according to the underlined guidelines. Write your account clearly on the back in ink or attach a separate sheet if you wish. Each case is one quiz, 100 points each.
1. This case involves the distinction between deception and lying.
A woman has written a novel with the hopes of obtaining substantial financial returns in order to support her retarded child. She discusses the hoped for returns with her publisher and they decide she should publish her novel under a male pseudonym. The information about the author on the book jacket is accurately and truthfully stated. No picture of the author appears and no his or her pronouns are used. The novel is a great success and the author begins to realize her hoped for returns.
A prestigious organization invites the author to speak to its members, both male and female, at its well-attended annual meeting. The author accepts in the name of her pseudonym and appears at the appointed time. When the president of the organization discovers that he is introducing a woman instead of a man, he feels she has deliberately lied to him. Has she? Explain your answer.
2. This case involves the obligation of truthtelling and the principle of double effect.
John Smith is married to your friend, Alice, and they have three children. You met John only once, when he and Alice were married 15 years ago. They live in Chicago. Every year you hear from them at Christmas.
You are not married and live in New York. There you have a good friend, Joan, who is not married. At a party in New York shortly after Christmas, you meet Joan, who introduces you to her fiancee, John Smith, who is in New York on a business trip, having come from Chicago.
Joan is full of happiness at the prospect of their marriage. When Joan introduces you, she uses only your first name.
You are stunned and speechless because you are quite sure that this is the same John Smith who is married to Alice. Later, you are able to confirm this. Moreover, you just heard from Alice and John at Christmas and their letter gave you the yearly account of an apparently happy family.
After the party, you wonder if you should let Alice and/or Joan know the truth. You know that if you tell either or both these friends, Alice and/or Joan will be extremely upset. You are afraid that telling the truth to Alice could very well destroy her marriage. You don't want to hurt your friends, but you also do not want worse hurts to come to them.
While you are still trying to form your conscience (i.e., making up your mind about what you should do about this), Joan calls you to ask why you looked so stunned and speechless when she introduced you to John. She asks, "Aren't you happy for me? Or, are you jealous or envious?"
What should you answer? Could you be morally justified in telling Alice and/or Joan the truth? Should you tell either or both the truth?
Apply the Principle of Double Effect to the act of telling the truth to each woman. Alice and Joan.