5) From a deontological perspective, which action from item 4) above is morally right? Explain in a half page how you would prioritize the competing or possibly conflicting rights of each of the stakeholders.
From a deontological perspective one moral individual must perform an action for the sake of duty, regardless of the consequences that may come about. From this deontological standpoint, I would propose to do nothing in this case and let Jake Baker continue expressing his thoughts. Jake has the freedom of speech to express his creative thoughts or feelings, even if those thoughts and feelings are considered disturbing by most people. If it is acceptable for all individuals to express their fantasies, then it would go against the deontological view to punish Jake for his expressions, just because they are different than others. He has the right to express his freedom of speech and to express his fantasies. The way he expressed his fantasies was through e-mail; therefore, it should not be deemed as obscene because it was not a direct threat to the public or a particular person. It was only until the FBI searched his email that they found this individual to be a threat to the community. If a regular normal individual can show their fantasies in an e-mail, then why can’t Jake write about his? It should not matter that these fantasies are abnormal.
6) From a teleological perspective, which action from item 4) above is morally right? Explain in a half page the “moral calculus” or present a cost/benefit analysis. Detail why the action maximizes social welfare.
From a teleological perspective one moral individual must give priority to the good over the right and evaluate actions by the consequences. This is more commonly referred to the “greater good for the greater number of people.” From a teleological standpoint, I would propose to charge Jake Baker with premeditated violent crimes. Since Jake is only one single individual and he has caused so much public disturbance in the community then the best thing to do would be too deem him as a threat to the citizens and put him behind bars. Once the FBI released the information about the e-mails, the public begin to panic and worry about the well being of the children and women in the community. One person even stated that they were afraid to let their daughter run the streets at night because of Jake and his grotesque writings.
For the whole community to go back to their normal ways, the best thing to do in this situation would be to put Jake in jail. Jake has violated of the first amendment and has made threatening remarks to other individuals, which then resulted in causing an incitement of a panic with his obscene hate speech. Taking Jake off the streets would be the morally right thing to do, because he has an abnormal and grotesque way of thinking; therefore, for most people, it isn’t safe to be around him. This one individual can cause so much panic that it wouldn’t be worth protecting one man’s free speech to put the whole community at risk in order to trust that Jake’s emails were just a fantasy. At the very minimum he has threatened the safety of the female classmate that he wrote about and her family, which involves more people living in fear just because of one man’s obscene writings. We believe that the police should maximize the social welfare of the Ann Arbor community, which means getting the community back to their normal way of life, which is not living in fear. The best and most moral thing to do is to punish Jake and let the people of Ann Arbor get back to their normal and safe lives. This teleological action would take Jake away from the community and let everyone return to their normal lives.