Alec A. Hart
LDRS 311 Essay Assignment
The actors involved in the Facebook Revenge case are Cadet Smith, Cadet Drake, and
around 50 other Citadel cadets. Their responsibilities were to correctly follow the regulations of
the Citadel regarding wearing the proper uniform while on leave from campus. Additionally,
Cadet Smith has a responsibility to report that Cadet Drake and around 50 other Citadel cadets
were in an unauthorized uniform in a bar downtown. There were no specific religious or culture
factors one needs to be sensitive to regarding this case. There are two issues that are morally at
stake. First, Cadet Smith must make the moral and ethical decision to report the cadets being in
the improper uniform. Secondly, Cadet Smith is planning on singling out and taking a picture of
only Cadet Drake, who he has a personal feud with, and posting it on Facebook which would
most likely result in only Cadet Drake receiving punishments. If Cadet Smith posts a picture of
only Cadet Drake because of the personal issues he has with him and does not report upon the
other cadets that clearly is a failure in his character. Also, that decision would exhibit Cadet
Smith’s malevolent intent and obvious moral myopia because he is unable to identify and
recognize the ethical issues that arise from such a decision.
Utilitarianism is the belief that actions are right if they are useful or produce good
consequences for the benefit of the majority with the least amount of harm. From a utilitarian
perspective, Cadet Smith’s should choose not to only single out Cadet Drake but rather simply
take no pictures or post anything. This will result in the most good because none of the cadets,
including Cadet Drake, will receive any punishment and result in the most happiness for the most
people. Kantian ethics states an action is right if only all people would act in the same way and
rationally all people will act in that way. Also, that people’s humanity and their desires and goals
must be taken seriously. Kantian ethics would recommend Cadet Smith to make a decision that
could be generalized for all people in a similar situation. For Cadet Smith’s case he could report
none of the cadets or report all the cadets. These two decisions would respect the humanity of the
people involved because the first choice does not single any one cadet out in order to enact
revenge for a personal vendetta and the second holds all the cadets together accountable to the
standard and rules that they voluntarily agreed upon about wearing the proper uniform while on
leave. Virtue ethics focuses on character, asks what kind of person someone should be, and
summarizes that person is virtuous because they have developed their character and know what
to do. In this scenario, a virtuous person would make the tough decision to report all the cadets
for wearing the improper uniform. The vices involved in this scenario are anger, jealousy, and
revenge and the virtues are duty, integrity, and fairness.
Cadet Smith exhibits the vices of anger and revenge because he is upset with Cadet
Drake and wants to enact revenge and get him in trouble for holding him accountable at
formations. Also, Cadet Smith displays jealousy because he most likely wants to possess Cadet
Drake’s rank in order to have the power and authority that is currently being used against him at
the Citadel. Cadet Smith’s decision to take a picture of only Cadet Drake and post it on Facebook
with malicious intent exemplifies the virtues lacking in his character. Mostly, integrity and
fairness to do the right thing and report all the cadets and not just solely Cadet Drake because of
his personal vendetta against him. Cadet Smith needs to work on his integrity and fairness and
eliminate his anger, jealousy, and desire for revenge against Cadet Drake. An ideally virtuous
person in this scenario would decide to report all the cadets for wearing the improper leave
uniform even though it would be a difficult and uneasy decision, it is the morally and ethically
correct one.