The case I selected is the United States Department of
Justice (DOJ) versus Apple Incorporated. This case concerns the matter of Apple
defying a court order to help the FBI decrypt the iPhone of one of the San
Bernardino terrorists that murdered 14 innocent people in cold blood in the
name of Islam. Even though this case has
been dropped because the FBI has been able to decrypt the phone with the help
of a third party, the questions and issues of the case are still a matter of
debate. There is another recent case pending where a U.S. magistrate judge in
Boston in February ordered Apple to assist law enforcement officers in
examining the iPhone of an alleged gang member.
I do not necessarily see Apple Inc. versus the Department of
Justice as a matter of doing the greatest good for the greatest number. The question I am examining is where does
Apple’s responsibilities lie, with the privacy of their customers that
purchased iPhones for the purposes of secrecy and privacy, or with protecting
the safety of citizens of the country they do business in? As a company that
was founded and prospered in the United States, who should they be loyal to,
customers that purchase their products and bolster their profits, or their
country?
I selected the philosophy of moral philosopher Alasdair
MacIntyre as it would apply to my case. MacIntyre was born in Scotland in 1929
and it still alive. At one time he taught at Boston University. He is primarily
known for his contribution to moral and political philosophy but known also for
his work in history of philosophy and theology.
Alasdair MacIntyre argues that “morality is rooted in the life of a specific real community, a
village, a city, a nation, with its idiosyncratic customs and history and that,
therefore, adherence to morality requires loyalty to such a community.
Patriotism, on this view, is essential for living a morally good life.”
The customers who purchase iPhones are not Apple’s
community, the United State is Apple’s community. Apple should be protecting
their community. Without the United States, Apple would not have as many
customers.
MacIntyre also states “while
the patriotic standpoint requires that I strive to further the interests of my
community and you strive to further those of yours, and certainly where the
survival of one community is at stake, and sometimes perhaps even when only
large interests of one community are at stake, patriotism entails a willingness
to go to war on one's community's behalf.”
In my opinion, MacIntyre would recommend that Apple’s
loyalty should lie with the country and not with an individual company or their
customers. He sees rules of morality as coming from a society or country that a
person belongs to.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is insincere. He could care less about
the safety and wellbeing of Americans. He is concerned with perception. His
major concern is to be perceived as caring for his customer’s privacy when in
fact he is concerned with the bottom line. He wants us to believe that he is a
bastion of liberty and freedom when in fact he is only concerned with selling
iPhones and iPads and other Apple products. I have little respect for someone
that takes advantage of the American way of life that he has enjoyed but turns
his back on his country when called upon. Ladies and gentleman, we are at war.
We are at war with terrorists, the Islamic state and with Chinese cyber
terrorists who wish to destroy this country.
It is the moral responsibility of all American citizens to
stand together to protect our country from a common enemy. There was a time
when a leading American business that has prospered in the American economy
would be more than happy to help federal law enforcement in their battle
against our enemies. During both World Wars at the request of the government,
many manufacturing companies contributed to the war effort by abandoning their
normal operations in order to manufacture items required to defeat the Axis
Powers.
Bibliography:
“Is Patriotism a
Virtue?”
Alasdair MaIntyre
The Lindley Lecture
The University of Kansas 1984
“Political Philosophy
of Alasdair MacIntyre”
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://www.iep.utm.edu/p-macint/
Ted Clayton
Email: clayt1ew@cmich.edu
Central Michigan University
“Aristotle: Politics”
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://www.iep.utm.edu/aris-pol/
Edward Clayton
Email: clayt1ew@cmich.edu
Central Michigan University
No comments:
Post a Comment