tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61969511452354781332024-02-20T06:21:21.944-08:00Whistleblowing EthicsTHE WEBSITE WILL............
(A )HELP WHISTLEBLOWERS .EXPOSE WRONGDOING WITHOUT DAMAGING THEMSELVES ...............
(B) STRENGTHEN CURRENT WHISTLEBLOWING LEGISLATION AND PRACTICES..............
(C) CREATE EFFECTIVE CODES OF ETHICS.............
(D) HELP BUILD AN ETHICAL ENVIRONMENT IN OUR WORKPLACES
Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-83249822351003863252019-01-13T15:20:00.004-08:002019-01-13T15:20:46.962-08:00MY BLOG POSTSGet all the<span style="background-color: red;"><b> ON LINE OPINION</b></span> articles<br />
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Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-37705701218334483972014-01-19T19:42:00.000-08:002014-01-19T19:42:51.255-08:00SENATE INQUIRY - WHISTLEBLOWING <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">I have recently completed a lengthy inquiry on
whistleblowing:world wide, to be published next month under the title “ In the
Public Interest”. I also submitted to the earlier Treasury inquiry on
corporate whistleblowing and subsequently written an analysis of that
inquiry. My main points taken from this earlier work, are;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">1, Australia needs a corporate whistleblower
protection scheme , and needs one urgently. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">2. The current whistleblower provisions in the
Corporations Act cover only contraventions of that Act . They need to cover all
wrongdoings against the law , including health, safety and environmental
violations .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">3.Australia needs a rewards scheme similar to
The False Claims and Dodd Frank Act in the US. The economic and ethical
arguments in support of such a scheme are too large to be ignored. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">4. Australia should not, as in the US, adopt a
whistleblower protection scheme for each industry. Such an approach complicates
the difficulties already facing whistleblowers. Instead, it should adopt
a scheme for all industries and for the public sector, as in the UK, with a
comprehensive listing of wrongs against which the government will provide
protection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">5. ASIC’s performance has been woeful. A more
comprehensive solution is for the Commonwealth Ombudsman ( or similar body ) to
act as a coordinating and supporting agency for whistleblowing
The whistleblower can disclose his/her information to the regulator
or the coordinator, as they wish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Peter Bowden ( Dr.)
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="mailto:peter_bowden@usyd.edu.au">peter_bowden@usyd.edu.au</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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[Ed.} <b><a href="http://www.tup.net.au/publications-new/Applied_Ethics.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Applied
Ethics</span></a></b> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.tup.net.au/publications-new/Applied_Ethics.aspx">http://www.tup.net.au/publications-new/Applied_Ethics.aspx</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-54282396651757001052014-01-09T15:37:00.000-08:002014-01-09T15:41:30.479-08:00THE CIA WHISTLEBLOWER <div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b>PETER
BOWDEN <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b>BE, MSc, PhD.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b>peter_bowden@usyd.edu.au<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
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<b>6 Teakle Street <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b>Summer Hill <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b>NSW 2130<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b>Australia <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b>61418 166 577<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b>612 9797 6459 <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ms Erlinda
Hernandez </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Bureau of Prisons </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Residential Reentry Office </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
PO Box 7000 </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Butner, NC, USA, 27509 </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
cc: Mr. Charles Samuels </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Director of Bureau of Prisons </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
320 First St. NW </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Washington, DC USA, 20534 </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Dear Ms. Hernandez: </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
At the suggestion of the Government Accountability Program in the United States,
of which I am a supporter I urge you to allow John Kiriakou (inmate
79637-083 at Loretto) to serve the last nine months of his sentence in a
halfway house, so that he may resume productive contributions to society. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Kiriakou served in the CIA for over 14 years. During that time, he was involved
in critical counterterrorism missions following the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001. Throughout his career, Kiriakou received 10 Exceptional
Performance Awards, the Sustained Superior Performance Award, the
Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honour
Award. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
In 2008, Kiriakou confirmed the name of a former CIA colleague to a reporter
writing a book on the Agency. The name wasn’t made public as a result of the
confirmation. Kiriakou, under threat of more severe terms and financial ruin,
pled guilty to violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. He was
sentenced to 30 months in prison. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
But the real reason Kiriakou was prosecuted is because he is an anti-torture
whistleblower who was brave enough to speak out against the agency's practices.
He never tortured anyone – yet he is the only person to be prosecuted in
relation to the torture program under the George W. Bush administration. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Kiriakou is an honourable and patriotic person . He does not deserve to be made
an example of wrongdoing. I ask that he be granted at least nine months of
halfway house time so that he may begin his life again as a valuable member of
society and as a father to his five children. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
Thank you for your time and consideration of this message. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yours sincerely </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Peter Bowden ( Dr.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoAutoSig">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">peter_bowden@usyd.edu.au<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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[Ed.} <b><a href="http://www.tup.net.au/publications-new/Applied_Ethics.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Applied
Ethics</span></a></b> <o:p></o:p></div>
<a href="http://www.tup.net.au/publications-new/Applied_Ethics.aspx"> <span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.tup.net.au/publications-new/Applied_Ethics.aspx</span></a><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-32156546206466133262013-10-16T19:38:00.001-07:002013-10-16T19:56:35.780-07:00POLITICIANS, MORALITY AND ETHICS<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: large;">You think the recent rorting of expenses by our politicians
is wrong? The rest of us pay our own way to go to the wedding of a friend or
colleague. We believe therefore,
that politicians, – not the taxpayer - should pay their own expenses when they are <span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/wedding-woes-for-lib-mps-20131011-2ve28.html">invited</a>
</span>to a wedding You also believe that the Prime Minister of this country, Tony
Abbott, is wrong when he refuses to take
action on the West Australian member Don
Randall, who has chalked up in more than
$10,00 in <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pm-wont-act-on-doubtful-claims-20131016-2vn3u.html">questionable
travel</a> and expenses? Or that the
Prime Minister should question his own refusal to pay back the expense of attending
an<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-defends-claiming-travel-expenses-for-ironman-event-20131008-2v58a.html"> <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ironman event</span></b></a> ?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">If your children attend an ethics class at any of Sydney‘s
public schools they would agree with the Prime Minister. They will have learned
that ethical decisions are a matter of discussion, even argument. This will be
the method they will have been shown for reaching an ethical conclusion. They
will have had much practice. They will possibly have also learned that argument
and discussion in reaching moral decisions have been the method taught not only
at schools but in our universities and colleges. A method that has existed
since time immemorial. There are no hard
and fast rules on what is the right thing to do; only competing theories. If
Tony Abbott wants to justify his position in not taking himself to task for
unethical behaviour , or any of his ministers, he will find a supporting arguments in some of the Kantian theory, in
one of a half dozen utilitarian theories ,
or in virtue theory. After all, it is a virtuous act for a politician to
interact with the people in an Ironman series, and therefore fully justifiable
that the people should pay for this or any other political rort. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Our children and our politicians, would make a better world,
as we all would, if we all applied some empirical observation and practical
common sense to documenting what we regard as right, and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/enough-is-enough-coalition-and-labor-must-address-expenses-rorting-and-sack-offenders-20131016-2vmc9.html">what
we regard as wrong</a>. In short, an enforceable code of ethical behaviour for
political life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-33053183675944223872013-08-04T00:10:00.002-07:002013-08-12T22:47:27.682-07:00Julian Assange Right or Wrong ? <div class="MsoNormal">
<b>JULIAN ASSANGE -
RIGHT OR WRONG?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This discussion is wider than Julian Assange. It brings in
Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden and John Kiriakou – the CIA whistleblower who
revealed that the US used waterboarding torture techniques, and received a 30
month prison sentence as a reward. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
But the talk shall
be confined to Assange, for it embraces the issues raised by all others <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
The
talk also brings in those philosophers that have raised the question of a
social contract – the contract that we, the governed, have with those who
govern us - <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Thomas Hobbes., John Locke and
Jean-Jacques Rousseau are the best known. </span><span lang="EN-GB">Machiavelli and Montesquieu have also added their contribution; Machiavelli
on the power of the prince and Montesquieu
in </span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">"The Spirit of Laws"
1748, on the separation of powers.</span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB">Montesquieu advocated </span>the freedom
of thought, speech and assembly. He also <span lang="EN-GB">left us with<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">..constant experience shows us that every
man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far
as it will go</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">All, except
Hobbes, and Machiavelli, treat the social contract as a contract between equals.
</span><span style="background: white;">Hobbes argues that we ought to be willing
to submit ourselves to political authority. In <i>The Leviathan</i> 1651.That authority, for Hobbes was a powerful
king. "The war of all against
all" he argued, could only be averted by strong central government.</span><b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Locke 1632-1704 views the
basis of all morality, that we not harm others with regards to their “life,
health, liberty, or possessions in </span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></span><em><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Two Treatises on Government</span></em><span style="background: white;">.. 1689. But
does not set out who , the people or the
government , is the ultimate decision taker. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> Rousseau </span></span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">1762<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span> in <i>The Social Contract </i>has perhaps
the most useful concepts for today’s world:</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> In the </span></span><i><span style="background: white;">Discourse on Political Economy</span></i><span style="background: white;">, he sets out
that the law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have
the right to contribute personally, or through their representatives, to its
formation</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.0pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">My own construct is simple. I
have a contract with those who are in government. When I come to vote, I have
the right to know what that party and that representative believes, and how
they act - in dealing with other politicians, and with other powers. I
vote for the representative and the party that best represent my values. Although
neither may be elected, I still have that right.. If that information is kept
secret from me, that contract has been broken <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">In general I wish to know if
the extent to which they reflect my own values, so that I make my choice as
fully informed partner . Among many values I seek to identify, I would
wish to know if they had behaved immorally, for I would like to believe that I
would reject unacceptable behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">On this basis, I believe that
I have the right to the information released
by Assange, Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden and </span>John Kiriakou.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I place, however, two
reservations or conditions on this assertion:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm;">
!. Whoever releases the information
believes it to be true <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm;">
2. That no harm is done by the
release <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background: white;">Julian
Assange, through Bradley Manning, released four sets of documents:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 108.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -108.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;">April 2010
The Apache helicopter gunship video, killing Reuters correspondents and
civilians <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background: white;">July
2010 The Afghan war
logs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 108.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -108.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;">October 2010 The
Iraq war logs. It was about this time that the Swedish sex allegations arose <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background: white;">November
2010 The Embassy cables <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Under the concept that a social
contract exists between us and those who govern us, I would argue that we all have
a democratic and moral right to the information that was provided by Wikileaks.
Some will claim that political discussions between members of say, cabinet, or between
the diplomatic representatives of two powers, should not be public information.
They argue that the process of reaching a decision is tentative, that political
representatives would be unable to reach decisions if all their tentative negotiations
were to become public. I disagree. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">I answer that tentative discussions
would be recognisable as such And in any
case , the end position of that political leader will come out over time, and that is the
position I would like to know, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Before reaching the
conclusion that I am entitled to the information released by Assange and
Bradley Manning I need, however, first to
check that my two conditions –the validity of the information and the avoidance
of harm.- have been met. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">There is little doubt that
the information was true, for it was presented as actual documents - Official
US documents. There was editing of the
releases, but they were obviously from the
sources that they were claimed to have come from. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">There has been much
controversy, however, over whether the
editing was sufficient to eliminate harm to any Afghani or Iraqi who had worked
with the US and allied forces, and particularly Assange’ s statement that those who collaborated with the allied troops
deserved to be named ( Charlie Beckett
with James Ball “Wikileaks;,2012, Polity ,p.86, quoting a Guardian Newspaper
source). Assange has denied this
allegation but has argued that the risk “was the greater good”. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">If the allegations against
Assange are true, they raise serious questions about my willingness to support
Assange’s actions. .There certainly was editing of the releases, although
sketchy with the first set on Afghan. Also there has been no evidence since
that any names were released to the detriment of the persons concerned. “.<span class="apple-converted-space">It should also be noted
that after Manning’s trial, , </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Brig Gen Robert Carr, an intelligence
expert who led a Pentagon task force investigating the damage done by the leaks,
stated on the first day of the sentencing hearing in a military court in Fort
Meade, that no-one named in the Afghan war logs was killed (BBC blog, “ Manning
Sentencing”,1 August 2013, </span>http://www.bbc.co.uk)<span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">A related issue is whether
the information gave aid to the enemy. We need to acknowledge that in times of
war, to provide such information is not acceptable. But it has not yet been
shown how the information has been of value to the enemy..Bradley Manning was absolved
of this charge <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">The issues of harm to
collaborators must also be raised in the case of Bradley Manning , who had no
ability to check the documents . I turn to that issue in a moment for they
affect how we regard Assange,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">One final concluding sentence:.
Assange has been described in many unfavourable terms He has also fallen out
with many of his colleagues, The editors of The Guardian, Daniel Domscheit Berg
,who has published a very critical memoir, in particular. He is described and
comes through in the movie “ <i>We steal
secrets”</i> as egotistical, uncompromising, self –opinionated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">My final statement is that it
matters little, even if all these statements are true, One’s like or dislike of
Julian Assange is immaterial,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;">To return to Bradley
Manning:. He has stated that he could not keep quiet about the issues he saw in
the documents - the Apache helicopter;</span><span style="background: #FAFAFA;"> the US condoning the torture of captives by the
Iraqi military, innocent people at Guantanamo Bay. Manning could not check all
documents He therefore released information, some of which had the potential to harm, both Afghani
collaborators as well as US diplomats who were withdrawn after the embassy
cables were released <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #FAFAFA;">The alternative for Manning
was not to release the information . I trust that you join with me in saying
that the world has advanced one step further through Manning’s release of that
material. It has also moved forward, by Assange in publishing it. Moving forward in the sense that we are all
now better unformed on what our governments may do. And to take such action as
we see fit. We now have the information
to say, publicly, “I disagree”. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-84900610666785059452013-03-27T18:32:00.003-07:002013-11-23T20:37:18.058-08:00Julia Gillard WAS unethical<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">This is a
clear and unambiguous statement that Julia Gillard, Australia's Prime Minister, was lacking in most commonly
held ethical beliefs.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But first, so that
I cannot be accused of bias, I need to assert that I am a near rusted-on Labor
supporter. In the first version of this particular blog, I wrote that that I would , with near certainty, vote for the Labor Party in the
coming election.. That was when Julia Gillard was Prime Minister. I did vote that way, although Julia Gillard herself, had been deposed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There is much evidence in support
of my assessment of Ms. Gillard’ ethical values. High on the list is her June 2010 deposing of Kevin Rudd, then current Prime Minister. If the institutions in a society are to sustain, economically
and politically, a primary value held by anyone who elects their leaders must be
loyalty to that leader. Chaos will reign otherwise. Ms Gillard does not possess this virtue. Of
course, any institution, and most of all the institutions that manage a
country, must find for themselves the most effective leader possible. We have
been told that there were many faults with Kevin Rudd - that he was a
chaotic micro-manager, and rude to his staff . . None of us ever
worked for Mr Rudd, nor did the
reporters who broadcast these accusations. We, as did the news media, relied on those
politicians who deposed him. The
politician who benefited most was Julia Gillard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> To sum up in a basic moral though: If the people vote for a political leader, no matter how impossible t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">o work with does that leader turn out,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> then it is an undemocratic to depose that leader. I</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">t is the policies he has broadcast that</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> the people vote for, and their judgement on his ability to deliver.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The most damming of indictments against Gillard came in Peter Hartcher's analysis of the Gillard coup, presented in the Sydney Morning Herald </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November 18 issue. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Gillard</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> has always maintained that it was a last minute decision on her part to issue the challenge , based onthe declining popularity of the Rudd government. Hartcher gives convincing evidence that Gillard instigated the coup well before that meeting. Gillard denial is an untruth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Rudd was effective .It is
easy to demonstrate. He ended 14 years of conservative rule by John Howard. How many other Labor leaders had tried, but failed? Kevin Rudd then gave us a series of decisions that still
tell us why, in poll after poll, the Australian people prefer him as
Prime Minister.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> First he gave us the apology to the aboriginal
people, a defining moment in Australian history. Second he brought this country
through the Global Financial Crisis in a better state of economic health than
most other countries. We have all benefited from Kevin Rudd’s decisions. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">He introduced
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">the mining tax.
</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">It was supposed to raise $3 billion the first financial year
and $10 billion over four years. His argument has undeniable validity - that the
</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">minerals under the ground belong to the Australian people, not the
mining companies. The money could be spent on many needed services of
government. In</span><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> the face of fierce opposition by the mining industry, the
mining tax was cut by Julia Gillard soon after she took over the top job. It
has raised just $136 million.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It has
been argued that even if she did come to power by unethical means , she has earned her position through
the election held a couple of months later - in</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> August 2010,</span><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> The
difficulty is that her subsequent
decisions exhibit the same dubious
values that brought her to power. She
first opposed voting for Palestine being given observer status in the United Nations
, only partially caving in when facing opposition in her Cabinet There
were </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">138 nations in favour to 9 against</span><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">.
Australia in one of its less glorious moments, abstained.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Regardless
of your position in this dispute, it needs to be noted that both sides accept a
two state solution. The observer position is a small step in that direction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Gillard
has never back tracked on calling Julian Assange‘s release of the Wikileaks
documents a criminal act, despite not being able to tell us what law he broke.
Nor has she ever retracted this accusation. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then there was the
crackdown on 457 visas – this is the<span style="background: white;"> visa that
allows skilled immigrants into the country when there is a shortage of
Australian Labour. </span>Andrew Bartlett of the Australian Democrats put it
neatly in a post on 20/3/2013 in <i>On Line Opinion</i> <a href="http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=14819"> </a></span><span style="color: #00637f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Gillard and Hanson accord on 457 visas is a dangerous development</span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: #00637f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
<i>The cry that migrants are 'taking our jobs' is a myth with a long and ugly
history in Australian political rhetoric.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> He went onto note– <i>The fact that Pauline </i></span><i><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Hanson<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-themecolor: text2;"><a href="http://www.afr.com/p/national/hanson_backs_gillard_on_foreign_gSNBeFUoA7xgLWcSskKkHP"><i><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">has
come out in support of Prime Minister Gillard's pledge to</span></i><i><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text2;">"put Aussie workers first"</span></i></a></span><i><span style="color: #8eb4e3; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #8EB4E3; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=40000 lumo=60000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text2; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 102;"> </span></i><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">starkly demonstrates the dangerous ground that
the PM and a few trade unions have ventured onto with their calculated attack
against skilled migrant workers</span></i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Her record on combating corruption leaves much to be
desired. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Stephen Bartos, a former senior public servant,
argues that corruption in Australia in the public service is most likely on par
with that of other developed nations </span><a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/our-costly-complacency-on-corruption-20130303-2fe2f.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(Canberra
Times March 5, 2013) .</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> He points to the
current inquiry into the former NSW government as evidence, and the failure of
the present Prime Minister- from the same political party, to commit to a
crackdown on corruption.</span><span style="color: red; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Also that despite parliamentary
committee recommendations there is no overarching federal anti-corruption
investigative body; and that whistleblowing legislation had been inexplicably
delayed for years, Australia is the only country in the developed world that
provides no protection for its national government officials who expose corruption</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #383838; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">On the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> list of unethical actions, but s</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">till not at the top of my was the PM inviting radio jock Kyle Sandilands to play the Easter
Bunny at an egg hunt at her Sydney residence .This despite many of the
offensive remarks that Sandilands has made .</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The <a href="http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/kyle-sandilands-the-verdict/">Sydney
Morning Herald (March 27, 2012) told us that Kyle Sandilands</a> breaching decency standards. The
media authority, ACMA, has found the comments he made were deeply derogatory
and offensive. From now on Sandilands will be prevented from broadcasting any
material that is likely to demean women or girls or face a loss of licence. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 12.75pt;">The egg hunt was for sick children, but the inviting of Sandilands
puts at question her earlier “mysogony” attack on the leader of the opposition.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #383838; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Her
</span><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/prime-minister-restates-opposition-to-gay-marriage/story-fn59niix-1225948754956"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">opposition to gay marriage</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #383838; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> would appear to be
driven by poll opinions. The position is also at odds with very simple moral guidelines
of equal treatment and justice for all in our society. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #383838; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Near
top of my list, however is that Gillard describes herself as an atheist. As such she has
a special obligation to promote moral standards. In an era of declining church attendance and
increasing doubt about religious beliefs, atheists have a duty to endorse, even
build on the moral values of our society. They follow a long line of humanists, extending
back over the centuries. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="color: #383838; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding: 0cm;">Richard
Dawkins, in The<i> God Delusion </i>(2006) <i> </i>sets
out ten commandments , which he found on an atheist website . They are sound commandments, enjoining us principally not to harm others in any and all matters, but also to
think independently, questioning everything. They encapsulate the form
of the Golden Rule that tells us : “Do <u>not</u> do to others what you would <u>not </u>want
them to do to you.” He then adds five
more of his own, one of which asks us to leave unto others the freedom to enjoy
their own sex lives, without discrimination. Gillard would not appear to follow
this commandment.</span><span style="color: #282828; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #282828; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally ( almost ) is the cutting off of the
Deductible Gift Recipient tax status for donations to our ethical classes in
schools See David Hill’s condemnation of
this decision in the<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/ethics-class-injustice-sets-wrong-example-for-schoolchildren-20130327-2gujb.html">
Sydney Morning Herald on March 11, 2013</a> . Although not ostensibly a Gillard
decision , she must be aware of the furore it has created and that has possibly resulted in
the termination of the ethics classes in our schools.</span><span style="background: white; color: #383838; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #282828; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #383838; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">For
me, the issue at the top of the list is that she is a woman, - normally the guardians
and teachers of the moral values in our society. And that she is the first
woman prime minister of our country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #383838; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Julia Gillard has tackled head on her principal perceived
weakness among voters by framing the next federal election as being about trust</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/im-the-one-you-can-trust-says-pm-20120326-1vupm.html">(SMH.
March 27 ,2012 )</a>, asserting “I am the one you can trust” , Can we ? </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; padding: 0cm;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
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Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-19585238124845641422013-03-09T19:35:00.003-08:002013-03-09T19:35:57.813-08:00THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF SOCRATES<br />
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Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth, and of
impiety. He was sentenced to death by a majority of his peers in a 500 person jury.
Socrates accepted the penalty using the arguments set out in the Crito – that as
a citizen, it was his duty to accept the laws of Athens. His acceptance appears
at odds with his strong statements at his trial that he was innocent. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Crito raises a conundrum. In fact, it makes no sense. I
am not sure that Plato faithfully reported Socrates’ arguments. I believe that Socrates
wanted to accept death, but that Plato put in his mouth those magnificent words
about his duty as a citizen in order to make Socrates out as a more morally
perfect man than he actually was. Socrates accepted death, not for the reasons
Plato gave him, but for other reasons. For one of three reasons or more likely,
a combination of all three: <o:p></o:p></div>
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1, He was guilty, and he accepted that, or at least accepted
he had lost the confidence and support of a majority of his fellow citizens. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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2, He was 70 years of
age, and not about to leave Athens, where he had spent the greater part of his life. Xenophon, a pupil of Socrates, although not
at the trial, states in his <i>Apology </i>that
<span style="background: white; color: #333333;">Socrates had come to regard death
for himself as preferable to life</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> 3, </span><span style="background: white;">Socrates was not
about to take Xanthippe, his wife, and their children</span> to
some country that would accept a fugitive from Athenian justice. Xanthippe was a
<span style="background: white;">young</span> wife, young enough to have three
children,<i> </i>described as quite young in
the <i>Apology </i>and <i>Phaedo</i><i><span style="color: #0b0080;">,</span></i><i> </i> <o:p></o:p></div>
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Plato however, could not give these reasons. He wanted to portray a stronger picture of Socrates.
In a series of dialogues that extol Socrates’ virtues, he could not put forward
a picture that painted Socrates as possessing fallible traits. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We come now to Plato’s version of Socrates defending himself
in the Apology. Plato portrays Socrates as obviously believing that he was
innocent. This was likely a true picture,
for many people were at the trial who could confirm Plato’s portrayal. There is
however, a second part to the conundrum of Socrates’ trial and execution. Was Socrates actually guilty? If not, why
then did a majority of his fellow citizens condemn him to death? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I believe that they were following Anytus, who appeared in
Meno, and who warned: “Socrates, I think you are too ready to think
evil of men: and, if you take my advice, I would recommend you to be careful”. Socrates’ reply, in Anytus’ hearing, is
quite derogatory of Anytus: ”… when he (Anytus) understands, which he does not
at present…he will forgive me.” Anytus
apparently did not forgive, for he was the principle accuser, and the one who
demanded the death penalty.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My own belief is that Socrates annoyed quite a number of
people, including the two fellow accusers Meletus <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">and Lycon , although we know little of them. Socrates can be
extremely supercilious, claiming to know nothing, but nevertheless pointing out
to people the error of their ways. An example is seen with Crito. Crito is a
friend, and does not take offence, but in a so-called dialogue, Crito’s
contribution to the dialogue is a series of agreements: ‘yes,’ or ‘no’, ‘certainly not, Socrates’.
Most of Plato’s dialogues portray Socrates holding forth on whatever the issue
is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Those who are not
Socrates’ friends will take offence. My particular favourites of these
offensive monologues from Socrates – which remember, is Plato writing several
years after Socrates has gone- is in <i>Meno</i>, and in <i>Protagoras.</i> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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One philosophy blog states: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="background: #FAFCFF; color: #2a2a2a;">Many of Socrates’ opponents or
collaborators in the dialogues are made to agree with Socrates for the purposes
of the discussion when we – the readers – often feel that objections need to be
made; the answers Socrates’ interlocutors give often seem rigged by Plato to go
in the direction that he wants. This can seem acceptable in some cases because
Plato is simply using the dialogue to expound his ideas and the artificiality
of the responses is not relevant to the philosophical point he is making.</span></i><span style="background: #FAFCFF; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt;"> (</span>Philosophy Blog 2013)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I agree with this analysis. I believe that Socrates is
particularly scathing of Protagoras, who is an avowed sophist. My own reading of that dialogue is that
Protagoras is just as believable as Socrates. One of the co-accusers of
Socrates at his trial, Lycon, was a possible supporter of the Sophists.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are other reasons why the accusers acted. A dislike
for Socrates’ support for the Thirty Tyrants would have motivated all three.
Neither Plato nor Socrates was an advocate of democracy. Meletus was also a
poet, a profession not strongly endorsed by Plato and Socrates. These reasons
may have caused the three to argue to the jury of five hundred to condemn
Socrates. My own belief, however, is that Socrates had offended too many
prominent Athenians through his supercilious dialogues, and these were the
reasons why a majority of his fellows voted the death penalty. Death may seem
to us a severe penalty, but we have to remember that the death penalty was
accepted practice in Athens at this time. History has recorded, with occasional
exceptions, that nations have executed people for crimes of different types for
many centuries. The Code of Hammurabi,
chiselled into tablets in 1760 BCE, stipulated the death penalty for 25 different
crimes. Today’s arguments against death were irrelevant.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Socrates must have realised that he had offended many people,
perhaps even during his trial, and that realisation was possibly another
contributor to his decision not to fight the death penalty - to choose death instead.
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Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-17270860000065002472012-12-07T22:09:00.003-08:002012-12-07T22:09:57.983-08:00New whistleblower protection in the United States The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act was passed into legislation by President Obama in November 2012 , Approved unanimously by Congress, this act updates and strengthens the earlier act designed to protect public sector whistleblowers . For the Washington Posts report on it click<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/president-signs-whistle-blower-bill-to-protect-federal-workers-who-expose-fraud-waste/2012/11/27/4d279d86-38c8-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html"> here</a>.<br />
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--> The new act has been thirteen years in the making, strongly lobbied by a number of whistleblower support Groups including the Government Accountability Project <a href="http://www.whistleblower.org/">GAP</a>,<br />
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The new legislation protects Federal employees (in addition to existing protections ) from reprisal if they: are not
the first person to disclose misconduct; disclose misconduct to co-workers or
supervisors; disclose the consequences of a policy decision; or blow the
whistle while carrying out their job duties.<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>GAP Legal Director Tom Devine
states</div>
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<i style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; outline: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">"This reform took 13 years to pass because it can make so
much difference against fraud, waste and abuse. Government managers at all
levels made pleas and repeatedly blocked the bill through procedural sabotage.
But once there were no more secret 'holds,' the WPEA passed unanimously,
because no politician in a free society can openly oppose freedom of speech.
Over the years, earlier versions of this law had been called the Taxpayer
Protection Act. Nothing could set a better context for fiscal cliff
negotiations than a unanimous, bipartisan consensus to protect those who risk
their careers to protect the taxpayers. This victory reflects a consensus
ranging from President Obama to Representative Darrell Issa. The mandate for
this law is that the truth is the public's business."<span style="font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-89469055772693101092012-11-28T23:29:00.004-08:002012-11-29T19:57:55.399-08:00A NEW BOOK ON APPLIED ETHICS<div style="text-align: center;">
THE AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL AND APPLIED ETHICS HAS COME OUT WITH A NEW BOOK </div>
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<img alt="Peter Bowden" src="http://www.tup.net.au/publications-new/thumbnail.axd?image=/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/images/Covers/Thumbnail%20-%20Bowden%20-%20Applied%20Ethics.jpg&x=280&y=350&minx=0&miny=0&quality=90&colors=255&colorbits=8" /></div>
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Published by Tilde University Press and able to be ordered through Amazon, through Macmillan in Australia, or directly from the publisher <a href="http://www.tup.net.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/uploads/201207171129553906/TIPS-TUP-Bowden-AppliedEthics-1e.pdf">(here)</a></div>
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What are the advantages of this book ? </h2>
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The book is very different to anyother ethics book that you have read . It does contain the ethical theory that you have read elsewhere , but it takes it much further, in that it also gives you those ethical theorists- Beauchamp and Childress, Gert, and Frankena that have pulled together the theories into a coherent whole.</div>
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A greater strength however , is that it draws on 22 contributors across 14 different disciplines - all members or associates of the Australian
Association of Professional and Applied Ethics - each writing for his or her own disciplin<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">e .</span> Each is skilled in the discipline, and knowledgeable of the ethical issues that it faces.</div>
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The book is necessary reading for teachers of ethics in all disciplines, and for ethics officers in the workplace,charged with developing and running an ethics program in their organisations.</div>
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The book has the subtitle "Strengthening ethical practices ". In total , it describes seven practices that ,if taught,and applied in the work place , will bring about improved ethical behaviour , These seven are described in this blog <a href="http://whistleblowingethics.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/a-reply-to-hugh-breakey_22.html">(Here</a>), reproduced below </div>
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<b style="background-color: white;">Seven practices to strengthen ethical behaviour </b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">a)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> <i><b> </b></i></span><i><b>Strengthening our ability to recognise when we ourselves have been unethical. Since first writing those words, I have come across two more references to the fact that we fool ourselves when we judge our own ethical or unethical behaviour (Dorothy Rowe, Why we lie, and Dan Ariely The (honest) truth about dishonesty. How we lie to everyone - especially ourselves). Both are psychologists. Ariely documents numerous experiments that will convince any reader of our underlying dishonesty. <o:p></o:p></b></i></span><br />
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<i><b style="background-color: white;">b)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Steps to encourage us to speak out against wrongdoing (this is blowing the whistle on wrongdoing – well proven in its effectiveness in stopping unethical or illegal activities), The research that demonstrates this conclusion is available <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6196951145235478133#editor/target=post;postID=7719580240144372569">HERE</a><o:p></o:p></b></i><br />
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<i><b style="background-color: white;">c)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Developments in codes of ethics that make them effective. See Vanya Smythe’s article in Applied Ethics. The research is not a 100% guarantee, but still convincing. <o:p></o:p></b></i><br />
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<i><b style="background-color: white;">d)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Policies adopted by private sector organisations to institutionalise ethical behaviour, The paper documents a half dozen practices- all recent developments - in current use. <o:p></o:p></b></i><br />
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<i><b style="background-color: white;">e)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>New programs for ensuring greater honesty in government. Both d) and e) document the programs. Extensive research is under way to identify their effectiveness. <o:p></o:p></b></i><br />
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<i><b style="background-color: white;">f)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Building action on empirical findings, not argument. This is the disputed issue – see below.<o:p></o:p></b></i></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white;">g)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Teaching these practices<o:p></o:p></b></i></div>
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Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-64219323599664551382012-11-27T17:25:00.000-08:002012-11-29T19:59:55.029-08:00Whistleblowing and Justice<br />
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The recent Global Financial Crisis, from which the world is
only now recovering, has had a massive negative impact .Many have seen their savings
decimated, those about to retire or
already retired , have suffered immensely. Job losses have been huge The causes
of the GFC are debated, but widely attributed to unethical or at least inadequate
sub-prime lending practices by financial intermediaries. Yet few whistleblowers came
forward to warn the financial community , or the regulatory authorities of the perverse practices of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_of_Lehman_Brothers">Lehman Bros,</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman_Sachs">Goldman Sachs</a> ,etc. who were at the heart of
the problems. The CEO of the last mentioned company has publicly argued for a reduction in old age entitlements (<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ethan-rome/goldman-sachs-ceo-lloyd-b_b_2199815.html">here</a>) .<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some
writers even attribute the crisis to the growing inequality between the rich and the poor, noticeable worldwide but particularly in the
US.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> From 1980 to
2005, <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><a href="http://web.mit.edu/ipc/publications/pdf/07-002.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #56818c;">more than 80 percent</span></a> </span></i>of
total increase in Americans' income went to the top 1 percent. </span>Timothy
Noah in <i>The United States of
Inequality </i>writes <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>The United States' economy is
currently struggling to emerge from a severe recession brought on by the
financial crisis of 2008. Was that crisis brought about by income inequality?
Some economists are starting to think it may have been. David Moss of Harvard
Business School has produced <a href="http://www.people.hbs.edu/dmoss/Bank%20Failures,%20Regulation,%20and%20Inequality%20-%20Chart%20with%20Comments%20(David%20Moss,%20August%202010).pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">an intriguing
chart</span></a> that shows bank failures tend to coincide with periods of
growing income inequality<b><span style="color: red;">.</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>"I could hardly believe how tight the fit was,"
he <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/weekinreview/22story.html?_r=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #56818c;">told</span></a> the New York Times. Princeton's Paul Krugman has
similarly been <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/inequality_crises.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #56818c;">considering</span></a> whether
the Great Divergence helped cause the recession by pushing middle-income
Americans into debt. The growth of household debt has followed a pattern
strikingly similar to the growth in income inequality (see the <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/inequality_crises.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #56818c;">final graph</span></a>).
Raghuram G. Rajan, a business school professor at the University of Chicago, <a href="http://www.tnr.com/article/economy/77242/inequality-recession-credit-crunch-let-them-eat-credit" target="_blank"><span style="color: #56818c;">recently argued</span></a> on the <span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">New Republic</span>'s
Web site that "let them eat credit" was "the mantra of the
political establishment in the go-go years before the crisis." Christopher
Brown, an economist at Arkansas State University, wrote a <a href="http://www.clt.astate.edu/crbrown/brownrope.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #56818c;">paper</span></a> in 2004
affirming</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> </span><i>that "inequality can exert a significant drag on
effective demand."</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">[http://www.slate.com] <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-31533549155501267962012-11-22T00:50:00.002-08:002012-11-28T22:40:47.649-08:00A Reply to Hugh Breakey,<br />
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On his blog , <a href="http://hughbreakey.blogspot.com.au/"><b>http://hughbreakey.blogspot.com.au/</b></a>
, Hugh posted a series of four arguments
disputing my claim that moral philosophy had lost the plot. His article is<b><span style="color: #548dd4; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;"> </span></b><span style="color: #0070c0;"><a href="http://hughbreakey.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/ethical-conduct-whats-philosophy-got-to.html"><b><span style="color: #0070c0; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Ethical conduct: What’s philosophy got to do with it?</span></b></a></span><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-themecolor: text2;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">My claim was that moral philosophers, teaching and writing on ethics, are
ignoring a number of recent developments that will strengthen ethical
practices. My claim was first launched on our philosophy café website <b>(</b></span><b><a href="http://www.philoagora.com/">here)</a></b><span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> , but followed up in </span><b><a href="http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/aapae/publications/Newsletters/Australian%20Ethics-6-2012.pdf">Australian Ethics</a></b><b><span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> ,</span></b><span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> a
journal for which Hugh is the editor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The
following paragraphs contain my reply to Hugh <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">ooooo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I accept all Hugh’s four arguments. With possibly the exception
of his fourth. Of course moral philosophy has added to our knowledge and
comprehension of ethical behaviour. There will not be a teacher of ethics in
any of the disciplines and professions across a university or college who has
not read Plato or Aristotle, nor the many books on ethics put out by today’s moral
philosophers. He or she will have
engaged in a struggle, often desperate, to come to grips with what is to act
ethically, what is wrongdoing, how do they stop it, and finally can they , and if so how, teach these concerns in a course. The consultant or newly appointed
ethics officer in the workforce will of necessity have examined the same
sources, read many of the same books. And just as desperately wonder how to
implement these principles in his or her organisation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It will have been a time of much learning. Teachers of
engineering, medicine, pharmacy, business, social work, etc., newly
volunteering to teach the ethics course in their disciplines, or ethics
officers in the workforce, will have much to learn. It will be a time of great fulfilment.
Even enjoyment. They will nevertheless face problems. Taking the four benefits
of philosophy that Hugh raises:<o:p></o:p></div>
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To obtain
the first benefit, they will necessarily have read the moral theories. They may
not come to the conclusion that Hugh puts forward: <span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">that “moral philosophy can be important (by) …forcing
practitioners to face up …to universal principles of proper conduct”. The
newly appointed ethics lecturer or consultant will learn that there are no universally
agreed principles of moral conduct. The arguments that he referred to, started
by Plato and Aristotle, are still on- going. Two thousand three hundred years
later we still not have agreed on the difference between right and wrong. We
are still arguing. Richard Joyce, a well published philosopher, is one among
many who portrays a negative picture:</span><b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> </span></i></b><i>The theories are plentiful, the convolutions
byzantine, the in-fighting bitter, the spilt ink copious, and the progress
astoundingly unimpressive<b>” (</b></i>Moral Fictionalism,
Philosophy<i> Today</i> , No.82, 2011, pp14
-17)<b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Our ethics specialist then has a massive problem in
deciding what they say in class or in the workplace. They have a choice from
multiple ethical theories (fifteen according to one of Peter Singer’s books). In
essence, however, there are three major theories – deontology, utilitarianism
and virtue. Each of course has multiple versions, and each is being still
argued. The arguments, according to an article in the same Singer book,</span> are
described as “internecine warfare”. <span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> For a less bitter dispute, see Hugh’s blog on
why he is no longer a utilitarian, and my response on why I am totally
committed to utilitarianism ( but in one of the many versions). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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His second benefit is clearly a benefit. Let us assume that
you, the reader, are the newly appointed lecturer or ethics officer. You will
come to a conclusion on each of Hugh’s points:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">1. <i>cultural relativism</i>:
the view that morality is just whatever the local culture says it is,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">2. <i>psychological
egoism</i>: the idea that people only do whatever they think will make them happy, and;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">3. <i> religious
necessity</i>: the view that the only reason people can genuinely be moral is
if they believe in God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">You
may reach a position on all three of Hugh’s assertions. You might become, as I
have become, an absolutist, the opposite of a relativist. I believe there is a
right and a wrong in every human situation, no matter how ethically complex. But if you do reach a conclusion, you will
realise that your conclusions will still be subject to dispute. Hugh states: “I
acknowledge there is much that may be said in favour of versions of each of
them</span>”. His <span style="color: #222222;">statement is true. </span>There are many current arguments
against my absolutist position. If you read Plato’s<i> </i><i>Euthyphro</i>, you will realise that some of
these issues have been argued for a very long time, and are still argued today.<span style="background: white;"> <i>"Is
what is </i></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_and_evil" title="Good and evil"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080;">morally good</span></i></a><i><span style="background: white;"> commanded
by God because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is
commanded by God?" </span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Hugh’s third position is that moral philosophy, and in particular
ethical argument, can change behaviour. I have no disagreement. My position is
that moral philosophers do not go far enough – they stop short, even exclude, many
activities that can strengthen ethical behaviour. Let us remind ourselves of the
seven areas set out in the original article:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">Seven practices to strengthen ethical behaviour </b></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;">a)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> <i><b>
</b></i></span><!--[endif]--><i><b>Strengthening our ability to recognise when we
ourselves have been unethical. Since first writing those words, I have come
across two more references to the fact that we fool ourselves when we judge our
own ethical or unethical behaviour (Dorothy Rowe, Why we lie, and Dan Ariely The (honest) truth about dishonesty.
How we lie to everyone - especially ourselves). Both are psychologists. Ariely
documents numerous experiments that will convince any reader of our underlying
dishonesty. <o:p></o:p></b></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">b)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Steps
to encourage us to speak out against wrongdoing (this is blowing the whistle on
wrongdoing – well proven in its effectiveness
in stopping unethical or illegal activities), <o:p></o:p></b></i><br />
<i><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><br /></b></i></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">c)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Developments
in codes of ethics that make them effective. See Vanya Smythe’s article in Applied Ethics. The research is not a
100% guarantee, but still convincing. <o:p></o:p></b></i><br />
<i><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><br /></b></i></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">d)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Policies
adopted by private sector organisations to institutionalise ethical behaviour,
The paper documents a half dozen practices- all recent developments - in
current use. <o:p></o:p></b></i><br />
<i><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><br /></b></i></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">e)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->New
programs for ensuring greater honesty in government. Both d) and e) document the programs. Extensive
research is under way to identify their effectiveness. <o:p></o:p></b></i><br />
<i><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><br /></b></i></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">f)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Building
action on empirical findings, not argument.
This is the disputed issue – see below. <o:p></o:p></b></i></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;">g)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Teaching
these practices </span><span style="background-color: orange;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></i></div>
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Plus a final section (h) – The implications of these findings<o:p></o:p></div>
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My argument is short. Each of these practices, as outlined
in the original philosophy café paper (<a href="http://www.philoagora.com/">http://www.philoagora.com/</a>
- recent talks), if adopted, will strengthen ethical behaviour. Yet none of these practices, with a few
exceptions, is taught in the schools of moral philosophy around the world, or
set out in the major publications on ethics written by philosophers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We come to Hugh’s fourth point,<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> the “unwarranted distinction between argument and
empirical evidence” (point (f) above). T</span>o this writer, the fourth is the
same issue as the fifth point: “<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Before concluding, though, I must respond to the important point … about
philosophical disputations”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The
first statement to make is that five of the concerns I have listed above are
based on empirical evidence. There is research that tells us these practices work.
If promoted in ethics courses in our colleges and by ethical programs in our
places of employment, they would bring about strengthened ethical behaviour. Irregular
– but still improvement. Yet they are not endorsed by the vast majority of
moral philosophers. Why not? I can only give a speculative answer– that
philosophers have been educated with a preference for argument, and these
findings are the result of applied research, that for the most part, comes from
other disciplines. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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I have outlined my
thoughts on arguments in a separate paper, <i>Critical
Thinking, </i> on my blog <a href="http://whistleblowingethics.blogspot.com.au/">http://whistleblowingethics.blogspot.com.au/</a>.
That paper uses three references to define what philosophers describe as
critical thinking. The three references are: Jill LeBlanc, (1998) “<i>Thinking Clearly.
A guide to critical reasoning</i>, Lewis Vaughn, (2008, 2nd. ed.) <i>The Power of Critical Thinking</i> and the
notes for an undergraduate course on Creative Thinking at Macquarie University.
Each asserts that the philosophical
position is to use argument as a basis for thinking critically. The following
paragraphs summarise the reasons (set out in the blog) that contradict their
claim that argument can generate critical thinking:<o:p></o:p></div>
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1. Argument, as
promoted by the three references, ignores a number of practices in other
disciplines that can generate creative, forward looking thinking – thinking
that answers the question of what should we do? Principal among these is quantitative
evaluation techniques. The three references also ignore approaches used to
generate creativity in thinking, as well as techniques such as decision trees
and influence diagrams used to assess the impact of adopting different courses
of action.<o:p></o:p></div>
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2. Argument
generates criticism. Almost by definition it requires a ‘for’ and an ‘against’
if an argument is to occur. As a method of thinking, it does not generate
building on what has gone before. Arguments occur to destroy, or at least
contradict, what has been developed so far. These pages, for instance, are an argument.<o:p></o:p></div>
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3. Argument does
not lend itself to rigorous quantitative techniques. Empirical research at
times requires statistical analysis. If the three references are taken as a
guide, their coverage on statistics is such that any statistics based quantitative
analysis would be beyond their readers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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4. Argument based
critical thinking relies on inductive and deductive reasoning. In the long run,
both types of thinking come down to observation – to empiricism. Strong
empirical capabilities will generate strong arguments, but, I assert, empirical
research is not a philosophical virtue. This may be the reason why philosophers
have been arguing with each other for over 2000 years.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, I come to
the final two points – g) the teaching of these practices, and h) the impact if
they are not taught. In the original paper, I suggested that society was the
bigger loser, for we are not obtaining the full benefits of the discipline of
moral philosophy. It is a discipline which,
although it assures us that it is the mother of ethical theory and
practice, does not teach a full set of approaches to strengthening ethical
behaviour, nor undertake the research necessary
to assess and improve developments already underway. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On reflection, I
now believe that it is the student of ethics in our schools of moral philosophy
who is the bigger loser. Teachers and
practitioners in ethics can search out these new developments themselves
(although with some difficulty). Students, however, take ethics courses. Many,
one suspects, hope to work at extending ethical practices as widely as possible
throughout our communities. Instead, they have been given an incomplete
knowledge of developments and capabilities in ethics work in government or the
private sector. They have been turned out – for only a few - with the capacity to
on-teach what they have learned so far. And that learning is circumscribed. It
is also of limited value in the work day world.<o:p></o:p></div>
Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-87442024343500231102012-11-20T21:03:00.000-08:002012-11-20T21:03:33.057-08:00Critical Thinking <br />
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The Society for Applied Philosophy argues on its website that “<span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">many topics of public debate are capable
of being illuminated by the critical, analytic approach characteristic of philosophy.”
</span>This essay argues that critical thinking in philosophy, as described in
courses with that title, as well as in reference books on the topic, and in
particular in the emphasis on argument, does not fully meet its objective, if
that objective is to strengthen our ability to think critically.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I shall first define critical thinking. Then, using three philosophical
works as benchmarks, I shall assess whether the thinking methods that they
propose is capable of clarifying issues of public debate. The assessment, on the
whole, finds that deeper, more analytical methods from other disciplines will
strengthen our capability to think critically on issues of concern to us individually
and also as members of organised society.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The three benchmarks are: Jill LeBlanc, (1998) “<i>Thinking Clearly. A guide to critical
reasoning</i>, Lewis Vaughn, (2008, 2nd. ed.) <i>The Power of Critical Thinking</i>, and the course notes for an
undergraduate course on Creative Thinking at Macquarie University. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> What is critical thinking?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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This examination in part depends on a definition of ‘critical thinking,’ and
in part, through an answer to the question of why we should teach it. It would
seem almost axiomatic that to think critically would be to strengthen our
ability to think through and decide on the issues and concerns that face us,
and our communities. This is consistent with the SAP statement above, which
implies that we need a critical, analytical approach to throw light on ways to
resolve issues of public concern. Such
thinking is also consistent with the SAP statement <o:p></o:p></div>
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of its own objective:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The Society for Applied Philosophy (UK) was founded in 1982
with the aim of promoting philosophical study and research that has a direct
bearing on areas of practical concern.</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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The term ‘critical’ has at least two meanings. One is to find fault; the
second is the meaning implied by the immediately preceding paragraphs – that it
is to think through issues of significance to ourselves and our communities. I
will use the second definition as the only one which is useful, and draw on the
three references to explain why it is ‘crucial or decisive’, to use a Lewis
Vaughn description. He states: “You came into this world without opinions or
judgements …and now your head is brimming with them”. He further adds: “the quality of your beliefs is the
fundamental concern of critical thinking.”
(op.cit .p. 1)<o:p></o:p></div>
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‘Ultimately, what critical thinking leads you to is knowledge,
understanding and - … empowerment’ (op.cit.p.1)<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Critical thinking enables problem solving and active learning” (p.5)<o:p></o:p></div>
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An examination of various references on this topic gives similar
conclusions. One series of definitions, however, is that critical thinking
comes down to argument. Jill
LeBlanc, in her treatise on thinking clearly emphasises the role of argument.
“Our ultimate goal in studying critical thinking is to learn to evaluate
arguments” (p.1.). She defines an argument as: “… an attempt to justify or
prove a conclusion” (p.2).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The Macquarie University
course ‘Critical thinking’, emphasises reasoning; “Our aim in this course is to
teach you the fundamentals of good reasoning. We will illustrate these
fundamentals by looking at reasoning from newspapers, journals, advertisements,
textbooks, and some philosophical works.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Despite the wide ranging
definition that he uses, Vaughn also agrees with the emphasis on argument </span>“Arguments
are the main focus of critical thinking”, (p.10),<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The Macquarie statement leaves
unanswered, or at least only implies, a more fundamental question – why do we need
good reasoning. For this answer I will
again draw on Vaughn - that it is to lead us further to knowledge. I also argue
that in attempting to think critically we are seeking answers to the long asked
questions “What should we do? “, “How should we lead our lives?”</span>. The
baseline references draw upon the early Greek philosophers in <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">seeking answers to these questions. </span>They
are, in a strong sense, philosophical questions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Macquarie unit also
places an emphasis on argument, but provides a wide ranging objective behind
this approach: <b>“</b>We do not argue solely to make
someone agree with us, but to find the truth about some matter, and to provide
good reasons for others to believe our conclusions.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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LeBlanc also reaches beyond the argument to embrace wider issues. She
says: “If you accept a candidate’s arguments to vote for her, you cannot forget
that her policies will affect the lives of many citizens. Will her policies
change their lives for the worse?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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These statements again bring up the issue that critical thinking has as
one of its objectives, developing our thoughts, and arguments, on the broad
social issues that we face in life. Finding a solution to the refugee boats
coming to Australia and the loss of life with them is a good example. But in the broad, I would argue that the
objective behind attempts to think critically is to advance knowledge.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> Uncertain origins<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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The above propositions put forward the early Greek philosophers and the
dialectic approach to explain the development of critical thinking. De Bono
(2000) also makes this assertion. However, other references claim a development
of critical thinking concepts as late as the 1980s (Tucker, 1997). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Critical thinking (CT) gained widespread recognition as a behavioral
science construct in the<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>1980's when Goodwin Watson and Edward Glaser’s ‘Critical Thinking’ Appraisal became a<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>widely used tool for assessing the
effects of undergraduate education on reasoning skills,<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Subsequent paragraphs in this essay tend to draw the conclusion that
there are several theories on critical reasoning. As the three base references
are philosophical in origin, and as the authors themselves are philosophers, we
can reasonably categorise as philosophical, the critical thinking methods in
this paper in the comparison with other disciplines<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Concerns
with the suggested approach on thinking critically <span style="color: #4f81bd; mso-themecolor: accent1;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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The questioning of this approach is based on three concerns: <o:p></o:p></div>
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1. That it does not present the full pedagogical content of what is
required to think critically.<o:p></o:p></div>
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2. That critical thinking, as defined, is oriented excessively to
criticism - that it does not build
on itself. It is a thinking approach that can be contrasted with that of
the sciences.<o:p></o:p></div>
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3. Some of the concepts that are presented are misleading <o:p></o:p></div>
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In a sense these are sins of both omission and commission. ;<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Omissions
in concept and practice <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Evaluation
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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This primary concern arises from the implications of LeBlanc’s statement
on the importance of critically examining political commitments, and the impact
that they have on our lives. Evaluation practices attempt to question our
thinking about policies that affect ourselves (and our societies). Yet
evaluation does not appear to be covered in any of the referenced texts on
critical thinking. I argue that effective evaluation is necessary for the
putting forward of arguments and deciding of answers to the many questions that
we are asking of ourselves, of our societies, or our governments.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I will first briefly explain evaluation and then expand on its role in
thinking critically<o:p></o:p></div>
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Evaluations can be put in terms of an argument. If I state for instance, <i>The intervention in the Northern Territory indigenous communities has
proven successful; </i>and if I provide positive statements from several politicians and public
servants as reasons for supporting this assertion, then I have an argument.
And, I trust, an example of critical thinking<a href="file:///C:/Users/Peter/Documents/PB%20PAPERS/JOURNAL%20OF%20APPLIED%20PHILOSOPHY/CRITICAL%20THINKING%20standard%20footnoting%20NON%20SAP.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">[1]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If a formal
evaluation of this program has been undertaken, I have a strong factual basis
behind the conclusion that has been drawn. An independent evaluation will tell
me what has worked, what has not, and will give indications, sometimes quite
powerfully, of what should or should not be done in the future. In short,
evaluations provide sound arguments behind adopting a particular course of
action. Much new legislation and many policy initiatives require that they be
evaluated after a stipulated period of operation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There are many
programs set up by public authorities , charities and other non-government agencies, and even by private
businesses, the evaluation of which lead society into new ways of thinking.
Examples include the benefits of early interventions in education; provision of
mental health services, types of prison reform, ways of stopping unethical
conduct in the public sector, and so on. These are all social issues about
which we need considerable critical thinking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Evaluation has many
components: ex-ante evaluation (which is an evaluation of the thinking before
it is put into practice), impact evaluation, process or on–going evaluation,
ex-post evaluation. These components and their role in collective thinking have
not changed greatly in several years. See Bowden (1988) and texts such as De
Coninck et al (2008). These texts describe methods of analyses that are
designed to strengthen our
thinking on programs, small or large, that have the potential to contribute to
the betterment of society, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Creative thinking <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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A second aspect of the critical
thinking process that raises a concern is that the texts mention nothing on
creative or innovative thinking. It could well be argued that much thinking that is important, that is attempting
to resolve the question of what should we do about a particular issue, requires
creative or innovative thinking. It is
questionable whether the methods set out for analysing arguments engender
creative thinking. The Macquarie notes for instance specifically mention that
one of the two types of reasoning even prevents imaginative reasoning: <i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>A
deductive conclusion may be used to arrive at something which is implicit, but
will not allow us to arrive at genuinely novel facts.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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There are several
approaches to generating innovative thinking that could be taught. This
writer’s favourite is The Five Whys - a thinking process developed by the
founder of the Toyota Car company. It asks in succeeding order why a particular
problem is occurring. An example is Why is the world is facing economic problems
at the moment? – Because of the Global Financial Crisis…Why did this crisis
occur? – Because loan funds were too cheap…Why were loan funds,,,, etc., etc.<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Other creative
thinking concepts are Edward de Bono’s concept of Lateral Thinking (1970), or
his revised Six Thinking Hats (2000).There are many others – brainstorming,
delphi techniques, etc. - available in the literature. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Critical thinking as criticism <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Yet another concern,
related to creative thinking, is the negative aspects of critical thinking. To
be critical is one definition of a criticism.
It is relatively simple to pull apart an argument. It is much more difficult to build a thought
that wins acceptance, that advances knowledge.
My concern is that the emphasis on argument and on the analysis of
arguments makes it much more difficult to move thinking forward.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #444444; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The
skill at unmasking error, or simple intellectual one-upmanship, is not
completely without value, but we should be wary of creating a class of
self-satisfied debunkers</span></i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> (</span><span style="color: #444444; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Roth,
2010)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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It could well be
argued that this difficulty has also likely been the reason why little
agreement is achieved in philosophical thought. Many examples can be given of this disagreement. John Stuart Mill, in
the opening sentences of <i>Utilitarianism</i>
,writes:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: #fcfff6; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">From the dawn of philosophy, the
question concerning the summum bonum, (</span></i><span style="background-color: #fcfff6; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">the controversy respecting the criterion of right and
wrong) <i>has been accounted the main
problem in speculative thought, has occupied the most gifted intellects, and
divided them into sects and schools, carrying on a vigorous warfare against one
another. And after more than two thousand years the same discussions continue</i></span><i><span style="background-color: #fcfff6; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;">,….<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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An even more
telling example of the negative power of argument is seen in some of these
‘sects and schools’ .The Beauchamp and Childress formulae, for instance (2001),
a combination of Kant and Mill, although developed for biomedical ethics,
provide an extremely wide ranging set of ethical guidelines. They are taught in
the health sciences disciplines throughout much of the world. But they are
disputed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernard Gert’s formulation of a common
morality (2004) has been treated in an even more cavalier fashion. It is
perhaps an even more encompassing theory. But at a relatively recent symposium,
it is attacked by every philosopher who had a say on Gert’s prescriptions.
(AJPAE, 2005) The essence of their attack was a counter-argument, not an
attempt to find a universal formulation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In one clear
example of the negative approach engendered by argument, in a book edited by Peter Singer, one
philosopher describes as ‘Internecine warfare’, the conflict between deontology
and utilitarianism, before going on to put forward his arguments for his own
theory – Virtue Ethics (Pence 1993).
LeBlanc, in her definition that “critical thinking is
to learn to evaluate arguments”, sets a scene where our thinking is not to
portray a positive, forward looking or innovative picture, but to assess whether the argument,
and therefore thinking behind it, is faulty. Possibly of greatest significance
is that part of a course on thinking critically which teaches you to recognise
logical fallacies. The Macquarie Notes
tell you that some references provide over 90 different fallacies. Macquarie
itself has upwards of twenty -
ambiguity, equivocation, vagueness, unclear meaning, vacuity, question-begging,
circular, relevance, straw
person arguments being among them. There is only one purpose in learning these
fallacies – to recognise fallacious arguments. In other words , to tear them
apart. Positive thinking – the
advancement of knowledge - would not use
these techniques.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A contrast
can be drawn with the thinking approach of the sciences. Any new theory will
face opposition, often widespread, and often critical. Look for instance at the
controversies over the hobbit discoveries in Indonesia (<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Homo floresiensis) or over global warming. The professional recognition
will go in the long term, however, primarily to those who build on or take
these theories further. The methods used will primarily be empirical.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The value of empirical research <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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A fourth
concern is the near complete ignoring of empirical research, and in particular,
the use of statistical analysis in research. None of the base line references
noted above have provided much of substance on empirically based research. Yet
if we quote a research project with a heavy statistical content as a premise in
support of an argument, it is necessary that we have also the statistical
capabilities to evaluate that research paper. Uncritical acceptance of a
statistical analysis, due to inability to assess the statistics, is uncritical
thinking, not the reverse. This issue is
linked with the concern about the validity of other types of argument,
discussed in the following paragraphs. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Concerns over misleading content<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Argument <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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The concerns
of this paper about argument as
a basis for critical thinking are not
without support. One example is
from Louis Pojman who, writing with Lewis Vaughn in the sixth edition of a
widely used undergraduate text, <i>Philosophy.
The Quest for Truth,</i> states that he has “striven to present opposing views
on virtually every topic“(2009). His is
a questionable assertion, for the truth rarely has two sides. Nevertheless,
Pojman does assert that all philosophical issues have one position and a
counter argument. Bernard Williams also
speculates that philosophy is about reflective, persuasive argument (1985).
Many publications on philosophical ethics, including those of JS Mill cited
above, are often little more than arguments that refine and re-interpret the
various differences and arguments over ethical
theory.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is
apparent that the “internecine warfare” is a well-established feature of moral
philosophy. Such a concept may cause few problems when the wrongs are simple
and straight forward. The problem is a
real one for many teachers and trainers in ethics however, when the ethical
issue is unclear. Such issues exist in almost every discipline, <o:p></o:p></div>
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John Lachs decries this
approach. He argues that “young philosophers (in the US) are taught that
argument is king …that knowledge of facts is superfluous” (2009). These
paragraphs endorse Lachs’ viewpoint.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The adoption of argument as a way of thinking is
widespread .Ethical classes recently introduced into Australian schools (in NSW) have a session on argument
.One of the Year 5 topics is ‘The Structure of Arguments’. The aim for this session
is <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>This topic introduces
students to the most fundamental tool of logical (and hence ethical) reasoning,
viz. the philosophical one of argument. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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The children’s ethical classes reach as far as defining and discussing
deductively valid arguments.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Inductive and deductive arguments <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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I have particular
trouble with inductive and deductive arguments.
According to Vaughn “arguments come in two forms, deductive and
inductive. A deductive argument is
intended to provide logically conclusive support for a conclusion; an inductive
argument is intended to provide probable
- not conclusive – support for its conclusion” ( p.68)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Inductive arguments can present facts <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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I have a particular
difficulty with inductive argument being classified as weak or strong, never
valid. Yet a deductive argument can be valid. In the disciplines with which
this writer is familiar, most development is based on observation. And facts.
But if we take an example from the Macquarie Notes:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Every flame I have ever put my hand in has burnt me. Therefore, if I put
my hand in this new flame, it will burn me.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>“Is this argument valid?” </i> The Macquarie course argues that
it is not valid <i>…….”because it is possible that putting my hand in
this new flame might not burn me. Perhaps this flame is entirely different from
every other flame I have experienced, and would have some entirely different
effect. It would be possible for the argument to have its premise true and
conclusion false, so the argument is not valid”.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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The argument is, of course,
valid (in the normal sense of the word). It is a fact that you will be burnt,
because of the laws of physics.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The sun will rise
tomorrow. It is not only because thousands of years of observations say it
will, but the physical laws of the universe saying that it will. If we come to know that it will not rise
tomorrow, it again is due the same laws and the functioning, or perhaps
malfunctioning, of comets, asteroids, and other missiles in space.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Perhaps the
strongest argument that inductive reasoning can present facts is in a research
thesis. When first set out, it may only
be a theory – that this particular drug X will prevent illness Y. The
presentation for obtaining funding will be an argument. After the research, if
successful, and years of verifiable use, it has become a fact. Penicillin is a
good example.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“Inductive arguments
are not truth preserving” is a statement by Vaughn (p.10), a statement repeated
by all three references. True, the white
swan observation until the black swan was sighted was misleading, but it had no
impact on useable knowledge. Many inductive observations have produced great
advances for the human race. To criticise them as not truth preserving is to
deny the value of these analyses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Deductive arguments <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Leblanc includes
what she describes as categorical statements, or categorical syllogisms, under
this category. A frequently quoted example is:
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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All humans are
mortal, <o:p></o:p></div>
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Socrates is human<o:p></o:p></div>
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Socrates is mortal <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
My concerns are
twofold: One is the definition: “these are arguments which, if the premise is
true, the conclusion must be true’ (LeBlanc p.110).The second is that along
with a belittling of empirical research has been the elevation of deductive
arguments to the possibly of being valid. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The validity of deductive arguments <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Valid,
according to the dictionary has several meanings - <span style="color: #333333; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">sound; just; </span>well-founded<span style="color: #0055bb;">; </span><span style="color: #333333;">producing the desired result. Yet we can
get a situation where an argument can be valid but still be faulty due to
unacceptable or faulty premises. To this writer, a faulty argument is an
invalid argument. Most observers would
have the same response.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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LeBlanc states: “it
is sometimes said that deductive arguments are true in all possible worlds.“
(p.110). If the premise is correct, the conclusion is correct. In this case the
argument is stated to be ‘valid.’ <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The premise however,
may not be true. We can question not only its truth but its relevance. Her
example is <o:p></o:p></div>
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If I were an earthworm, I could
fly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But I cannot fly, <o:p></o:p></div>
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So I am not an earthworm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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LeBlanc
asserts that this argument denies the necessary condition. Therefore, it is “a
good argument”. But the other premise is
false – you are not an earthworm and they cannot fly; so overall it is an
invalid argument. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Dorothy Rowe, in her
<i>Why we lie</i> (2011) sets out an
argument where the premise is true, but “which can make an entirely false
deduction “(p.41):<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This new person looks very much
like my cousin Harry<o:p></o:p></div>
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Harry is a liar <o:p></o:p></div>
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Therefore this new person is a
liar.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The
Rowe argument appears illogical yet the premises are true. The two guidelines appear to contradict. The
Rowe argument however could be inductive – by analogy. Her use of the term
“deduction’ and the similarity of the arguments illustrates this writer’s
concern with definitions and terminology. The use of commonly accepted terms in
an unfamiliar setting can easily mislead.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together; page-break-after: avoid;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Deduction relies on observation, on research <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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The statement that t for a deductive argument he
premises have to be true before the argument can be acceptable makes considerable
sense. The reference texts tell us that there are four reasons for accepting
the premises – common knowledge, personal experience, expert authority, and
research (LeBlanc p.111). All are based on observation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The deductive argument, therefore, in the ultimate
analysis, relies for its validity on induction.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Advancement of thinking <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Another concern
under this category is that it is very difficult to identify a deductive
argument which advances knowledge. Most deductive arguments, it would appear,
are conditional. A conditional argument
is possibly the most common deductive argument. Such an argument takes the
form. “Only students with B+ grades can enrol in the subsequent unit’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It would seem that
if an argument relies on a condition, then for the argument to advance
knowledge the condition would have to be filled. But we can never be sure that
the condition can be met, or whether wide observation or some empirical
research is necessary to determine if the condition can be filled. Take the example
of a conditional argument that attempts to advance our thinking: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>The argument for introducing internet censorship is
that our children can find disgusting websites. These websites harm our
children in that it gives them a distorted view of life.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>But censorship is contrary to the widespread
endorsement of the freedom of speech.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>And we cannot prove that these websites cause any
harm to children. If we could prove that children were harmed we could advocate
censoring the internet.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Other arguments – ending
war in the Arab countries, reducing crime in the streets, will usually be
conditional on some premise of which we cannot be certain. Until the condition
is fulfilled, and found to be valid, there is no way in which the argument
would move us forward.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The exception occurs
on programs which have been evaluated. In other words, if we have obtained strong evidence, proof even,
that the condition has been effective. An example can be drawn from an argument
on childhood education strategies that children of low income, low education
families would do better in their school studies if they received a one year or
two year ‘head start’ at school. This
was a conditional argument. An ex-ante
evaluation said yes, it was likely that they would do better. The program was
put in place; an ex-post evaluation proved the assertion to be correct.<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The
program had an impact on early childhood education for all children as well as
for minority children (Graham, 1984).</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Excessive definitions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The above paragraphs
have been leading to the concern that “critical thinking” as defined,
introduces a raft of definitions that do not assist in clear, innovative
thinking capabilities. It can be argued that ‘clear thinking’, as expounded by
the references quoted in this paper, consists primarily of a series of
definitions that are used to categorise types of arguments or parts thereof. It
is difficult to determine how these definitions strengthen a person’s creative
thinking. Examples are the terms inductive and deductive reasoning themselves,
noted earlier, when in the final analysis, all reasoning relies on observation
of some type. Deductive reasoning is possibly the more serious offender -
sufficient and necessary conditions; denying the necessary condition; affirming
the sufficient condition – in particular, are concerned with conditional
statements, LeBlanc describes her chapter on categorical logic ( the
‘Socrates is human’ logic) as ‘terminology-intensive’ (p. 54).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Linked and convergent premises, sub arguments, counter considerations,
etc. are other definitions where the contribution to strengthening critical
thinking in the positive sense argued in these pages, is difficult to identify.
The definitions, and what is argued as excessive terminology will assist a
reviewer in pulling an argument apart , in determining what is wrong with the
argument. They do little to strengthen
innovation in thinking - to create positive, forward looking
thought.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The
reliance on definitions is epitomised in one lecturer’s statement: “Only
DEDUCTIVE arguments can be valid or invalid (inductive arguments can be strong
or weak, such as arguments based on "research" and observation)”. An
argument where “a wrong premise can produce a valid conclusion has to be
deductive by definition”. (personal correspondence).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Other disciplines conceive critical thinking
differently<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Under this category first must
be mentioned a work by<b> </b>Linda Elder and Richard Paul.
Elder is the President of the Foundation
for Critical Thinking. They argue that “all reasoning is based on
data, information and evidence” (Elder & Paul, 2007,Loc, 163). They assert
that there are eight universal structures of human thought: That it generates
purposes, raises questions, uses information, utilises concepts, makes
inferences, makes assumptions, generates implications, and embodies a point of
view. Aspects of their structure coincide with the main themes put forward in
the baseline references, but for the most part, the two thinking schemes are
very different. One obvious difference is their
argument that basis behind all
thinking is empirical.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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A second issue is the variations in critical thinking methods
advocated by the different disciplines. If you search the holdings of a major
library for texts on critical thinking, you will locate many, numbering in the
several dozens. A sample of topics covered in a major university library
include critical thinking for language, for sports students, nursing,
psychotherapy, dental research, social care, sex and love and several others. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Most do not define critical thinking as argument. Taking just
one example <i>Critical Thinking in the
Intensive Care Unit</i>; (<span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c;">Cohen </span>2007), the author draws on the
following for a definition:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c;">Alfaro-LeFevre (1999) defines critical thinking as careful,
deliberate, outcome-focused (results oriented) thinking that is mastered for a
context. Critical thinking is based on scientific method; the nursing process;
a high level of knowledge, skills, and experience; professional standards; a
positive attitude toward learning; and a code of ethics. It includes elements
of constant revaluation, self-correction, and continual striving for
improvement.</span></i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Another example is <i>Critical Thinking </i>by a psychologist and
business consultant (Feldman, 2009). He sets out four strategies for becoming a
critical thinker. Elements of his analyses coincide with aspects of the three
baseline references, but much of his work has no parallels. His examination of reasons to doubt certain
types of argument largely duplicate the baseline references, for instance, but
his treatment of explanations however, is considerably more detailed. Covering
roughly 20 % of the book, he treats explanations as a tool for strengthening
‘discovery and understanding’. LeBlanc assigns 9 pages out of close to 300 to
explanations - a much less detailed
coverage, and to this reader, quite superficial.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Yet a further example is
peer review. Although much criticised, peer review is a process which is
universally used to assess whether a particular line of thinking advances human
knowledge. The methods adopted in peer reviews across the disciplines would
appear to vary widely. They are not based on argument ,and do not necessarily follow the concepts
presented in the three references that this paper has used. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
That different disciplines advocate different methods of ensuring one’s
thinking is critical, do not necessarily condemn the methods advocated in the
three references. But they do throw
doubt on any claim to a comprehensive coverage.
The differences also suggest the possibility that other methods may be
more effective.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In
conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To sum up this argument: If we define critical thinking according to the
concepts set out in the three references that opened this paper, then those
concepts fail to provide a complete outline of possible approaches to
strengthen critical thinking. They also could also ,in the concepts that they do put forward,
mislead a student into adopting less
effective methods. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>References <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background: white;">Alfaro-LeFevre, R. 1999. Critical Thinking
in Nursing: A Practical Approach. Philadelphia: WB Saunders.</span><b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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AJPAE. Australian
Journal of Professional and Applied Ethics
(2005) <i>Book Symposium. </i>Vol.7
No. 1 <o:p></o:p></div>
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Bowden P (1988) <i>National Monitoring and Evaluation</i> ,
Avebury , Aldershot <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_De_Bono" title="Edward De Bono"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">De Bono, Edward</span></a><span style="background: white; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"> </span><span style="background: white;">(1970).</span><span style="background: white; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;"> </span><i><span style="background: white;">Lateral
thinking: creativity step by step</span></i><span style="background: white;">.
Harper & Row</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_De_Bono" title="Edward De Bono"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: windowtext; text-decoration: initial;">De Bono, Edward</span></a><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">(2000).</span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span><i>Six
Thinking Hats</i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> Penguin London<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
De Coninck, J et al (2008) <i>Planning, monitoring and evaluation in
development organisations </i>Sage, Los
Angeles <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Elder, Linda and Paul, Richard (2007) <i>The Thinker's Guide
to Analytic Thinking . </i>Kindle Edition<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Graham, H.
(1984). The uncertain triumph: Federal education policy in the Kennedy and
Johnson years. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Lachs, John
“Can philosophy still produce public intellectuals? <i>Philosophy Now, </i> September/October, 2009.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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LeBlanc Jill, (1998) “<i>Thinking Clearly. A guide to critical reasoning.</i> New York, WW
Norton<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pence, Greg
(1993). ‘Virtue Theory’ in Peter Singer (Ed.). <i>A Companion to Ethics,</i> Oxford, Blackwell Publishers, p. 249.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Pence, Greg
(1993). ‘Virtue Theory’ in Peter Singer (Ed.). <i>A Companion to Ethics,</i> Oxford, Blackwell Publishers, p. 249.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pojman, Louis P and Vaughn,
Lewis (2009) <i>Philosophy. The Quest for
Truth </i>(7th ed.). New York Oxford University Press<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #444444; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Roth, Michael, “</span>Beyond Critical Thinking.” <i><span style="color: #444444;">The chronicle of higher education</span></i><span style="color: #444444;">. Jan 3 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Rowe, Dorothy (2011)<i>Why we lie.</i> London, Fourth Estate , Harper Collins <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Society for Applied
Philosophy (2012) on the website for its annual conference:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.appliedphil.org/view/index.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.appliedphil.org/view/index.html</span></a> Accessed
August 2012 <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tucker, Robert
(1997), <i> Less than Critical Thinking. </i>Accessed August 2012 <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.intered.com/storage/jiqm/v6n3_4_ct.pdf"><i><span style="background: #D5D4D2;">http://www.intered.com/storage/jiqm/v6n3_4_ct.pdf</span></i></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Vaughn, Lewis, <i>The Power of
Critical Thinking</i> (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008, 2nd. ed.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Williams,
Bernard (1985) <i>Ethics and the Limits of
Philosophy</i>. London, Fontana<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The Macquarie University course, PHI 120, Critical
Thinking, is online. Quotations and references are available only to those with
a password. Excerpts containing the
online references will need to be accepted without verifying,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">This
program was i</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 10pt;">ntroduced
by the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia" title="Australia"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-size: 10.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Australian</span></a><span style="background: white; font-size: 10.0pt;"> federal government in
2007 to address claims of rampant child sexual abuse and neglect in Northern Territory aboriginal communities</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-78120573527535197342012-11-20T01:56:00.000-08:002012-11-20T01:57:44.657-08:00Utility and its critics<br />
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Hugh Breakey, editor of <i>Australian
Ethics</i> and an outstanding contributor to matters ethical has put an article
on his blog. <i>Why I am not a utilitarian
(anymore) </i> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://hughbreakey.blogspot.com.au/">http://hughbreakey.blogspot.com.au</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Hugh has joined some outstanding philosophers. Amartya Sen is
the latest in a long line. In a recent issue of the Journal of Applied
Philosophy, Sen argues that “the utility calculus can be deeply unfair “(to
those who are persistently deprived). Sen (and Hugh) join Bernard Williams, John
Rawls, and Martha Nussbaum, who are among the better known critics. My tutor in
Philosophy 101 (not all that long ago) is among the lesser known.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This article argues that they are all wrong. We must of course remember
there are different versions of utility.
So we have to know which version Hugh no longer belongs to.. There are
three main versions – Jeremy Bentham’s ,John Stuart Mill’s and Peter Singer’s ,
but also several other versions - <span style="font-size: 13pt;">Act and rule
utilitarianism being two of the better known. This paper argues for Mill’s
version.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The principal criticisms are primarily against Bentham’s
version- “the greatest good for the greatest number,” an ethical guideline that is clearly
unacceptable, for it rides roughshod over minority groups. John Stuart Mill arguing
that utility theory encompasses moral thought (and disagreement) from the days
of Epicurus, specifically rejects the minority argument. Iin <i>On Liberty, </i>he warns us that tyranny of the majority is “among the
evils… society requires to be on its guard”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Amartya Sen has not read Mill’s arguments very closely. Sen
argues for human rights as a personal freedom. Mill in fact equates happiness
with individual freedom “We may refer (the question of happiness) to the love
of liberty and personal independence… but its most appropriate appellation is a
sense of dignity” Mill‘s alternate version of utility, in his<i> Utilitarianism</i>, puts lie to Williams, Rawls,
and Nussbaum. Mill has two overriding criteria – promoting happiness and
avoiding pain. He argues the optimum approach for fulfilling those guidelines
is minimising harm to others.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“The moral rules which forbid
mankind to hurt one another (…which include wrongful interference with each
other’s‟ freedom) are more important to human wellbeing than any maxims“. One
has only to read of the many causes for which Mill fought to know that these
thoughts are deeply embedded within him. Sen, Williams, and Rawls, wrote as though
Mill never made this statement. Mill has placed preventing harm at the highest
level - overriding happiness. Again he states “a person may possibly not need
the benefit of others but he always needs that they do him no harm”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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These statements are inarguable <o:p></o:p></div>
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Nussbaum is another issue. Peter
Singer asserts that her capabilities approach in fact draws on utility theory. Singer
is correct. Nussbaum is attempting to maximise happiness, and minimise harm,
through a maximising of freedom and well-being.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But there are stronger
arguments why Nussbaum and Sen ,in particular , are simply wrong when they
criticise utility, and in particular Mill’s philosophical thinking, when they
claim the advantages of their capabilities theory .The Stanford encyclopaedia
of philosophy<b> </b>writes
<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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“Following Wilhelm von Humboldt (1993 [1854]), in <i>On Liberty</i> Mill
argues that <i>one</i> basis for endorsing freedom (Mill believes
that there are many), is the goodness of developing individuality and
cultivating capacities:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Individuality is
the same thing with development, and…it is only the cultivation of
individuality which produces, or can produce, well-developed human beings…what
more can be said of any condition of human affairs, than that it brings human
beings themselves nearer to the best thing they can be? or what worse can be
said of any obstruction to good, than that it prevents this? (Mill, 1963, vol.
18: 267</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is not just a
theory about politics: it is a substantive, perfectionist, moral theory about
the good. And, on this view, the right thing to do is to promote development or
perfection, and only a regime securing extensive liberty for each person can
accomplish this”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In short, John
Stuart Mill had developed the concept of a capability theory, a century before
Sen and Nussbaum.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hugh has adopted yet another anti-utility argument. He uses a thought
experiment. Philosophers have a penchant for thought experiments that will never
see reality. Waking to find yourself in a hospital serving as life support to a
famous violinist is typical. In Hugh’s, we create a world in which there is
more peace, trust, goodwill, happiness, etc. Maybe the current arguments for
‘multiverses’ or ‘quantum universes’, suggest that Hugh’s thought experiment is
a possibility. But he has added the rider that to achieve this happier World
Mark II, we “destroy the lives and hopes and dreams of all the world’s people”.
He tells us that ‘the utilitarian answer is that <i>of course you should</i> ‘(make the change). But to destroy the lives
of everybody on our current planet is clearly to harm them. John Stuart Mill
has stated that to harm others is not maximising utility<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mill, in almost two centuries, has written the only book with the title
and subject matter on utilitarianism. Many philosophers have claimed that Mill
is not a Utilitarian. The claim is nonsense. We must accept Mill, and his thoughts,
as that version of utility that provides the most dependable guideline. That some
of the arguments put forward in this essay came from his <i>On Liberty,</i> Mill‟s
companion work, written only two years earlier, is no counter to the claim that
Mill presented the definitive version of classical utilitarianism, It may be that Peter Singer modified Mill in his preference utilitarianism in his <i>Practical
Ethics</i> (along with RM Hare)
but an examination of Singer’s version of utilitarianism will extend the essay considerably . In the
end , it will only serve to reinforce
the earlier observation that JS Mill had
already designated what peoples’ overriding preference was.<br />
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We turn finally to my tutor. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory.
It is unanswerable logic that the ethics of any action depend on the results of
that action. But the tutor drew an example of a terrorist who threw his bomb,
and missed. He blew up a building
destined for demolition, saving the city the cost. The terrorist did no harm, so the tutor says
he did no wrong. The tutor of course ignored the intended consequences of the
terrorist – to kill. Numerous examples can be cited of as intended consequences
being unethical - or even illegal – wrongs, using almost any ethical guideline.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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One
does wonder why these arguments arise. The recently introduced ethics classes
in NSW schools have a session on argument: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>This topic introduces
students to the most fundamental tool of logical (and hence ethical) reasoning,
viz. the philosophical one of argument. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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The
schools are endorsing long established practices, including those of well-known
philosophers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It
does look as though we will be producing ethicists who will be arguing what is
right and what is wrong for another 2500 years.<o:p></o:p></div>
Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-21737832424304896852012-07-11T04:16:00.002-07:002012-07-11T04:16:56.144-07:00Whistleblowing in Japan<br />
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<td style="padding: 0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm; width: 435.0pt;" valign="top" width="580"><h2>
<a href="http://email.pcaw.org.uk/t/r-l-hiiliul-wsgjkdy-f/">Olympus
whistleblower wins Supreme Court- a first for Japan</a><o:p></o:p></h2>
Japan's Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a whistleblower for the first
time in a case that highlights the harsh treatment outspoken employees have
endured in a nation that fervently values fidelity and conformity. The case
was initiated by Masaharu Hamada who argued he had been demoted at Olympus
and ignored by colleagues after raising the issue of supplier complaints.
This judgment comes just two months after Olympus reached a reported £10
million provisional settlement with former CEO, Michael Woodford, who was
sacked after blowing the whistle on a £1.1 billion fraud at the electronics
firm.<o:p></o:p><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Washington
Post, 30 June 2012</span></em><o:p></o:p><br />
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</tbody></table>Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-52235054876989200562012-07-10T20:11:00.002-07:002012-11-22T01:14:10.140-08:00UN urges whistleblower protection in Australia<br />
<h2>
</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A UN review of Australia's anti-corruption measures has urged the government
to implement its long-delayed legislation to protect whistleblowers. Despite
former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promising stronger whistleblower laws in 2007
and a parliamentary inquiry in 2009 finding existing federal laws were
"particularly thin and limited", legislation has yet to be
passed.<br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif";">The Australian, 10 July
2012</span></em><o:p></o:p></div>
Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com06 Teakle St .Summer Hill, NSW,Australia.-36.3151251474805 151.875-64.9153496474805 111.4453125 -7.7149006474805013 -167.6953125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-59689150139738777492012-02-23T21:32:00.000-08:002012-11-29T01:54:57.465-08:00The failure of moral philosophy<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The failure of moral philosophy</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Thomas Aquinas refers to Aristotle as “The Philosopher”, as though there were no other. Aristotle is an outstanding philosopher, perhaps the greatest, but he could also be described as a political scientist, a veterinarian, an astronomer, a physicist – although not in the modern sense - and an ethicist. His observations and learning encompassed many disciplines .The argument of this paper is that today’s moral philosophers have not followed his lead. They confine their discussions to opinion and argument, reaching few usable conclusions .They claim that their teaching and writing are based on practice, and lead to action; they claim also that they draw on many disciplines. None of these statements are true. Moral philosophers do not venture outside the narrow self- defined limits of their discipline. Other disciplines contribute as much if not more than moral philosophy to ethical practices which do lead to improved ethical behaviour. These contributions- perhaps a half dozen in all - are ignored by moral philosophers. The big losers are students who study moral philosophy who are not taught these practices. The larger loser, however, is society. Those philosophers who ignore, and in some cases argue against these practices, ensure that our desire to build a more ethical world will gain no support from moral philosophy.<br />
<br />
I will take each of these statements in turn. That Aristotle was much a scientist as a philosopher can be noted from his observations on many aspects of human society. His writing, based near entirely on observation, and within the technical limits of his day, covered animals, the heavens, the political sciences as well as ethics .His thoughts can be applied practically. Nichomachean ethics, for example, sets out distinct guidelines and parameters for our behaviour. His intellectual virtues included scientific knowledge (episteme), and technical skill or art (techne),<br />
<br />
There has not been much progress since. The efforts of moral philosopher today lead only to talk, more talk, and disagreement. Of the many observations on the “internecine warfare” between moral philosophers, I quote Richard Joyce from Philosophy Now (Issue 82 ,2011)<br />
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“The theories are plentiful, the convolutions byzantine, the in-fighting bitter, the spilt ink copious, and the progress astoundingly unimpressive” <br />
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My second contention is the claim that the current mainstream thinking in moral philosophy leads to action. An example is seen in The Ethics Toolkit (Baggini and Fosl, 2007).This book is intended “to provide readers with a deeper …sense of how different ideas … may be enlisted so that people may not only think but act with regard to moral matters.” (The emphasis is mine.).<br />
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There are many similar claims. The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory is written by “an international assembly of distinguished philosophers”. Its editor, Hugh LaFollette (2000), follows the present-day compartmentalisation of ethics into three – meta-ethics, normative ethics and practical ethics, the last mentioned being about “how we should behave in particular situations”. LaFollette asserts that this is a change – quoting PH Nowell-Smith, a half century ago (1957), who stated that “The moral philosopher (and) his subject matter consists … of theoretical statements”.<br />
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Some changes have taken place since Nowell Smith , but I argue that they are still theoretical and that , in any case, ignore developments in other disciplines.<br />
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We can see the changes today in Peter Singer’s book, Practical Ethics, where he talks about our responsibilities towards the poor, towards animals, womens’ rights, racial minorities, and the like. In short, Singer is pushing us toward the practical implications of the policies that he is presenting. <br />
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Many of the books on business ethics discuss those specific issues that occur in the business world. Frederick (2002) for instance, discusses a range of business practices widely considered unethical – in marketing, business finance, environmental issues, etc.<br />
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I argue that these books do not go far enough. They may examine some of the ethical practices that need to be followed, but not all of them. They also give us little guidance on how to manage the ethical issues that they do raise<br />
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Most moral publications are similar to the toolkit book. They concentrate on the ethical theories A standard text for undergraduate courses in ethics, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, by James and Stuart Rachels, for instance , does an excellent job of explaining the many ins and outs of moral philosophy. It has no mention of any of practices adopted by other disciplines that strengthen ethical behaviour.<br />
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The practices drawn from other disciplines come from the work of the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics (AAPAE) , Drawing on studies across ethical practices in thirteen different disciplines, the Association identified six practices that will strengthen ethical behaviour. All are near-completely ignored by moral philosophers. They come from the business sector, from politics, from public administration, from sociology, and from the legal profession. They are (i) Strengthening our ability to recognise when we ourselves have been unethical; (ii) Steps being taken to encourage us to speak out against wrongdoing ;(iii) Developments in codes of ethics that do make them effective;(iv) policies being adopted by private sector organisations to institutionalise ethical behaviour; (v) new programs for ensuring greater honesty in government; and (vi) building action on empirical findings, not argument. Each of these developments is being put into practice in the disciplines from which they arose. But are largely ignored by moral philosophers. <br />
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As I shall demonstrate, several moral philosophers actively decry these developments, despite their benefits. But let us first describe the practices. The first is an analysis of why we adopt practices that result in us not seeing wrongdoing, or in ignoring it when we do see it<br />
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Why we fail to do what is right<br />
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Max Bazerman and Ann Tenbrunsel (Blind Spots,2011) , are professors of business and of business ethics whose research that tells us we do not often recognise the decision we should make is an ethical one .If we do, we sort our way through the maze of competing ethical theories to reach a decision. If we do however, we do not always implement it. There are many reasons why we do not act - a willingness to conform to accepted thinking (group think); our tendency to reduce dissonance when associated with rejecting a suspected unethicality, thinking for the short term rather than the long term, and finally a complete failure to recognise many decisions as ethical. They term their analyses “behavioural ethics”, claiming that it has grown “exponentially” in recent years. Their examples include the Challenger disaster and the Ford Pinto case, arguing there that these decision makers did not recognise the ethical implications of the choices that they made. They give a number of solutions for avoiding the problem, targeted at the individual, organisational or societal level.<br />
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Many developments have in fact been introduced aimed at ensuring that an ethical option is recognised, adopted, and then implemented. The following paragraphs provide a short summary. The first of the actual applications is commonly known as whistleblowing<br />
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Speaking out against wrong doing<br />
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It is only common sense that people inside or in contact with an organisation will be the first to identify wrongdoing. Several major research studies, world-wide, have confirmed that blowing the whistle on illegal or unethical action is the most effective way to stop it. But to speak out is a dangerous practice. Whistleblowers are crucified .Legislation that encourages and protects them has now been introduced in most countries. As have stock exchange guidelines that include whistleblowing .Even business standards now encourage it. These practices and their multiple problems need to be taught to students of moral philosophy. The research on ways to reduce the problems belongs in the same discipline.<br />
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Adopting codes of ethics that are effective<br />
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How many of us have signed a code of ethics without reading it, convinced that (i) we are ethical anyway and (ii) we know that it only exhorts us to be honest and to deal fairly with workmates and clients. And if we do read it, the code seems like a public relations document generated by senior management to give the impression that the organisation is honest. Research in recent years, however, has determined that codes aimed at the actual ethical issues faced by staff, identified and resolved by those who confront these issues, are more likely to be effective.Codes are not a topic of interest to the Toolkit book<br />
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Policies being adopted by private organisations to strengthen ethical practices<br />
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A multitude of these practises have developed in recent years .Thumbnail sketches would include<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Growth in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Michael Porter, perhaps the foremost academic in building business strategies notes the link between corporate strategy and corporate social responsibility “CSR has emerged as an inescapable priority for business leaders in every country” he tells us<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>An ethics role for professional societies. These institutions are developing and codifying ethical practices for the disciplines that they cover. The majority are merely exhortations to be good, and as such, are somewhat useless, but a few tackle the real ethical issues of that discipline.<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Trade Practices and anti-trust. Moves to reach agreements with members of cartels to provide evidence in return for easier treatment have become near universal in recent years .In short, If you turn in your fellow conspirator, you get off.<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Legislation governing business dealings Typical are the Sarbanes Oxley and the Dodd Frank Acts in the US, the strengthened Corporations Act in Australia and the Bribery Act in the UK. Some of this legislation is aimed at combatting one of the ethical blinkers noted by Bazerman and Tenbrunsel – motivated blindness – an inability to recognise an unethical act when it is to your advantage. They note that Enron was Arthur Andersen’s second largest client where the consulting fees were greater than auditing fees – a widespread weakness that has been since overcome through legislative enactment.<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Securities exchanges principles Again there has been increased emphasis on ethical behaviour exercised through stock exchanges, evidenced in a number of developments - stock exchange listing requirements emphasising ethical corporate governance, the growth in ethical investments and the development of codes of ethics for exchange staff being the most prominent.<br />
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Ensuring honest government<br />
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Another growth field described by some as “exponential” is anti-corruption agencies or as they are termed in Australia, Integrity agencies. All are aimed at strengthening behaviour in the public sector, and at times, the legislature. They will range from Crime Commissions to Ombudsman Offices operating in a role expanded from their traditional function as an agency that listens to (and attempt to correct) complaints about public administrators. Some Ombudsman Offices are responsible for taking action on whistleblower issues. They work in a variety of ways, by education, providing consulting services in ethical practices, by accepting complaints on misbehaviour, by encouraging and protecting whistleblowers. They also cover illegal as well as unethical activity. The list of wrongs that one anti- corruption agency prohibits actions that “could adversely affect, either directly or indirectly, the honest or impartial exercise of official functions”. Other prohibited actions involve a breach of public trust, or the misuse of information or material. These actions are not necessarily illegal.<br />
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Adoption of empirical findings<br />
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The learning processes in philosophy are based on argument. It is an adequate process when we are simply speculating. It is totally inadequate for critical analytical action. The inadequacy of argument is reflected in the criticism of anti-corruption and integrity agencies as instruments for bringing about greater ethical behaviour in the public sector. Some moral philosophers decry these developments. Jeff Malpas, for instance, at the most recent AAPAE conference argued that the language of ethics, “seems increasingly to have been appropriated by bureaucratised systems of political and managerial control based around notions of risk management, audit, accountability and assurance “; that it presages “the demise in ethics.”<br />
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His contention uses argument to combat empirical research.Another example of where today’s philosophy has lost sight of the lessons of previous decades is Loius Pojman and Vauhn Lewis in the seventh edition of a widely-used text Philosophy. The Quest for Truth <br />
“The Major task (of philosophy) is to analyse and construct arguments “ and again<br />
“The hallmark of philosophy is centered in the argument”<br />
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Pojman makes the statement in the 6th edition “ I have striven to present opposing views on virtually every topic “ IT is a strange statement to make in a book questing for truth.<br />
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I quote again from Philosophy Now John Lachs decries this approach. “young philosophers (in the US) are taught that argument is king …that knowledge of facts is superfluous” (Can philosophy still produce public intellectuals? Philosophy Now, September/October, 2009)<br />
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I turn finally to the ethical implications of these approaches. The immediate losers, of course, are those young people who take a philosophy degree and who want to work in ethics. Many of them want their work to matter, to have an impact. But they have an inadequate education with which to make this impact – inadequate in two respects. They are given neither the knowledge of these current practice nor the analytical skills with which to use and further develop the practices. I could even claim that their teaching gives them an intellectual handicap with which to face the world. For they are not given the analytical techniques that they would need to make any impact.<br />
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The bigger loser is society at large, however. Research into ways that society can strengthen ethical practices is left to other disciplines. And ethical practices are not mainstream in those other disciplines Ann Tenbrunsel, working in business ethics, is a rarity. Ethics is a branch of philosophy. The research, the developments and strengthening of ethical behaviour should come from that discipline .Currently It does not. And until the discipline changes, it cannot.<br />
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<br />Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-17974657993415977292011-11-18T16:31:00.001-08:002011-11-18T16:41:52.474-08:00WHISTLEBLOWERS AUSTRALIA<br />
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<b>A letter to the Department of Fair Trading in NSW.</b></div>
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<b>6 Teakle Street <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Summer Hill <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>NSW 2130<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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0418 166 577<o:p></o:p></div>
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02 9797 6459<o:p></o:p></div>
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19 October 2011<o:p></o:p></div>
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Commissioner Rod Stowe<o:p></o:p></div>
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Commissioner<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">NSW
Fair Trading<br />
1 Fitzwilliam St<br />
Parramatta, NSW, 2150<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Dear
Commissioner,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I believe
there has been a contravention of the Associations Incorporations Act by </span>Ms
Cynthia Kardell <span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">of
Whistleblowers Australia (WBA). Ms Kardell was the Secretary in the period
prior to the election at the most recent AGM, and as a consequence of the
election, is now the President. I am seeking an investigation into the election
process with the view of remedying what I and others believe to be a flawed
electoral process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">My
concerns involve the conduct of Ms Kardell, who is a practicing solicitor in
NSW. I believe she would have full knowledge of the special requirements that
her professional standing would place on her to conduct any election in a fair
and equitable fashion. I believe she dishonestly abrogated those
responsibilities for her own purposes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">It
is my contention and the view of many long standing members that Ms Kardell
used her position as Secretary to benefit herself and some supporters. </span>The
relevant sections of the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (under which WBA.
has been incorporated), are sections 32 and 33. <span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The reason behind her actions was a conflict
about an earlier policy issue (on seeking funding for WBA).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">In
specific terms, my complaints of her dishonest actions are as follows: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Ms
Kardell used her exclusive access to membership records to seek out non- active
members and to induce them to stand for positions of office holders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Though
other members, including myself, sought access to the membership list, Ms
Kardell refused to grant that access. Ms Kardell insisted that any
communications with other members must be put through her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">Despite
this, Ms Kardell used her position to contact other members without advising
existing office holders of her activities. We have been informed of occasions
where Ms Kardell sought proxies from people who were not made aware of her
intentions to remove original office holders. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">At
no time did Ms Kardell advise other office holders that she was using her
position to influence other members of her intentions. I (as President of the
NSW Branch) had been aware of the earlier conflict, and had specifically met
with Ms Kardell to suggest that the conflict be resolved at the AGM. Ms Kardell
told me that there was no conflict, and that the election would proceed as
usual. This was not the truth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;">The
first item on the AGM agenda was the election of office holders. As soon as Ms
Kardell and her supporters took over the office holder positions she was in a
position to block any debate about the issue in contention.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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This letter sets out details where Ms Kardell has breached
the Act. (Contact details for her and other participants are set out below). <o:p></o:p></div>
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The earlier conflict related to WBA strategy WBA was established to support whistleblowing
& to lobby for strengthened whistleblower legislation. As you may know,
Australia has the weakest whistleblower protection legislation of the major
anglophone countries. About three years ago, the then President and some
members were authorised by an AGM resolution to explore funding sources for
strengthening WBA’s efforts (primarily more research, creating an active website
and greater lobbying). They put in an application to be allowed to compete for
funding offered by an external agency (Siemans Ltd. 2009/10 funding round). Ms
Kardell, then Secretary, objected to external funding. She unilaterally wrote,
as Secretary, to Siemens saying that the WBA committee had not considered the
application. As a result WBA was not even granted permission to enter the
competitive round. Ms Kardell’s action caused much conflict within WBA. The
resulting wide-ranging email correspondence across many members was extremely
unpleasant. A number of members resigned.
The President, Mr Peter Bennett, and myself, however, stayed on. <o:p></o:p></div>
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AGM voting in the past has been confined to those who
attend. With only about 20 attendees, and about 9 proxies, the AGM vote (in Brisbane,
November 2010) was a forgone conclusion. Mr Bennett, after stating his objections,
resigned. I also objected, stating that nobody had any warning that Ms Kardell
was standing –and that based on her earlier statements to me (which I had
circulated), that members expected a normal vote. I also stated that funding
was a major issue, which would affect the directions of WBA, & should be
taken to all members – not decided unilaterally by Ms Kardell. The voting proceeded, however, with the
proxies being used to vote in many of the new faces and eliminate those who did
not support Ms Kardell (the NSW President is elected separately).<o:p></o:p></div>
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I continued to object, but was consistently told that
proxies are allowable under the WBA constitution [ <a href="http://www.whistleblowers.org.au/WBAConst.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.whistleblowers.org.au/WBAConst.html</span></a>
] <o:p></o:p></div>
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The use of proxies as you know is not permitted by the model rules promulgated
by Fair Trading NSW. I was also concerned that Ms Kardell subsequently refused
to allow me – or any other member - access to the membership list, or in my
case, the NSW membership list. Only she can contact members (and has done so,
to announce her Presidency among other matters). <o:p></o:p></div>
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I asked that the dispute be referred to a Community Justice Centre for
mediation in accordance with the Community Justice Centres Act, 1983, as
provided in the WBA constitution. Ms Kardell agreed. At that meeting (30 March) I asked for a Special General Meeting
(SGM) of Whistleblowers Australia under Section 27, Item 2, of the Constitution <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>(2) The committee
shall, on the requisition in writing of not less than 5 per cent of the total
number of members, convene a special general meeting of the association. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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My purpose in that SGM was to attempt to reform the WBA
constitution – to make proxies illegal and to ensure that all members had the
opportunity to vote. I had, and still have, 13 members – well over the 5%, who
have requested an SGM in writing. Ms Kardell has refused to accept those
letters. Her reasons were that most were via email, and although signed, were
not in ink. I also asked that the SGM be without proxies, but Ms Kardell
refused that request also. When I said
that proxies made the SGM a charade Ms Kardell actually told me that I should
go out and get my own proxies. <o:p></o:p></div>
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These actions, from the earliest statements to me, and subsequently,
certainly lack transparency, but I also believe that they are dishonest and therefore
illegal, under sections 32 & 33 of the Associations Incorporation Act. I
would ask that the Department of Fair Trading act on this matter, requesting at
least that it require a Special General meeting be held, that conflicting
viewpoints have equal access to all members, and that no proxies be allowed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yours sincerely,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Peter
Bowden (Dr.)<o:p></o:p></div>Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-83426915725231952852011-07-11T05:08:00.000-07:002011-07-11T05:15:15.620-07:00WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS IN THE STATES OF AUSTRALIA<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><o:p> THE WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION LEGISLATION IN THE STATES OF AUSTRALIA HAS A TOTAL OF NINE PROTECTIONS......., NO STATE HAS ALL NINE</o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; width: 499px;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">PROTECTION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">YES - is provided<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">NO - not provided<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Confidentiality for whistleblower’s identity. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All states and territories, on condition<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">2. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prohibition against reprisals. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All states & territories <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Injunctions against reprisals under the act. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">VIC, Q. ACT ,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">TAS, NT<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">NSW, WA, SA<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Proceedings for damages. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All states<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>except NSW<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">NSW<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Right to relocate.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Q , ACT, (conditional)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: FR;">VIC, TAS, NSW,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WA, SA, NT<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Indemnity against civil & criminal proceedings. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All states <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 7;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Absolute privilege against defamation <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Q, ACT, VIC,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NSW,TAS, NT <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">SA, WA<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> </tr>
<tr style="height: 22.3pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 22.3pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Anonymous disclosures allowed.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 22.3pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Q, VIC, TAS, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">NT, and NSW by implication <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 22.3pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">SA, ACT, WA<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 9; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 164.4pt;" valign="top" width="219"> <div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Protection if released to media.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 110.35pt;" valign="top" width="147"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">NSW ,Conditional. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 99.2pt;" valign="top" width="132"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">No other states <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>permit release <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 63.8pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">to media <o:p></o:p></span></b></div></td> </tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div>Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-35002539894470866312011-07-10T23:18:00.000-07:002012-11-29T02:50:13.856-08:00Rebekah Brooks is guilty<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As by extension, is also her boss, Rupert Murdoch. Although she may not have been aware of the phone tapping by her staff, she is still guilty of running an organisation where the production of stories, no questions asked, is the overriding criteria for success. The News of the World was not a work environment where ethical behaviour on the part its employees was the </span><img alt="Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks have been charged over alleged corrupt payments to officials" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/11/20/1353410063264/Andy-Coulson-and-Rebekah--010.jpg" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">overriding criteria for advancement. That former</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"> News International editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, among five charged over alleged corrupt payments to public officials by journalists, may be found guilty on these charges is not why she is accused in this blog .</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"> She is guilty of creating an unethical organisation </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img 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" 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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We all know from our own work experiences that ethical behaviour is not always the norm - that personal contribution to the organisation, and maximisation of profits take precedence. We are aware that the organisation’s code of ethics is a creative document drawn up by its publicity department. That the ‘discounted’ price may not be a true discount; the quality of the work may be less than advertised; that the outcry against the new tax is purely self-serving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A recent investigation into people who spoke out against wrongdoing in the Australian public service has confirmed this intuitive knowledge. This research comprised nine surveys across the public service, the largest of which sent out 23,177 questionnaires to public servants in 118 agencies, to which 7663 public servants responded. <span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">The research was organised by fourteen state and federal government ombudsman and anti-corruption agencies, along with five universities. It found that senior</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> managers and staff responsible for managing ethical behaviour in public agencies believe that whistleblowing is the most useful way to identify and stop wrongdoing.</span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> One of the more important findings of this study, however, was the enormous variations in the treatment accorded whistleblowers. In some agencies the negative impact of whistleblowing is less than 10%; in other agencies it can be as high as 50% .In effect, some government departments listen to and act on people in the organisation who speak out against wrongdoing. Other agencies ignore the complaint, even take action against the whistleblower.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">In Rebekah Brooks’ News of the World <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there would be little doubt that any employee who <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>spoke out against wrongdoings by the paper would have shortened their career<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>prospects by a substantial margin.. Rebekah Brooks tells us that did not know about the phone tapping. The reason<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>may well be<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>she<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>did<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nothing to encourage people<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to speak<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>out against<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this or any other dubious activity .If she had, Clive Goodman, an editor, would<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not have served time in prison for phone hacking ; nor would Neville Thurlbeck and Ian Edmondsen been arrested<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on suspicion of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>phone hacking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">News Limited has a Code of Conduct .John Hartigan ,Chairman and Chief Executive of News Limited in Australia has put out a press release citing the Code of Conduct as the reason why the remainder of Rupert Murdoch’s empire is squeaky clean: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Given the wider reputational impact on all journalists as a result of the events in the UK I want to remind everyone that adherence to our ethical code is fundamental to our right to publish and a fundamental requirement of our work, every day.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Rebekah Brooks, who enjoys Rupert’s full support, apparently has not read it. Or as is more than likely, she wrote it. But organisational behaviour needs to go beyond a code of ethics written by a senior executive putting forward a picture image for public consumption. . <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Ethical behaviour is as dominant a requirement on the media as it is on any professional body. They influence our attitudes to many of our activities. For many of us, they are the sole information source for the decision - on international conflicts; foreign aid, political parties, even how we vote. </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">The reluctance by politicians to anger powerful media barons was acknowledged with unusual candor recently by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who told a news conference that The News of the World scandal showed the importance of ending what he called the “cozy” relationship in Britain between the media, politicians and the police. Code of ethics only work when they target actual ethical confrontations experienced by employees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John Hartigan did not, and I suspect cannot, tell us that News Limited forbids the hacking of a</span></span><span class="Heading1Char"><span style="color: #282828;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #282828; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">mobile phones belonging to celebrities, victims of crime, terrorism and even relatives of soldiers killed in action.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-3444561459936053022011-07-10T23:11:00.000-07:002011-07-10T23:14:34.904-07:00WHY MORAL PHILOSOPHERS SHOULD NOT TEACH (or preach) ETHICSAn alternate title to this paper is ‘An Appeal to Moral Philosophers’, which asks that they incorporate into their teaching and writing a range of empirical findings on ethical practices.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">But they do not:</span>. Fifty years ago, Nowell-Smith stated that this subject consisted of “theoretical statements”. Today, a range of philosophers - Hugh La Follette (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Blackwell Guide</i>), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Peter</i> Singer (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Practical Ethics</i>), the writers of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ethics Toolkit</i> (Baggini and Fosl) argue that moral philosophy should guide action. But in their publications these philosophers exclude major empirical findings that guide ethical behaviour.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: solid #AAAAAA 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #AAAAAA .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 4.0pt 0cm;"><h1 style="border: none; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 1.2pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #AAAAAA .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 4.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">They are not alone:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"> Refusal by the biggest public institution at the time - the Catholic Church - to accept empirical observations suggests that it believed its own teaching, as do philosophers today. The Church condemned to death Galileo </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">Galilei, who had </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">empirically demonstrated that the Church’s teachings were wrong. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h1></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">T</span>hree findings</b> need to be included in courses and written works on moral philosophy, if we are to have any influence on ethical behaviour:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First - Public interest disclosures - (whistleblowing) </b> <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>Extensive research has shown that the most effective way to identify and stop wrongdoing is through insiders speaking out against it.. (References –AJ Brown, KPMG, PWC, Univ, of Chicago- in full paper). So whistleblowing has to be taught.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>But whistleblowers are crucified (references), so our own integrity dictates we do have to teach those of our students who want to expose wrongdoing how to protect themselves. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>The legislation is supposed to do that, but it doesn’t (refs). So surely we have to expand this teaching to advocate stronger legislation?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Second - Codes of Ethics </b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>Not philosophy you will say .Extensive research says that they can be effective. The long-term effectiveness and crucial sense of code-ownership by staff is repeatedly acknowledged in code studies (several refs). So ethics students should be taught codes, and ways for making them effective. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Third – The ethical infrastructure </b><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>Institutions, legislation and guidelines designed to strengthen ethical practices have grown near exponentially in recent years (references and examples). Ethics officers are being recruited into new corporate positions .These developments follow on from the corporate scandals at the turn of the decade, and the recent Global Financial Crisis, widely regarded as a failure in corporate ethics People skilled in program evaluation are now trying to find which have been effective, with tentative results emerging. Are not teachers of ethics obliged to prepare their students for this environment?<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Do moral philosophers teach these topics? <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>Some do (Cohen and Grace, perhaps others). But most do not. A search for the first two topics - whistleblowing and codes- located 26 articles in the discipline based journals. None in the philosophy journals - The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Australasian Journal of Philosophy , Journal of Moral Education,. </i>or<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Journal of Applied Philosophy</i>. A search of the Springer range of some 35 journals found 290 articles on whistleblowing. None were in the half-dozen or so philosophy journals.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>The third topic, institutionalising ethics –has a many articles in the management and administration journals, none in the philosophy journals that were searched <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">But: Codes of ethics, whistleblowing, ethical institutions, ethical procedures, legislation, etc, are not philosophy. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>What is philosophy? We will first use one definition –It helps answer the question on how we should lead our lives. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But then speaking out, codes and a growing ethical infrastructure would qualify as philosophically valid. For they guide our actions provided the argument that an ethical life leads to a more satisfying life has validity, Whistleblowing itself also raises fascinating philosophical questions on why people are willing to take on the personal risk of blowing a whistle against wrongdoing.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>A second definition of philosophy states that philosophy consists of argument (reference: Pojman –<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Search for Truth</i> sixth edition). Whistleblowing exhibits many contradictions, well able to be argued. Two august professors of philosophy in the common room of a major Australian university argued vehemently against whistleblowing being effective – despite the evidence to the contrary. The arguments are noticeable even in the many definitions of ethics - the conflict between loyalty and honesty is an example. This conflict is between Virtue Ethics, for loyalty is a virtue, and the Kantian obligation to reveal a wrongdoing. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>But perhaps the most fascinating argument of all is that between political philosophy and the public interest – Alan Kessing being a great Australian example of the conflicting moral obligations on a senior public servant when his/her government pushes the ethical boundaries too far.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The implications<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>The failure of moral philosophy to teach ethics in all its variations has a serious implication for society overall. It forces the professions, industry associations, governments, and private business to develop their own individual moral philosophies – to write their own moral codes, decide their own ethics policies. Moral philosophy offers little assistance <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black', sans-serif;">•</span>At USydney, perhaps 20 departments have an ethics course .The lecturers are from the disciplines. They have read LaFollette, Singer, maybe even Aristotle, noted the 2500 years of disagreement, and worked out their own ethical theories. They do their research, publish in their professional journals. Nobody outside that discipline reads the journals. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">For a copy of the full paper, please email <a href="mailto:peter_bowden@usyd.edu.au">peter_bowden@usyd.edu.au</a>. It was rejected by the Journal of Applied Philosophy, The editor, Susan Uniacke, said it was ‘not ethics’<o:p></o:p></div>Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-14440151380877614202011-06-26T20:24:00.000-07:002011-06-26T20:24:43.360-07:00Courage needed to protect whistleblowers<div class="WordSection1"><h1 style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 25px; font-weight: normal;">News article </span></span></h1><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 3.75pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;">A. J. Brown<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 1.5pt; margin-right: 3.75pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span class="source-prefix"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; padding: 0cm;">From:</span></span><cite><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; font-style: normal; padding: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/"><span style="color: #035489;">The Australian</span></a></span></cite><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; padding: 0cm;"> </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 1.5pt; margin-right: 3.75pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span class="datestamp"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; padding: 0cm;">June 24, 2011</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"> </span></span><span class="timestamp"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt; padding: 0cm;">12:00AM</span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/help/share"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #666666; font-size: 8.5pt; padding: 0cm;">Share</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><strong><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0cm;">IN 2007, the ALP made strong commitments to greater transparency in government, including the reversal of a draconian approach to whistleblowers.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">In line with the report "Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector", launched by Special Minister of State John Faulkner in September 2008, a House of Representatives inquiry chaired by Mark Dreyfus QC recommended a comprehensive whistleblowing scheme, and new legislation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The government announced its response to the inquiry in March last year, accepting the key recommendations including new rules for when wrongdoing could be the subject of further disclosure to the media.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">However, that represents the last point at which anything is known about the content of the federal government's proposed bill.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">In August, the minority Labor government was formed on the support of three independent members and the Greens.<o:p></o:p></span></div><h3 style="line-height: 15.25pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; max-width: 180px;"><span style="color: #003366; font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif";">Related Coverage<o:p></o:p></span></h3><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/wikileaks-the-pentagon-connection/story-e6frg8h6-1226031525050"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #035489; padding: 0cm;">WikiLeaks: the Pentagon connection</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">The Australian</span></em><span class="link-info"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">,</span></span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">1 Apr 2011</span></em><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/julian-assange-blasts-us-bid-for-wikileaks-twitter-information/story-e6frfku0-1226006233057"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #035489; padding: 0cm;">Assange blasts US bid for Twitter info</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">The Australian</span></em><span class="link-info"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">,</span></span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">15 Feb 2011</span></em><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/wikileaks-to-get-tax-dodger-data/story-fn6t2xg9-1225989197907"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #035489; padding: 0cm;">WikiLeaks to get tax dodger data</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">Adelaide Now</span></em><span class="link-info"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">,</span></span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">16 Jan 2011</span></em><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/us-probe-targets-wikileaks-twitter-users/story-e6frf7lf-1225984459078"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #035489; padding: 0cm;">Probe 'targets' WikiLeaks' tweeters</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">Herald Sun</span></em><span class="link-info"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;"> </span></span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">8 Jan 2011</span></em><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/wikileaker-not-tech-terrorist-says-lawyer/story-fn6t2xlc-1225974234361"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #035489; padding: 0cm;">WikiLeaker not tech terrorist, says lawyer</span></a><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">Adelaide Now</span></em><span class="link-info"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;"> </span></span><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; padding: 0cm;">20 Dec 2010</span></em><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Two of these agreements included commitments to introduce legislation to protect whistleblowers and seek to have such legislation passed by June 30.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Almost four years since the new federal commitments, this self-imposed deadline is about to pass without the government having made any recent detectable progress. No alternative timetable for such a bill has been announced, nor any consultation between the government and key stakeholders on many outstanding issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">If the timetable continues to slip, there is little prospect of these issues being resolved in time for the bill to be introduced, debated and passed by the present parliament. The past 10 months have seen a smaller breakthrough with the introduction of a federal shield law for journalists, strengthening their ability to protect the identity of confidential sources.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">For many legislators, the shield law may appear to be a substantial step towards the protection of whistleblowers. However, it shields journalists from prosecution for contempt. It does nothing, at law, to protect whistleblowers from prosecution for releasing information.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The conflicted thinking of Australian leaders about the nature of public whistleblowing has also been demonstrated by inconsistent reactions to the online publisher WikiLeaks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">In December last year, after WikiLeaks's publication of a large volume of leaked US diplomatic cables, Australia's Prime Minister agreed with US leaders that WikiLeaks founder, Australian citizen Julian Assange, must have broken the law. This proved to be a premature over-reaction. Not only was the law Assange had broken not identified, but the Australian Federal Police could not identify him as having broken any law.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Now it is known that a US grand jury investigation is underway in Virginia, assessing whether charges can be laid not only against alleged whistleblowers, but against WikiLeaks for conspiracy to communicate or transmit national defence information in violation of the US Espionage Act.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">However, here the attempt to police the conduct of the new media, and WikiLeaks in particular, has reached almost comic proportions. In August 2010, the Pentagon publicly called on WikiLeaks to do the right thing, and stop encouraging leaks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">However, this demand is close to absurd, because other media outlets continue to actively solicit confidential information, just as they have always done.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The Wall Street Journal's "safehouse" online drop-box tells whistleblowers that secret documents and databases "are the key to modern journalism, but they are almost always hidden behind locked doors, especially when they detail wrongdoing such as fraud, abuse, pollution, insider trading, and other harms; that's why we need your help".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">In Australia, the ABC website says: "The ABC News Online Investigative Unit encourages whistleblowers, and others with access to information they believe should be revealed for the public good, to contact us. To leak a story, please fill out the form below and click the 'Send' button."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The standard now imposed on WikiLeaks is not one that has been, or can be, realistically imposed on any media organisation at least, not in any nation claiming to have free media and a commitment to liberal democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The lesson for Australian law reform remains that there is no need to go down this road. Whether or not new rules are needed to regulate how and by whom confidential information is published, new rules are needed to govern when it may be disclosed without liability to the officials who disclose.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Automatic prosecution of leakers, irrespective of the public interest in the disclosure, is no longer a sustainable response as recognised by the Australian government's commitments to public interest disclosure legislation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Faced with the challenges of the new media age, the responses reinforce the need to maintain a clear, long-term vision about the role of public whistleblowing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Australian leaders need to hold their nerve and course in putting in place the type of public interest disclosure legislation to which they have committed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Together these results make for a mixed report card. On one hand, Australian governments have been restating their in-principle commitments to transparency in government, and continuing to innovate in legislative and policy responses to whistleblowing in important respects.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">On the other hand, key reforms also hang in the balance.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><em><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0cm;">A.J. Brown is professor of public law at Griffith University. This is an edited extract of his paper Flying Foxes, WikiLeaks and Freedom of Speech to the International Whistleblowing Research Network conference under way in London.</span></em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></div>Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-49958561210756715562011-06-19T05:09:00.000-07:002011-06-19T05:09:43.948-07:00Whistleblowing systems … only 57% exceed minimum expectations<h2><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">When it comes to a measurement of performance with respect to the key corporate governance tool of established whistleblowing programs, one could hardly call 57% a pass mark. Yet that is what has been found by Regnan – Governance Research & Engagement in its study of 177 of the top 200 ASX listed companies. In fact, 2 out of 3 of the studied companies did not meet or just met the minimum expectations. The minimum expectations as defined by Regnan are:</span></h2><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">• T<b>here is more than one reporting line option (unless that reporting line is clearly impartial e.g. the system </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>is operated by an independent/external body)</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b> • Reports can be made both anonymously and confidentially.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #58595b; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">• Protection from retaliation is guaranteed, and</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #58595b; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b>• All employees in all divisions have access to the system.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #58595b; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Paul Rogers of Regnan found 15% do not disclose anything about whistleblowing/reporting breaches; 8% do not meet requirements for having a whistleblower system; 21% have undeveloped systems and 23% have systems that meet minimum expectations. Rogers believes that whistleblower systems are one of the most important elements of an active business risk control program.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In response to the study, Peter Bowden, NSW President of Whistleblowers’ Australia was quoted to say Australian whistleblower legislation in the private sector is virtually non-existent”, adding “Australian whistleblower protection laws are about the worst in the English<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>speaking language”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #58595b; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In recent weeks market research has highlighted the impact of corporate governance on the reputation of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #58595b; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Australia’s leading companies. The AMR Corporate Reputation Index ranks companies on a range of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #58595b; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">criteria including corporate citizenship, corporate governance, innovation, products, leadership and workplace reputation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #58595b; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The research concluded that as a result of the Mark McInnes sexual harassment allegations, David Jones had fallen from 18th to 49th on workplace reputation out of 60 companies ranked. DJ’s also fell from 8th to 41st on governance, 10th to 49th on leadership and from 8<sup>th</sup> to 25th overall. Conversely, Visy highlighted the capacity to regain public standing, albeit over a lengthy period, by being ranked 3<sup>rd</sup> in the survey’s corporate citizenship component recovering from 43rd in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2008 after the 2007 price fixing scandal. The top overall performer was JB Hi-Fi followed by Australia Post, Toyota, Nestle and Wesfarmers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Refer: </span><a href="http://www.regnan.com/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">www.regnan.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Reported in Vol 10 Issue 2 of Stopline , 2011 <o:p></o:p></span></div>Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-44649602491504364052011-05-03T18:32:00.000-07:002011-05-03T18:32:17.603-07:00WHISTLEBLOWER RESEARCH PROJECTS<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold;">The following lists a number of research projects on whistleblowing in Australia that would contribute to the objectives of this website </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Determining <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>whistleblowing policies internal to organisations in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Australia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. This would be drawn from general whistleblower discussions, searching of websites , and a research paper<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>“A Content Analysis of Whistleblowing Policies of Leading European Companies” Harold Hassink, Meinderd de Vries<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laury Bollen <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Business Ethics</i> (2007) 75:25–44 <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">n examination of potential for using employment law for whistleblower protection in the private sector </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Development of a teaching guide on whistleblowing protection<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for colleges, TAFEs, universities </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">An evaluation of ethics teaching practices in schools - .NSW , Victorian, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Australian? ) </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Using workplace safety legislation to bring in whistleblower protection in union award negotiations </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">To develop a proposed policy outline for a internal whistleblower investigation and protection system for all types of organisations, public and private (companies, government departments, hospitals, colleges, etc,), and give it as much publicity as possible. There would be several parts. A volunteer organisation cannot do it all, so would propose seeking funding to get research assistance to do parts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Supporters of this website <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>could do some sections, so we would need less or even no money for the research, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">An examination of the effectiveness of the Whistleblower protection legislation across each of the states of </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Australia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Use the 13 criteria, start with one state, Documentation that staes and then compare it with <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the legislation in other states, This research can be completed quick.ly <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Examination of its effectiveness is a second stage</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is suspected that the above will yield the result that not much has been done. WHY?? The study can search out answers or speculate why from the literature on whistleblowing, including the overseas literature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interviews with the various state ombudsman and ICAC offices (expensive travel) or just one state may be the only way to fully answer the question on what has been done and if the answer is very little, answering <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>why<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Training for unions – what and how? </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The role of the union movement in whistleblowing support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anecdotal evidence, supported by some observation, suggests that it is confused and inadequate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">An examination of the Prof Bruce Hall case in the Faculty of Medicine at UNSW. The University claimed that it had to observe UNSW’s workplace agreements (which gave an unfair advantage to Hall, and was behind the University’s largely ignoring the Brennan inquiry). All the documentation is on the University’s website. Would include an examination of the whistleblowers’ treatment in the above case. The legislation now prevents retribution, so they were not fired or demoted. But there was retribution. Access to and cooperation from them is assured. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Motivations of the actors in whistleblowing encounters. Often inexplicable. Probably best for psychology students, using various psychological testing instruments. Would be interview program, can be arranged.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A comparison of the legislation in the Australian states with overseas legislation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the raw data can readily be made available. Public and private sector <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Speculation on why </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Australia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> is the only English speaking country with no national whistleblower protection. Can include our near-complete lack of private sector legislation. Why did no DIMIA employee, who knew that Vivian Solon had been deported, blow the whistle? (Possibly because there was no protection). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lance Collins, Andrew Wilkie,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cornelia Rau, AWB, are other stories to investigate<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whistleblower stories from an interview program of say ten whistleblowers. Interviewees can be arranged. Looking for common links with elements of the above issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could be book length.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 42.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do professional societies and industry organisations do to encourage whistleblowing and protect whistleblowers?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-55255565184316750212011-04-28T05:07:00.000-07:002011-04-28T05:15:00.805-07:00Our ten point process for protecting yourself from retaliation<h1><br />
</h1><div class="MsoNormal">Whistleblowers are crucified. In every country. An Australian researcher notes: “Consistent case …evidence indicates that whistleblowing, even when acknowledged to be meritorious, typically results in victimisation of whistleblowers” (Peter Jubb<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"> </span>.JBE, 21). C. Fred Alford,in a <st1:country-region><st1:place>US</st1:place></st1:country-region> study <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whistleblowers: Broken Lives and Organizational Power</i> paints an even more horrendous picture of the damage suffered by whistleblowers <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">This page outlines our suggestions on approaches to minimising the damage you could suffer if you expose a wrongdoing in your organisation without first carefully thinking through how you prevent damage to yourself <o:p></o:p></div><h2><br />
1. Determine what protection you have in the legislation </h2><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There is no effective protection for Commonwealth employees. Current public sector legislation covers only employees in state government service. For your state legislation see <a href="http://www.whistleblowingethics.info/Customers/DialogicalEthics/website.nsf/webPages/for_lawyers-AustralianLegislation?OpenDocument">whistleblowing legislation in Australia</a><br />
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In the private sector, whistleblowing is protected only for offences against the Corporations Act or the Workplace Relations Act. See <a href="http://www.whistleblowingethics.info/Customers/DialogicalEthics/website.nsf/webPages/for_lawyers-AustralianLegislation?OpenDocument">Private sector coverage</a>. Contact one of the independent hotlines listed elsewhere on this site and determine if theywill forward yor complaint <o:p></o:p></div><h2><o:p> </o:p></h2><h2>2. For State Government employees, read the <a href="http://www.whistleblowingethics.info/Customers/DialogicalEthics/website.nsf/webPages/for_lawyers-AustralianLegislation?OpenDocument">State Act</a> that covers you.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Particularly note those provisions that provide you with protection from retribution. Also note what you can reveal, and to whom it can be revealed. It varies from state to state. Finally, make sure that what you are considering revealing is sufficiently in the public interest and serious enough to warrant the difficulties that it will cause you and the authorities who will investigate it.</span><br />
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<span class="Heading2Char">3. See if you can find others in your organisation who are willing to support your evidence</span></h2><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">and go along with you to any meetings you may attend relating to the matter.<br />
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<span class="Heading2Char"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">4. Talk your intentions over with you family and close friends.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Heading2Char"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Listen to the advice you</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">receive, Work out a strategy that you believe will win</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Heading2Char"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">5. Gather as much evidence as you can of the dishonesty that you intend to reveal.</span></span><br />
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Take notes; make photocopies. Remember that the person or organisation to which you make the revelations, or the Ombudsman’s office, will need to investigate your complaint. To convince them to take you seriously requires you to present them reasonable and as far as possible, independently supported evidence. State acts will protect you if you collect evidence that is internal to the organisation. They will also protect you against the breaking of confidentiality clauses in employment agreements.<o:p></o:p></div><h2>6<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">.</span> Seek independent advice</h2><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.whistleblowingethics.info/Customers/DialogicalEthics/website.nsf/webPages/ContactUs-Index?OpenDocument">Contact us</a> to discuss your situation.<br />
Go to any support body in your state and talk your actions over with them.<br />
See our <a href="http://www.whistleblowingethics.info/Customers/DialogicalEthics/website.nsf/webPages/for_links-Index?OpenDocument">page containing links</a> to external independent whistleblower services<br />
See if someone can find the time to come with you as a support person and a witness. Make sure they know the act too.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Heading2Char"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">7. For small cases, see if you can expose the wrongdoing without confrontation.</span></span></span><br />
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Go the highest person organisationally that you will feel comfortable with and who you believe will work in the interests of the organisation. Some organisations appoint a whistleblower contact for making your complaint. For high level large scale illegal behaviour, go outside the organisation, to the ombudsman or corruption authority if you are able. Ask that your name be kept confidential if you wish it . Note that the legislation will not guarantee complete confidentiality, for investigating the complaint may reveal who made it, but you can request confidentiality during the early stages of the investigation. Place the emphasis of your disclosures on the wrongdoing in the organisation, not on any harassment or ill-treatment that you have received.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Heading2Char"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">8. Be prepared for rejection and retaliation from within your organisation.</span></span></span><br />
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It will be very unusual if it does not come. Senior managers will resent the implication that they have been ineffective, some of them may even be involved in the wrong doing; and colleagues will resent you as a threat to the security of the organisation. If the harassment continues, record all details and threaten legal action. If necessary, sue. Most state acts give you the right to do so. Or seek a new job. Early consideration of this possible need will probably be in your best interests.<br />
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The retaliation is often nasty, subtle, difficult to combat and not obviously tied to the whistleblowing.<br />
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<span class="Heading2Char"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">9. Keep notes</span></span><br />
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Document every act of harassment that is taken against you even if it does not appear to be connected with your whistleblowing. As far as possible try to anticipate the harassment. It could come from an unexpected quarter.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Heading2Char"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">10. If the harassment continues,</span></span></span><br />
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Determine what other relief your act offers you (relocation for instance). Complain to a higher level if possible, but in the final analysis, seek legal advice and take action for damages. If you complain about harassment, place your emphasis on the public interest disclosure; any harassment or ill-will is a result of that disclosure. Also follow up on the investigation of your complaint, as most jurisdictions are obliged to tell you what is the outcome.<br />
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And finally, if you do not win, if the wrongdoing is covered over, and no action is taken, try not to allow any sense of injustice to dominate your life. Remember that you have had a personal moral victory in making the disclosure. Attempt, as far as is possible, to recreate a new life and a new job.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196951145235478133.post-45287215643750474792011-04-28T04:48:00.000-07:002011-04-28T04:48:56.601-07:00The mistreatment of whistleblowers<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: left;">Whistleblowers are still in danger, veteran journalist Laurie Oakes tells us in a keynote address at a recent press freedom dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is the latest in a long line of observers who point out the damage faced by people who try to bring wrongdoing by their organisations out into the open.</div><div class="MsoNormal">The retribution that whistleblowers face is widely documented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>C. Fred Alford and Roberta Johnson give many examples in their studies on whistleblowing. It would also be the conclusion of every member of the National Committee of Whistleblowers Australia (WBA). It is certainly the opinion of this observer after many years of working closely with whistleblowers.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The finding of a recent study, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector</i> that “only 22%” are mistreated is a misleading figure. The result is due to the structure of the study, and in particular, to the framing of the questions that were used. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mistreatment figure was revised upwards to 30% of whistleblowers when the definition was changed to exclude people who were classifying personal grievances<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as whistleblowing, but this redefinition still missed the point. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who suffer mistreatment are those who report a wrongdoing that is against the public interest. Such wrongdoings bring public disapproval on the organisation or on a senior officer. The retaliation rate then would appear to be much higher.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Companies, and public sector agencies, hire “hotline” whistleblowing companies to which employees can report wrongs. They are extremely successful in stopping fraud against the company or agency, with many studies from the big auditing companies confirming <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>their success. Price Waterhouse Cooper’s 2007 survey on economic crime, for instance, based on interviews in over 5,400 companies located in 40 countries, found that whistleblowers reported 43% of fraud identified in companies. It might not be fraud by the company; it could be an officer on the same level reporting, say, misuse of an office computer for personal use, even viewing pornography. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or the private use of the company’s vehicles. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Companies do not retaliate against these employees – they thank them. They even reward them. The Australian public sector study however, does not distinguish between this type of whistleblowing and that of people reporting wrongdoing by senior staff of the organisation for company or agency benefit.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The public sector study was huge, and a major and valuable addition to knowledge on whistleblower practices. Eight surveys across the public sector, the largest of which sent out 23,177 questionnaires, to which 7663 public servants from 118 agencies responded. The contributors to the research were from fourteen state and the federal government ombudsman and anti-corruption agencies, along with five universities, lead by <st1:place><st1:placename>Griffith</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>University</st1:placetype></st1:place>. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Respondents to the large survey were asked whether they had observed in the last two years one or more of some 39 different wrongdoings. They were then asked to select one activity that they felt had been the most serious. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">They were then asked if they had formally reported that activity to any individual or group and to whom. They chose from a list that included unions, a peer support officer, a counselling service or others who could possibly effect action. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally the respondent was asked if whether he/she was treated badly by management or co-workers. It was this question that showed “only 22%” was mistreated. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There area number of additional <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reasons why the retribution rate will be higher for whistleblowers reporting an organisational wrongdoing that is against the public interest than it will be for the reporting of fraud or other wrongs against the company </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">1. The 39 wrongdoings included six Personnel and Workplace Grievances — racial discrimination, harmful working conditions, unfair dismissal, incorrect staff selection procedures, favouritism and bullying. These last two had the second and third highest reported rate of the 39 categories (p. 29). Bullying as a percentage of public employee wrongdoings that were reported is very high (30%). The six together add to over 85% of reports (p. 29). These results confirm the findings of members of Whistleblowers Australia (WBA) who receive many personal grievances each year, often described as whistleblowing. The complainants are very unhappy people, and do receive help from WBA. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they are not whistleblowers in the sense that whistleblowing concerns issues of public concern. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly, it is likely that a person reporting bullying, through any of the several conduits noted in the questionnaire, would not experience retaliation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine you are a union official who receives a complaint about bullying. How are you going to retaliate? <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">2. When personal grievances are excluded from the results the mistreatment percentage rises - to near 30%. However the six personal grievances are not the only personal complaints that employees make against a senior officer when complaining to WBA. Covering up poor performance is an additional complaint often stated by employees. .It has also an equally high reporting rate at 29.6%.”Acting against policy” or “Incompetent or negligent decision making” are others. They could be genuine but are also symptomatic of an employee who is unhappy with a senior officer, or with his/her employing organisation. If these complaints were separated out, the mistreatment rate would go even higher. In any case, if a staff member complains of these activities to a counselling officer, the counselling officer is unlikely to mistreat the complainant. Or even acquiesce to mistreatment.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">3. 41% of respondents reported wrong doing “at or below my level”. ” (p. 66). Such reporting is unlikely to attract retaliation. It is extremely difficult for a person to mistreat a whistleblower who is at a higher organisational level. The whistleblower in any case is arguably not a whistleblower but a manager doing his/her duty. The manager may not even be in a direct line above the wrongdoer. Such a case may arise through the informal social networks that exist in large organisations enabling a more senior officer <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to learn of a wrongdoing elsewhere in the organisation. They could then report it upwards</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">4 Case handlers and managers have responded that 48% of employees who report wrongdoing “often or always” experience problems (emotional, social, physical, or financial) and a further 42% state that it is “sometimes” the case (p.83). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These problems are not necessarily mistreatment or retribution, but it is difficult to see how these types of problems could arise, if the whistleblower is treated “well or the same” by co-workers or management. Case handlers and managers involved in a whistleblowing incident would likely see the true picture behind whistleblowing for it is their task to manage such incidents. They would have no reason to exaggerate their responses. The findings that 48% to 90% of whistleblowers experience problems, as observed by people with some formal responsibility for whistleblowing, suggests that the mistreatment of genuine public interest whistleblowers is much higher than the 22 -30% that have been stated .<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">5. Some whistleblowers have changed jobs shortly after their whistleblowing experiences and are therefore unlikely to experience retribution. They may have even left the service and not responded to the questionnaire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The impact of leaving the service on questionnaire responses will be small, however, as resignation rates are low. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The wrongdoings listed are the same for every organisation that was surveyed. As simple observation tells us however, that virtually all disciplines and professions have additional sector specific wrongs. Educational institutions have plagiarism, research institutions produce bogus findings, hospitals face <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a massive number or bio-ethical issues, public enterprises encounter the same range of marketing, advertising, and financial wrongs that are seen in the private sector. An employee that had experienced one of these wrongs may have responded to the questionnaire under a general heading – acting against policy for instance, or wasting funds. But we do not know how a person describing him/herself as observing a sector specific wrong, would have answered the question. This uncertainty <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>throws some further doubt on the results.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Three other factors could have influenced the responses to the questionnaire, and which raise additional questions regarding<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the findings that were reached.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Black";">•</span>The survey covered all types of public sector agencies. The Commonwealth has virtually no whistleblower protection, however, so it is possible that the nature of whistleblowing and therefore of retaliation is different in the Commonwealth. People tend to blow the whistle only in areas where they fell relatively safe. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Black";">•</span> The report does not correlate the wrongdoing with the impact on the reputation of senior officials or the organisation itself.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Again drawing on WBA experience, if the whistleblowing accuses a senior official, or the whole organisation of a wrongdoing, the retaliation and efforts to cover up are very high </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Black";">•</span>The report does not show the percentages of respondents from different agency groups. It is again WBA experience that whistleblowing issues arise more frequently in certain types of organisations – universities and other teaching institutes, police enforcement authorities, child welfare agencies for instance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have helped to know if the proportion of these institutions in the sample were representative. If they were, the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>conclusion could be drawn that the findings are representative. Otherwise there is doubt.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The conclusion can be drawn from the above arguments that the reported figure near 30% of whistleblowers who experience mistreatment is almost certainly understated. If we combine those who are not of public interest with those who reported themselves as whistleblowers when they were not, and unlikely to be retaliated against then, there is a much larger number of genuine public interest whistleblowers who did experience retaliation. Depending on the assumptions this retaliation figure may be as high as 60 - 80%.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Peter Bowdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12757807924646943451noreply@blogger.com0