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Ethics Bowl Case FormatCase #11Case name: Unauthorized DumpingBrief summary of facts of the case:Jessica’s boyfriend, Amit, has been a bad boyfriend and cheated on her with her friend. After Jessica finds out, Amit begs for forgiveness, and Jessica, despite outside advice, decided to stay with him and work things out. He promises to be a better person and boyfriend, and he lives up to this for a few weeks. Then out of nowhere, Amit decides to break up with Jessica because he is stressed and thinks he is not capable of keeping his promise. She’s mad.Stakeholders: Jessica, Amit, the friend who cheated with Amit, their families/friends Question 1: Can one wrong a partner by breaking up with them? If so, how?Stance: Yes, but only if they break up with them in a disrespectful way. It’s not inherently wrong to break up with somebody. Point #1: Violating the moral duty of respect: If you break up with someone in a disrespectful way, it could cause them harm.Support: Someone can be disrespectful by “ghosting” or ignoring their partner (not respecting them enough to talk to them in person), as the partner would be left wondering why it didn’t work out. Support: Breaking up in an angry/blaming/hurtful way would cause the other person harmPoint #2: Nobody should feel obligated to stay in a relationship that doesn’t make them happy.Support: For example, in this case, Amit felt stressed and thought he would not be able to sustain the relationship. It was causing him emotional distress and he felt he would be dishonest to continue. It wasn’t making him happy.Support: To an extent, people have to look out for their own needs/happinessPoint #3: By breaking up with someone, you could be potentially protecting them from harm.Support: The “breaker-upper” is ending the relationship before they do something to make the situation worse (example: cheat). Past behavior is a good indicator of future behavior.Support: Protects the person being broken up with from being deceived.Counterarguments: Others may argue… that one should not break up for selfish reasons, and that one should not break up to get away from responsibilities. We would say that if one has put forth a good faith effort to make a relationship work and is still unhappy, it’s going to be more beneficial in the long-run (for both parties) to break up. Also, a relationship is for the benefit of two parties, so it’s not necessarily unethical to break up for selfish reasons.It is not unethical to break up in a disrespectful way if you feel unsafe/threatened (abusive relationship)Concession… if you have responsibilities (financial, children), break up with the understanding that you will still take care of themQuestion 2:Stance:Point #1SupportSupportPoint #2SupportSupportPoint #3Support SupportCounterargumentsQuestion 3:Stance:Point #1SupportSupportPoint #2SupportSupportPoint #3Support SupportCounterarguments ................
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