SOLUTION MANUAL Business Law with UCC
Applications 16th Edition by Paul A. Sukys
CHAPTERS 1-34| VERIFIED CASE
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
TB
Ac
pg. 1
er
, Chapter 1: Ethics and the Law
Answers to Text Problems
PART 1 ETHICS, LAW, AND THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Chapter 1 Ethics, Social Responsibility, and the Law
Case in Point Questions
(Note: The answers to these questions can be found in the Case in Point features at the opening of
each chapter in BLUCCA 16 or in the text of each chapter. Consequently, to ensure accuracy, the
answers are taken directly from the Cases in Point feature and/or the text. Student answers should
reflect this, but should either be written in the student‗s own words or, when quoted, cited
appropriately.)
1. Answers will vary. Accept all well-reasoned answers based on one of the ethical options covered
in Chapter 1.
2. Answers will vary. Accept all well-reasoned answers based on one of the ethical options covered
in Chapter 1.
3. Answers will vary. Accept all well-reasoned answers based on one of the ethical options covered
in Chapter 1.
4. Yes. Max Weber argues that two-levels of morality exist, represented by the ethic of ultimate ends
for individuals and an ethic of responsibility for national leaders. The ethic of ultimate ends must be
practiced by individuals because individuals can never completely foresee ―the ultimate ends of
their actions. Therefore, individuals must obey absolute moral precepts, such as ―always help the
poor and less fortunate, or "turn the other cheek," or "always tell the truth, despite the fact that the
ultimate consequences of those actions are unclear or uncomfortable.
On the other hand, the ethic of responsibility demands that moral actors—in this case, national
leaders—must consider their responsibilities to those people who depend on those leaders for safety
and security. So, for example, if a neighboring nation is belligerent, aggressive, or determined to
fight ancient cultural, religious, and ethnic wars, the leaders of the first nation cannot ignore that
threat, as much as they might want to. In short, they are not permitted to ―turn the other cheek
because to do so would endanger the innocent people they have the duty to protect. Unfortunately,
many national leaders fail to see this distinction. The leaders of the United States have been
especially guilty of this shortsightedness.
5. The existence of the social contract permits people to live together in peace and harmony, but it
does not permit anyone, not even the leader, to violate the core rights of life and security. Should a
leader consistently violate core rights, then the people have a duty to demand that such oppressive
and dangerous behavior end.
TB
Ac
pg. 2
er
,Questions for Review and Discussion
1. The law is a set of rules made by the government to promote stability, harmony, and justice.
Morality involves the values that are the foundation for moral decision making. Ethics is a way to
figure out what those values might be.
2. Traditional natural law sees law as originating from an objective, superior force that stands
outside the everyday experience of most people. Historically, natural law had its origin in the
classical Judeo-Christian belief in a Divinity that created, controls, and rules the physical universe
according to a set of universal laws that came from the will of the Divinity. Similarly, modern natural
law also sees law as originating from an objective origin point; however, that origin point is neither
transcendent nor supernatural but is, instead, conceived of by the human mind. Thus, the source of
natural law comes from within the mind of social philosophers, such as Thomas Hobbes, Jean
Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, and Jean Paul Sartre, each of whom claimed to have found the
correct objective standard of human morality.
3. Non-judgmentalism is the tendency to be tolerant of every type of behavior even the most
reprehensible acts imaginable, so that, in turn, your own most reprehensible actions will not be
judged by others. In contrast, hyper-intolerance can be defined as open hostility to the views, ideas,
traditions, and principles of belief held and practiced by others.
4. The social contract option holds that right and wrong are measured by the obligations imposed on
everyone by an implied agreement or contract among all the people within a particular social system.
5. The steps in applying utilitarianism are as follows:
a. The action to be evaluated should be stated in unemotional, general terms. For example,
―stealing another person‗s property is emotional language;
―confiscating property for one‗s own use is somewhat less emotional.
b. Every person or class of people that will be affected by the action must be identified.
c. Good and bad consequences in relation to those people affected must be considered.
d. All alternatives to the action stated in step 1 must be considered.
e. Once step 4 has been carried out, a conclusion must be reached. Whichever alternative
creates the greatest good for the greatest number of people affected by the action is the one that ought
to be taken.
TB
Ac
pg. 3
er
, 6. The rational option is a philosophical theory that asserts unequivocally that human beings,
because of their innate capacity for rational thought, can determine the nature and application of
ethical values. The theory assumes that because all human beings are rational, all human beings
ought to have the same ethical values. Therefore, rational ethics can establish universal rules of
behavior that always apply to all people. For this reason, the rational option is often referred to as
objective ethics or normative ethics. Since the rational option also focuses on duties rather than
rights, it is also called deontological ethics. In its pure form, the word deontological means "words of
duty" coming from the Greek words deon, duty, and logos, word or utterance.
7. Many of the misunderstandings about moral decisions within the world today exist because
people do not understand the dual nature of international morality. The twentieth century
philosopher, Max Weber explains the problem in his essay, "Politics as a Vocation." In that essay,
Weber argues that, often people make the error of assuming that political morality and personal
morality are identical. Instead, Weber proposes a dual system of morality represented by the "ethic of
ultimate ends" and the "ethic of responsibility." The "ethic of ultimate ends" must be practiced by
individuals while the "ethic of responsibility" must be practiced by national leaders.
8. Corporations owe society a level of responsibility because the government has granted them
certain legal advantages.
9. Our society needs law and the legal system to give it structure, harmony, predictability, and
justice.
10. The law and ethics can sometimes benefit from anarchy, but only when what emerges from that
period of anarchy is a system supported by legal and ethical harmony. When the forces of human
energy and justice are harnessed properly such harmony may result. Energy is found in a society that
manages to redirect the collective human will toward the welfare of the entire species, instead of
toward individual or corporate survival measured only by monetary gain. Justice is present when all
people are treated equally based on an intangible quality, like fairness, that has nothing to do with
money.
Cases for Analysis
Special Directions to the Instructor: It is virtually impossible to predict the wide variety of answers
that students will provide for the ethical cases outlined at the end of Chapter 1. Therefore, the
instructor should not be looking for ―right and ―wrong answers in the conventional sense. Instead,
the instructor should look to see that the ethical theories are applied correctly and consistently.
1. Using rational ethics, the governor‗s actions must follow all three elements of the categorical
TB
Imperative. First, since rational beings recognize that they do not want to be harmed, everyone has a
duty to refrain from hurting all other rational beings. This is nothing more than a rational
Ac
pg. 4
er
Applications 16th Edition by Paul A. Sukys
CHAPTERS 1-34| VERIFIED CASE
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
TB
Ac
pg. 1
er
, Chapter 1: Ethics and the Law
Answers to Text Problems
PART 1 ETHICS, LAW, AND THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Chapter 1 Ethics, Social Responsibility, and the Law
Case in Point Questions
(Note: The answers to these questions can be found in the Case in Point features at the opening of
each chapter in BLUCCA 16 or in the text of each chapter. Consequently, to ensure accuracy, the
answers are taken directly from the Cases in Point feature and/or the text. Student answers should
reflect this, but should either be written in the student‗s own words or, when quoted, cited
appropriately.)
1. Answers will vary. Accept all well-reasoned answers based on one of the ethical options covered
in Chapter 1.
2. Answers will vary. Accept all well-reasoned answers based on one of the ethical options covered
in Chapter 1.
3. Answers will vary. Accept all well-reasoned answers based on one of the ethical options covered
in Chapter 1.
4. Yes. Max Weber argues that two-levels of morality exist, represented by the ethic of ultimate ends
for individuals and an ethic of responsibility for national leaders. The ethic of ultimate ends must be
practiced by individuals because individuals can never completely foresee ―the ultimate ends of
their actions. Therefore, individuals must obey absolute moral precepts, such as ―always help the
poor and less fortunate, or "turn the other cheek," or "always tell the truth, despite the fact that the
ultimate consequences of those actions are unclear or uncomfortable.
On the other hand, the ethic of responsibility demands that moral actors—in this case, national
leaders—must consider their responsibilities to those people who depend on those leaders for safety
and security. So, for example, if a neighboring nation is belligerent, aggressive, or determined to
fight ancient cultural, religious, and ethnic wars, the leaders of the first nation cannot ignore that
threat, as much as they might want to. In short, they are not permitted to ―turn the other cheek
because to do so would endanger the innocent people they have the duty to protect. Unfortunately,
many national leaders fail to see this distinction. The leaders of the United States have been
especially guilty of this shortsightedness.
5. The existence of the social contract permits people to live together in peace and harmony, but it
does not permit anyone, not even the leader, to violate the core rights of life and security. Should a
leader consistently violate core rights, then the people have a duty to demand that such oppressive
and dangerous behavior end.
TB
Ac
pg. 2
er
,Questions for Review and Discussion
1. The law is a set of rules made by the government to promote stability, harmony, and justice.
Morality involves the values that are the foundation for moral decision making. Ethics is a way to
figure out what those values might be.
2. Traditional natural law sees law as originating from an objective, superior force that stands
outside the everyday experience of most people. Historically, natural law had its origin in the
classical Judeo-Christian belief in a Divinity that created, controls, and rules the physical universe
according to a set of universal laws that came from the will of the Divinity. Similarly, modern natural
law also sees law as originating from an objective origin point; however, that origin point is neither
transcendent nor supernatural but is, instead, conceived of by the human mind. Thus, the source of
natural law comes from within the mind of social philosophers, such as Thomas Hobbes, Jean
Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, and Jean Paul Sartre, each of whom claimed to have found the
correct objective standard of human morality.
3. Non-judgmentalism is the tendency to be tolerant of every type of behavior even the most
reprehensible acts imaginable, so that, in turn, your own most reprehensible actions will not be
judged by others. In contrast, hyper-intolerance can be defined as open hostility to the views, ideas,
traditions, and principles of belief held and practiced by others.
4. The social contract option holds that right and wrong are measured by the obligations imposed on
everyone by an implied agreement or contract among all the people within a particular social system.
5. The steps in applying utilitarianism are as follows:
a. The action to be evaluated should be stated in unemotional, general terms. For example,
―stealing another person‗s property is emotional language;
―confiscating property for one‗s own use is somewhat less emotional.
b. Every person or class of people that will be affected by the action must be identified.
c. Good and bad consequences in relation to those people affected must be considered.
d. All alternatives to the action stated in step 1 must be considered.
e. Once step 4 has been carried out, a conclusion must be reached. Whichever alternative
creates the greatest good for the greatest number of people affected by the action is the one that ought
to be taken.
TB
Ac
pg. 3
er
, 6. The rational option is a philosophical theory that asserts unequivocally that human beings,
because of their innate capacity for rational thought, can determine the nature and application of
ethical values. The theory assumes that because all human beings are rational, all human beings
ought to have the same ethical values. Therefore, rational ethics can establish universal rules of
behavior that always apply to all people. For this reason, the rational option is often referred to as
objective ethics or normative ethics. Since the rational option also focuses on duties rather than
rights, it is also called deontological ethics. In its pure form, the word deontological means "words of
duty" coming from the Greek words deon, duty, and logos, word or utterance.
7. Many of the misunderstandings about moral decisions within the world today exist because
people do not understand the dual nature of international morality. The twentieth century
philosopher, Max Weber explains the problem in his essay, "Politics as a Vocation." In that essay,
Weber argues that, often people make the error of assuming that political morality and personal
morality are identical. Instead, Weber proposes a dual system of morality represented by the "ethic of
ultimate ends" and the "ethic of responsibility." The "ethic of ultimate ends" must be practiced by
individuals while the "ethic of responsibility" must be practiced by national leaders.
8. Corporations owe society a level of responsibility because the government has granted them
certain legal advantages.
9. Our society needs law and the legal system to give it structure, harmony, predictability, and
justice.
10. The law and ethics can sometimes benefit from anarchy, but only when what emerges from that
period of anarchy is a system supported by legal and ethical harmony. When the forces of human
energy and justice are harnessed properly such harmony may result. Energy is found in a society that
manages to redirect the collective human will toward the welfare of the entire species, instead of
toward individual or corporate survival measured only by monetary gain. Justice is present when all
people are treated equally based on an intangible quality, like fairness, that has nothing to do with
money.
Cases for Analysis
Special Directions to the Instructor: It is virtually impossible to predict the wide variety of answers
that students will provide for the ethical cases outlined at the end of Chapter 1. Therefore, the
instructor should not be looking for ―right and ―wrong answers in the conventional sense. Instead,
the instructor should look to see that the ethical theories are applied correctly and consistently.
1. Using rational ethics, the governor‗s actions must follow all three elements of the categorical
TB
Imperative. First, since rational beings recognize that they do not want to be harmed, everyone has a
duty to refrain from hurting all other rational beings. This is nothing more than a rational
Ac
pg. 4
er
