SHORT ESSAY

Directions: Please answer the following shot essay questions. Each question should have a 1 to 2 page response that addresses the questions. Remember to support your work with APA references and in-text citations. Please use proper APA format. Please visit the Academic Resource Center for concise APA guidelines.

1. Briefly describe what is meant by the principle that we should, “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”

2. Briefly describe what is meant by the principle that we should, “Act so as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of any other, as an end and never as a means only.”

3. Briefly describe, providing at least one example, what it means to say that rights and duties are correlative.

4. Discuss the differences between consequentialist and deontological approaches as applied to rules prohibiting lying, killing and dishonesty. 

5. Explain the relationship between rights and duties. Identify three rights that help to understand a particular problem in crime and justice. Identify what corresponding duties attach to these rights and who is responsible for these corresponding duties. 

6. Explain the difference between hypothetical and categorical imperatives. Provide three examples of each, taken from the field of criminal justice. 

7. A citizen is held at gunpoint. A second person is a witness to this crime. The second person has a permit to carry a weapon and is in possession of this handgun. The person reasonably believes that the attacker is likely to shoot and kill the citizen. Given these circumstances, the second person is trying to determine what course of action is ethically justified. Following the observations on prima facie duties, how would you reconcile this dilemma? Are there any conditional duties in operation here? Explain your response. 

8. What is the difference among human rights, legal rights and moral rights? Rely on a criminal justice ethical dilemma to substantiate your perspective. 

9. A suspect is fleeing the scene of a crime. The suspect, brandishing a handgun, allegedly shot a police officer. A second police officer is in pursuit. The second officer firmly instructs the suspect to stop. The fleeing suspect does not adhere to the officer’s command. The officer repeats the instruction a second time, but the suspect does not yield. The officer fires at the suspect, killing him instantly. Explain the concept of natural rights and apply your definition in this situation.