To: WRITW 3562 Section 014

From: Nicole Kue

Date: 10/18/15
Re: Ethics in the Workplace Article

The article, The Ethic of Expediency: Classical Rhetoric, Technology, and the Holocaust, by
Steven Katz raised many issues based on the thin line between rationality and morality of
technical documents. The memo in the beginning talked about the technological modifications
needed for vans being used to exterminate Jews. This document was perfectly rational in regards
to technically describing the issues with the vans, but it disregarded the fact that aside from this
need for efficiency, people were dying. There lies the ethical issuebeing too technical,
therefore disregarding the moral values that are needed when dealing with people.

The argument of expediency was prevalent in this article. According to Katz, expediency is the
necessary good that subsumes all other goods and becomes a virtue in itself (259). Expediency
is rationally based, and is an abstract idea that can manifest into something more. With
expediency, what is good is defined by the end product. If the process produces the goal it
intended, it is therefore good. This lies the issue with expediency; moral goodness is defined by
morality and virtues, whereas expediency is technical.

The idea of expediency is what embodied Hitlers Mien Kampf. Hitler founded his plan on the
moral expediency produced by science and technology. Because it was technically justified and
correct it was morally right (263). This rhetoric serves the holocaust based on the political and
technologically rational nature of Hitlers argument. He believed that his goal was for the Good
of the State. He rationalized that exterminating the Jews led to purity, safety, and well-being of
the Aryan race, and was also better for the moral, material, and intellectual development of the
German people. The holocaust was technically rational because of the fact that its results could
be measured quantifiably. Hitler also used this rhetoric to serve the holocaust based on the ethos
of detachment and power for Germans to meet their end goal of domination.

This leads to the final problem that Katz urges us to acknowledgethat the line between
morality and rationality are easily blurred. Expediency by itself is not enough, and humanitarian

concerns must be taken into account when the processes that we are trying to improve directly
affect human lives. Katz says it best when he states that expediency carried to the extremes and
left unchecked by other ethical concerns is dangerous (270).

There are many real-world examples that show how people can get so carried away with the
process that they fail to recognize the costs of the end result. The Ford Pinto is one example in
which Ford Motor Company decided not to take the necessary measures to fix safety issues. Ford
relied on cost-benefit analysis and decided that, rationally, the costs did not outweigh the benefits
in monetary terms. Another example could be working in a company that disregards labor laws
and allows children to work without proper documentation because it is cost-effective.

Thank you for taking the time to understand that there are rational and moral considerations to
every decision in the workplace, and we must not forget to reflect on both sides before making a
decision to better a process, organization, or methodology.