Case study on censorship in canada

An Unusual Ethical Conundrum

An unusual ethical conundrum is presented by the situation between the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and the artist Valentina Lisitsa. On the one hand, TSO is a significant cultural institution in Canada where performers can enjoy amazing musical compositions. On the other hand, a fantastic musician named Valentina Lisitsa is scheduled to do a concert on the TSO stage. The issue here is that Lisitsa, a pianist of Ukrainian descent, tweeted her thoughts regarding the crimes committed during the Ukrainian Civil War, leveling significant charges against the government. The comments, posted on twitter, were deemed as deeply offensive and several Torontonians raised their concern over the denigrating nature of Lisitsa’s comments (The Canadian press, 2015). On one hand, TSO is dedicated to being a place where artists can display great music while on the other hand; TSO should protect its reputation as a respectable cultural institution in Canada. A dilemma, therefore, occurs where TSO has to either let Lisitsa perform or cancel her performance based on the nature of her comments on social media.

TSO’s Decision-Making Process

TSO has to decide whether artists should be barred from performing based on the opinions they express on social media. This is a hard decision for the Orchestra because its primary objective is to showcase great works of music. However, being a respectable cultural institution, the Orchestra cannot be associated with any negativity. Lisitsa used her artistic notoriety in such a way that it offended people; such behavior is inappropriate, and hence TSO does not want to be associated with such (The Canadian press, 2015). In this way, they must decide whether it is appropriate to fire artists such as Lisitsa due to opinions they express on social media.

Stakeholders Involved

The stakeholders impacted by the dilemma include the artist, TSO administration, the Ukrainian government, and of course, the Canadian citizens. The artists who perform at TSO are major stakeholders since the decision made will affect how they behave in the future. TSO administration is a stakeholder because the decision will affect its reputation. The Ukrainian government is a stakeholder since the comments by Lisitsa were a direct insult to them hence they believe she should be punished. Finally, the Canadian citizens and government are stakeholders since the decision will affect future relations with Ukraine.

Possible Alternatives

TSO administration could have considered some possible alternatives instead of firing Lisitsa. For instance, they could have followed their main priority, which is to be a stage where great music is played and therefore let Lisitsa perform at the TSO stage. However, this would show that they tolerated offensive comments and most likely, other artists would follow Lisitsa’s example. TSO administration can warn all artists of the consequences of offensive posts on social media to prevent another situation.

Other alternatives include asking Lisitsa to apologize or ignoring the offensive comments. TSO administration can ask Lisitsa to apologize to the Ukrainian government and also the Canadian public for the offensive comments. In this way, the public will forgive her offensive words, and therefore TSO will not have to fire her. In case Lisitsa failed to apologize, then TSO would have the right to fire her. TSO can also ignore the comments and therefore uphold the universal human freedom of speech.

Clarifications and Questions

Some questions requiring clarifications include; Is it right to fire an artist because of her political opinions? Should the misuse of the freedom of expression be punished professionally? Do People visit TSO for the music or for the political views that the artists have? Lisitsa was exercising her freedom of speech when she posted her comments about the Ukrainian civil war. People should not be punished for exercising their freedom of speech and therefore firing Lisitsa based solely on the fact that her comments were offensive is inappropriate (Zentradi, 2015). However, people should not assume that their freedom of expression allows them to use it to offend and hurt (Horner, 2014); Lisitsa misused her freedom and offended some people. Therefore, TSO does not want to injure its reputation hence they have to lay off the offensive artist.

Relevant Normative Theories

Aristotelian virtue ethics, utilitarianism, stoic virtue ethics, and categorical imperative are some relevant normative theories applicable to this case. The Utilitarianism theory relies on the use of common sense while making decisions; according to this theory, everybody is aware of what is right and wrong at any given time (Skorupski, 2010). Utilitarians assert that an action is right when it is satisfactory and results in good consequences while wrong actions do not produce satisfactory results. This theory also points out that right action is different from good morals (Skorupski, 2010); an action may be right if it produces good results even though it was morally incorrect.

Aristotelian virtue ethics theory, on the other hand, lays emphasis on personal happiness as the ultimate goal guiding our actions. According to the teachings of this theory, if an action leads to personal happiness then the action is morally virtuous. One should however not confuse Aristotle’s idea of happiness with pleasure; Aristotle uses happiness to signify personal growth, flourishing, or achieving an objective (Skorupski, 2010). Additionally, Aristotelian virtue ethics theory is skeptical about the use of rules while making moral decisions; instead, one should strive to develop a virtuous character that will promote good behavior without requiring a great deal of thought.

Further, the Categorical imperative theory emphasizes on behaving in a way that would be rational for everyone; in other words, this theory asserts that we should behave in a way that we would like the whole universe to behave. For instance, if it is right for me to express myself freely, then it is right for everyone to express themselves freely (Horner, 2014). Based on the categorical imperative theory, we determine if an action is morally acceptable by asking if it would be appropriate for everyone else to act in a certain way given a similar situation (Skorupski, 2010). An action is morally acceptable only if the answer to this is yes.

Finally, the stoic virtue ethics theory is based on the assumption that having true moral beliefs will lead to appropriate actions. As such, the stoic virtue ethics theory is grounded in virtue, which is defined as having true beliefs, such as the belief in God, and behaving according to these beliefs. According to this theory, caring for others is a preferable behavior that we derive from our God-given instincts (Skorupski, 2010); as such, all our actions should indicate that we care about others.

Application of Normative Theories

Given the normative theories above, TSO behaved in the right way given that they chose to fire Lisitsa. When the utilitarian theory is applied, TSO’s satisfaction was guaranteed if only they were able to uphold their reputation as a respectable cultural institution. The decision to fire a good artist was not moral but it produced satisfactory results for the orchestra, and therefore it was the right decision (Skorupski, 2010). Besides, the Aristotelian virtue ethics theory agrees with the actions of TSO since according to Aristotle, anything that leads to personal fulfillment is morally virtuous.

Nonetheless, some may argue that Lisitsa was not wrong in condemning the civil war since anyone is allowed to express himself or herself. The Categorical imperative theory asserts that we should behave in a way that that would be rational for everyone. For example, Lisitsa should be allowed to express herself since everyone else is allowed to; the fact that she is an artist should not hinder her from expressing her opinions. However, the stoic virtue ethics theory requires that people behave in a way that shows caring (Horner, 2014); Lisitsa’s comments were offensive which ethics is opposite to the teachings of stoic virtue. In this way, her action may be termed as immoral, and hence TSO had grounds to fire her.

Conclusion

Given the fact that TSO would injure their reputation as a respectable cultural institution in Canada, their best alternative was to lay off the artist. Furthermore, the artist had posted comments that were offensive. The reason I believe firing Lisitsa was the best alternative is that keeping her would show that TSO tolerated artists who hurt people’s feelings (Horner, 2014). Despite the fact that the TSO’s main priority is staging great works of music, they also have the responsibility to protect their reputation as an important cultural institution in Canada. Harboring artists who make offensive comments would tarnish the name of the orchestra hence injuring their reputation as an important cultural institution.

Some challenges to the decision by TSO include the fact that everybody has the freedom of expression and one should not be punished for it. In addition, people visit the orchestra to listen to music, and political views do not have an impact on the organization. However, in defense of the decision, Lisitsa misused her freedom to hurt other people, and TSO did not want to be associated with such an artist.

References

Horner, D. S. (2014). Understanding media ethics. Los Angeles : SAGE.

Skorupski, J. (2010). The Routledge companion to ethics. London: Routledge.

The Canadian press (2015). TSO drops Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa over offensive comments: Pianist replaced due to ’on-going accusations of deeply offensive language’. CBC News, Retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tso- drops-ukrainian-pianist-valentina-lisitsa-over-offensive-comments-1.3022999

Zentradi, A. (2015) Valentina Lisitsa banned from the Toronto symphony orchestra for opposing fascist junta in Ukraine. Retrieved from https://4threvolutionarywar.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/valentina-lisitsa-banned-from- the-toronto-symphony-orchestra-for-opposing-fascist-junta-in-ukraine/