Remember the Kitty Genovese Story from This Article: "Are There

Essay

Remember the Kitty Genovese story from this article: "Are There No Good People in This
Neighborhood?"
Friday 13 March
A young woman returns from work just after 3:00 a.m. on a typical street in Queens, New York. She parks her car and begins a 100-foot walk to her apartment building. Concerned about a man standing between her path and the apartment building she changes course and heads in the opposite direction. She was right to be concerned, as he follows and grabs her. She screams. No less than 38 neighbors turn on their lights and open their windows. Again she screams, "He stabbed me!" and "Help!" An observer shouts, "Leave the girl alone" and the attacker walks away. Then, the lights all go out, and windows are slammed shut. While the victim staggers to reach the nearest apartment building the attacker returns and stabs her again. The victim yells, "I'm dying!" The commotion again gets the attention of the apartment dwellers and again the attacker leaves. So the lights go out and windows close. The victim crawls toward the apartment house, but the attacker returns again one last time to stab and kill the young woman.

Consider the behavior of the observer who shouted "Leave the girl alone." Has the observer behaved ethically? Choose an ethical approach, analyze the behavior, and make a moral judgment based on your analysis.​