Ethical Decision Making Module
Thinking Ethically This document is designed as an introduction to thinking ethically. We all have an image of our better selves – of how we act ethically or are “at our best.” We probably also have an image of what an ethical community, business, government, or society should be. Ethics really has to do with all these levels – acting ethically as individuals, creating ethical organizations and governments, and making our society ethical in the way it treats everyone. What is Ethics? Simply stated, ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves-as friends, parents, children, citizens, businesspeople, teachers, professionals, and so on.
What Ethics is Not
There are two fundamental problems in identifying the ethical standards we are to follow:
If our ethics are not based on feelings, religion, law, accepted social practice, or science, what are they based on? Many philosophers and ethicists have helped us answer this critical question. They have suggested at least five different sources of ethical standards we should use.
The Utilitarian Approach
Some ethicists emphasize that ethical action provides the most good or does the least harm, or, to put it another way, produces the most significant balance of good over harm. The ethical corporate action, then, is the one that produces the greatest good and does the least harm for all who are affected-customers, employees, shareholders, the community, and the environment. For instance, “ethical warfare” balances the good achieved in ending terrorism with the harm done to all parties through death, injuries, and destruction of war. The utilitarian approach deals with consequences; it tries to increase the good done and to reduce the harm done. The Rights Approach
Other philosophers and ethicists suggest that ethical action is one that best protects and respects the moral rights of those affected. This approach starts with the belief that all humans have dignity based on their human nature or on their ability to freely choose what they do with their lives. Based on such dignity, they have a right to be treated as ends and not merely as means to other purposes. The list of moral rights – including the rights to make one’s own choices about what kind of life to lead, to be told the truth, not to be injured, to a degree of privacy, and so on-is widely debated. Also, it is often said that rights imply duties – in particular, the obligation to respect others’ rights. The Fairness or Justice Approach
Aristotle and other Greek philosophers have contributed the idea that all equals should be treated equally. Today we use this idea to say that ethical actions treat all human beings equally – or if unequally, then fairly based on some standard that is defensible. We pay people more based on their harder work or the greater amount that they contribute to an organization, and say that is fair. There is a debate over CEO salaries that are hundreds of times larger than the pay of others; many ask whether the huge disparity is based on a defensible standard or whether it is the result of an imbalance of power and hence is unfair. The Common Good Approach
The Greek philosophers have also contributed the notion that life in community is a good in itself and our actions should contribute to that life. This approach suggests that the interlocking relationships of society are the basis of ethical reasoning and that respect and compassion for all others-especially the vulnerable – are requirements of such reasoning. This approach also calls attention to the common conditions that are important to the welfare of everyone. This may be a system of laws, effective police and fire departments, health care, a public educational system, or even public recreational areas. The Virtue Approach
A very ancient approach to ethics is that ethical actions ought to be consistent with certain ideal virtues that provide for the full development of humanity. These virtues are dispositions and habits that enable us to act according to the highest potential of our character and on behalf of values like truth and beauty. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, tolerance, love, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues. Virtue ethics asks of any action, “What kind of person will I become if I do this?” or “Is this action consistent with my acting at my best?”
Each of the approaches helps us determine what standards of behavior can be considered ethical. There are still problems to be solved, however. The first problem is that we may not agree on the content of some of these specific approaches. We may not all agree to the same set of human and civil rights. We may not agree on what constitutes the common good. We may not even agree on what is a good and what is a harm. The second problem is that the different approaches may not all answer the question “What is ethical?” in the same way. Nonetheless, each approach gives us important information with which to determine what is ethical in a particular circumstance. And much more often than not, the different approaches do lead to similar answers.
Making good ethical decisions requires a trained sensitivity to ethical issues and a practiced method for exploring the ethical aspects of a decision and weighing the considerations that should impact our choice of a course of action. Having a method for ethical decision making is absolutely essential. When practiced regularly, the method becomes so familiar that we work through it automatically without consulting the specific steps. The more novel and difficult the ethical choice we face, the more we need to rely on discussion and dialogue with others about the dilemma. Only by careful exploration of the problem, aided by the insights and different perspectives of others, can we make good ethical choices in such situations. We have found the following framework for ethical decision making a useful method for exploring ethical dilemmas and identifying ethical courses of action.
Recognize an Ethical Issue
Get the Facts
Evaluate Alternative Actions
Evaluate the options by asking the following questions:
Make a Decision and Test It
Act and Reflect on the Outcome
Case Study 1: Popcorn for the Study Group
John is a work-study student in the campus store. They discovered that if they provide free bags of popcorn for store customers that customers will shop longer and buy more items. Part of John’s job is to pop the popcorn in the movie popcorn machine and fill the give-away bags for browsing customers. The store usually has a few bags of popped popcorn left over at closing time that they throw away. Every Tuesday night John has a meeting with his study group. He always brings them the leftover popcorn from the store that night. But his study group has grown to become quite a large group. Because the group loves the popcorn as snack and appreciates John’s contribution, John has begun popping a new batch of popcorn late in the afternoon on Tuesdays to ensure that there will be a lot of leftover popcorn to take to his larger study group. Nobody in the store notices or seems to care about the extra popcorn left over and besides it’s very cheap to make. Please use the “Framework for Ethical Decision Making” in the previous section to identify ethical issues in John’s situation. Case Study 2: Pizza for Events
Sally is a student worker in the Activities Office on campus. Part of her job is to confirm schedules and food orders that are held in the student union building. Last summer Sally worked for a large pizza restaurant chain located two blocks from campus. She was an excellent employee and the manager said he might offer her a promotion next summer if things worked out. Sally is interested in a hotel and restaurant management career and is excited about the prospects of gaining management experience and training while in college. The manager said that he would give all student groups 10% off any pizzas if they purchased it from his restaurant. Although food for all campus events is supposed to go through catering services, they don’t often cite student groups who bring in their own food in the evenings. Whenever Sally sees a student group make an event reservation through the Activities Office she offers the group the 10% discount her former supervisor guarantees. This makes everyone happy. The students save money, Sally is happy to help out her former supervisor, and the restaurant is happy for increased business. Please use the “Framework for Ethical Decision Making” in the previous section to identify ethical issues in Sally’s situation.
After analyzing one case study, write down some of the ethical issues in this case by answering the following questions:
Complete this reflection below to save the review with your supervisor.
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