English 301 Week 4

 REMEMBER:

...ethical decision-making requires us to reflect on our decisions, to test them, and to make sure they align with our highest values. 

Shanks explains, “Ethics poses questions about how we ought to act in relationships and how we should live with one another. Ethics asks us to consider whether our actions are right or wrong. It also asks us how those character traits that help humans flourish (such as integrity, honesty, faithfulness, and compassion) play out in everyday living”  

 OVERVIEW In this chapter, we will explore what it means to make ethical decisions. As you read and respond to others’ ethical dilemmas, begin to formulate your own criteria for ethical decision-making. Future chapters will invite you to further develop and test those criteria. 

>Why won’t you lie? It will hurt people; the results are bad. Second, there are those people who follow the rules. Why won’t you lie? There’s a rule that says to always tell the truth, “To do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” And, thirdly, there are those individuals who aren’t much interested in either results or rules. They are interested in the kind of person you are--a person of compassion or courage. Why won’t you lie? Because I’m an honest person, a truthful person; that’s just the kind of person I am. Results; rules; character traits--all are important parts of how we decide. Part of what makes decisions about right and wrong so difficult for us is that we don’t all go about it in the same way

>We need to remember that how we decide is just as important as what we decide.

 Ethics is two things. First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty. And, ethical standards include standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy. Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons. 

Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one’s ethical standards. As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical. So, it is necessary to constantly examine one’s standards to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded. Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct, and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are reasonable and solidly based.

*To make meaning clear: use the 2-3-1 Principle= second most important point of emphasis is at the beginning, the least important is in the middle, and the last point of emphasis is the most important.

-Damon Horowitz, a philosophy professor and entrepreneur, compares ethical frameworks to “moral operating system[s]” --the underlying methods we use to make decisions.

-"The sad truth is that most evil in this world is not done by people who choose to be evil. It arises from not thinking."

Utilitarianism focuses on outcomes. It is a form of consequentialism. It holds that the most ethical choice is the one that can do the greatest good for the greatest number. It justifies war.

Consequentialism judges actions by their results. Deontology focuses on universal rules like don't lie, cheat, or steal. Deontology disregards the possible consequences of our actions.

Virtue Ethics: Aristotle said, "...by honing virtuous habits, (brave, generous, honest, etc.) people will likely make the right choice when faced with ethical challenges." Virtue ethics gives us a guide for living life without specific rules.

>Harvard political philosophy professor Michael J. Sandel challenges students to engage ethical dilemmas as a means of “inviting and provoking a new way of seeing." Philosophy estranges us from the familiar by inviting and promoting a new way of seeing.

>Self-knowledge is like lost innocence, however unsettling you find it, it can never be unthought or unknown.... Philosophy distances us from conventions, from established assumptions, and from settled beliefs.

>Kant, "Skepticism...can never...overcome the restlessness of reason."

*There are some things that are wrong, even if they bring about a good result.

*As we encounter new situations, we move back and forth between our judgments and our principles, revising each in light of the other. This turning of mind, from the world of action to the realm of reasons and back again, is what moral reflection consists in

Role Exchange Test - Ask yourself if you would make this decision if you were the one affected by it. So, for example, while you may not be too concerned if a large section of land across town is rezoned for industrial use, would the same hold true if you lived in or nearby the proposed rezoning site?

Universal Consequences Test - This test asks you to consider if you would want the principle you are applying to be applied universally. What would happen if everyone made the same decision given the same situation? If you feel justified in lying, for example, to avoid an uncomfortable situation, would you like to see everyone else adopt the same standard? 

New Cases Test - Test your resolve against the most extreme case. Given the most difficult situation you can imagine, would you still make the same decision? Diestler illustrates with a hypothetical case: “For example, you are deciding whether to vote to continue experiments that may be successful in finding a cure for AIDS but involve injecting animals with the HIV virus. Your principle is that cruelty to animals is not justified in any circumstance. To formulate a new, harder case, you might ask yourself if you would allow the research to be conducted if it would save your life or the life of your child. If you would, then you might reconsider your voting decision and reassess your principles” (42). 

Higher Principle Test - Is your decision in keeping with your other principles. For example, would the decision to leave work an hour early be consistent with the higher principle of maintaining one’s integrity? (Adapted from Diestler, pp. 42-43

*Not important= trifling

RATIONALIZATIONS THAT I AM VULNERABLE TO:

• It’s All for a Good Cause
• I Was Just Doing It for You
• I’m Just Fighting Fire with Fire
• It Doesn’t Hurt Anyone
• Everyone’s Doing It (except that I normally pick a few specific people)
• It’s OK If I Don’t Gain Personally
• I’ve Got It Coming
• I Can Still Be Objective

GOALS:

• What are ethics? 

 • How do we define ethical behavior? 

• Which strategies do you use to make ethical decisions

• Are you more prone to weigh the results of your actions, refer to a set of rules or standards for ethical conduct, or do you rely on a sense of who you are or aspire to be as an ethical person to help you make decisions?

• Reflect on a recent ethical dilemma you’ve faced. What did you say or do? What other options did you have? Which of those choices seem best now? Why