Principles to Guide Ethical Decisions

Basic Concepts for Ethical Analysis

Responsibility: Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations for decisions.

 Accountability: Mechanisms for identifying responsible parties.

 Liability: Permits individuals (and firms) to recover damages done to them.

 Due process: Laws are well-known and understood, with an ability to appeal to higher authorities.

    
Five-step Ethical Analysis

    – Identify and clearly describe the facts.

  – Define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order value involved.

    – Identify the stakeholders.

    – Identify the options that you can reasonably take.

    – Identify the potential consequences of your options.

Criticisms of the Ethical Perspectives

Ethical [Cultural] Relativism

  1. May suggest an underlying moral laziness. The logic of relatavism may provide an excuse for not having or developing  moral standards that can be argued and tested against other claims, opinions and standards.

  2. Contradicts everyday experience. Moral reasoning is developed from conversation, interaction, and argument.

  3.  Provides no resolution for conflict of different ethical systems.

Utilitarianism

1. There is no agreement on what the "good" is. Who decides? Whose interests are first? (What if the "good" conflicts among issues of health, peace, profits, pleasure, and national security?)

2.  There is no determination of the 'rightness' or 'wrongness' of actions, but only of their consequences.

3.  May fail to take into account long-term effects of an action or decision.

4.  The principles of justice and individual rights are ignored.

Universalism

1.  The principle is imprecise; it lacks practical utility. That is, it is difficult to think of all humanity every time an ethical decision must be made.

2.  Conflicts among a person's interests, or duties, are not resolved. How does one  decide which duty comes first?

Human Rights

1.  Some individuals will pretend to advocate human rights while actually trying to advance selfish goals.

2.  Protection of rights can exaggerate certain entitlements in society at the expense of others. Do citizens of a racial minority in a society have greater rights than the majority?  What about hiring practices?

3.  The limits of rights are sometimes hard to establish.  Should an elderly person   who terminally ill (no cure) be kept alive as long as possible, at great cost to society?

Justice

1.  Outside of the jurisdiction of the state (the government), who decides what is right and what is wrong?  What is fair?

2. Under what circumstances can individuals disagree with the government, and    what can they do about it?

3.  Related to both of the above, can opportunities and burdens be equally shared   when it is not in the interest of those in power to do so?

Summary of Five Ethical


    Decision - Making Principles

Belief Systems	Source of Moral Authority
Ethical Relativism       (self-interest)	Moral authority is determined by individual or cultural self-interests, customs and religious principles. An act is morally right if it serves one’s self-interests and needs.
Utilitarianism       (calculation of cost/benefit)	Moral authority is determined by the consequences of an act: An act is morally right if the net benefits over costs (greatest good) are greatest for the majority (greatest number).
Universalism       (duty)	Moral authority is determined by the extent the intention of an act treats all people with respect. Includes the requirement that everyone would (should) act this way in the same circumstances.
Rights       (individual        entitlement)	Moral authority is determined by individual rights guaranteed to all in their pursuit of freedom of speech, choice, happiness, and self-respect
Justice       (fairness and equality)	Moral authority is determined by the extent that opportunities, wealth, and burdens are fairly distributed among all