The first step in being able to deeply evaluate and critique
a potential ethical dilemma is to have a sound understanding of your own
ethical theory or perspective. Whilst the process of developing an ethical
theory perspective can take years, in this course you have been exposed to the
work of many great thinkers and practioners in this area. The process of
choosing and recognising your own personal ethical theory requires
introspection and evaluation to determine what you think is best and the most
correct theory for most applied situations. This process forms the first stage
of this assessment task. You are to write a personal reflection of your
thinking, of your reading and of your testing the various moral and ethical
maxims presented to you in this course to reach a conclusion about your
personal ethical theory. What ethical model you subscribe to and why? How your
background, religion, culture and experiences have led you to this conclusion.
This course has presented you with normative theories of
ethics as a starting point for your reflective journey. These have been further
divided into consequentialist (Egoism and Utilitarianism) and
non-consequentialist (Deontological – Kant & Ross) theories as well as the
concepts of Virtue Ethics and Duty of Care. Read about each of these
perspectives in some detail and think about their overriding principles and the
views of these different approaches in relation to ethical thinking and
practice. Decide which one you think best reflects your thinking about ethics,
right and wrong and professional practice.
For example if you are inclined to view reality as an
extension of evolutionary biology or that group advantage immediately entails a
moral aught, then you have a tendency to lean toward Utilitarianism. If, on the
other hand you think that people should act from pure duty alone without
reference to anything except the rightness of the action then a Deontological
perspective fits more with your thinking. Finally if you consider yourself a
communitarian where you believe that specific virtues such as courage, wisdom,
self-control and piety consistently exist across every society then you are
likely to choose Virtue Ethics as your model. To assist you in this task the
first stage of this assessment requires you to complete the following task:
Consider the following scenario:
You are on the executive committee of the XYZ Corporation of
health care professionals. Each year the committee gives and award to one of
its members who display high moral character in his or her work. This year you
are among the four judges who will determine the recipient of the award. There
is some disagreement among the judges. However. About what constitutes a good
person? The judges, besides yourself, are Ms Smith, Mrs. Taylor and Mr Jones.
The candidates for the award are Mr Little and Mrs Big.
Ms Smith thinks that the award should go to Mrs Big because
she saved a man from drowning. However Mr Jones does not agree. He has
suggested that Mrs Big’s motives are suspect because the man she saved was in
the midst of a very big financial deal with Mrs Big. If he had drowned Mrs Big
would have lost a lot of money. Ms Smith has suggested that the motives for the
action are not important nor of relevance to this judging as it is the goodness
of the act that should count and the man who was saved runs a large business
that employs many people. In her mind many people besides Mrs Big would have
been harmed if Mrs Big had not saved the man.
Mr Jones wants the award to go to Mr Little because he
performed a kind act of charity in chairing the town’s United Way Campaign last
year and raised thousands of dollars toward improving the town’s schools for
everyone to share. Surely such an act could not be said to have benefits Mr
Little in any way – unlike Mrs Big.
Mrs Taylor is unsure about whether Mrs Big or Mr Little
should get the award as they have both been recommended on the basis of one
single good act. Mrs Taylor believes it would be better to choose a candidate
who has shown over time to have performed many good actions and to be of good
character. After all, she says, ‘a single swallow does not make a spring!”. Mrs
Smith and Mr Jones scratched their heads at this remark and turned to you to
make a decision. Who is right and what do you decide?
1. Describe how you might approach this situation using a
consequentialist view, a non-consequentialist view and a virtue ethics view
showing clearly how the decision would differ using each different perspective
and why?
2. State your own assessment of the strengths and weaknesses
of each theory or approach; and
3. Make a conclusion from this exercise about which approach
would be most consistent with your personal worldview or your own personal
ethical theory perspective and why. You are then to use this perspective as the
lens to consider the next scenario.
Section 1 – Your own personal reflection and identification
of your personal ethical theory using the scenario provided. This should be
approximately 1,000 words and should include appropriate ethical theory to
support your thinking.
Essay Format
The theories that need to be used are
Egoism
Utilitarianism
Duty of care
Virtue theory
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