PROFESSIONAL
ETHICS
Lec 5, Kidders Dilemmas and case studies
Learning Objectives
1. Understanding a Dilemma and Kidders Dilemmas
2. Class discussion: Case Studies
Evolution of Professional Ethics
Different views of ethics –
Utilitarian (deontological approach),
Rights and Duties,
Justice and Fairness,
Virtue Ethics
Virtue Ethics,
Approach to ethics that takes the notion of virtue (often
conceived as excellence) as fundamental. Virtue ethics is
primarily concerned with traits of character that are essential
to human flourishing, not with the enumeration of duties.
Ethics and Philosophy
Ethics, is taking day to day decision on Morality basis (right and wrong). It is
applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles that deals with
fundamental issues of practical decision making, and its major concerns include
the nature of ultimate value and the standards by which human actions can be
judged right or wrong.
There are two Philosophical Approached
1. Deontologist Approach (Fundamental action has ethical wing)
2. Consequentialist Approach (Result of action has ethical end)
Virtue ethics agrees with consequentialism that the criterion of an action’s being
morally right or wrong lies in its relation to an end that has intrinsic value, but
more closely resembles deontological ethics in its view that morally right actions
are constitutive of the end itself and not mere instrumental means to the end.
Utilitarian (deontological approach)
Deontology Philosophy believes that an action is morally
good because in the action some characteristic are good
and not because the product of the action is good.
Deontological ethics holds that at least some acts are
morally obligatory regardless of their consequences for
human welfare. Descriptive of such ethics are such
expressions as “Duty for duty’s sake,” “Virtue is its own
reward,” and “Let justice be done though the heavens
fall.”
HUMAN RIGHTS & CIVIL RIGHTS
Human rights, rights that belong to an individual or group of
individuals simply for being human, or as a consequence
of inherent human vulnerability, or because they are requisite
to the possibility of a just society.
Civil Rights Act, (1964), comprehensive U.S. legislation intended
to end discrimination based on race, colour, religion, or national
origin. It is often called the most important U.S. law on civil
rights since Reconstruction (1865–77) and is a hallmark of the
American civil rights movement.
Justice, In political philosophy, the concept of a proper proportion
between a person’s deserts (what is merited) and the good and bad
things that befall or are allotted to him or her.
Aristotle’s discussion of the virtue of justice has been the starting point
for almost all Western accounts. For him, the key element of justice is
treating like cases alike, an idea that has set later thinkers the task of
working out which similarities (need, desert, talent) are relevant.
Aristotle distinguishes between
Distributive Justice justice in the distribution of wealth or other goods
and
Punitive or Retributive Justice justice in reparation, as, (for example, in
punishing someone for a wrong he has done).
Social justice,
in contemporary politics, social science, and political
philosophy, the fair treatment and equitable status of all
individuals and social groups within a state or society.
The term also is used to refer to social, political, and
economic institutions, laws, or policies that collectively afford
such fairness and equity and is commonly applied to
movements that seek fairness, equity, inclusion, self-
determination, or other goals for currently or historically
oppressed, exploited, or marginalized populations.
Assignment 1
Hand Written Brief on Kohlberg Theory
Assignment No 2
Presentations in 7 week on
th
Case Malfold Toy Company
Kidders Theory of Ethics
How Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical
Living by Rushworth Kidder
The core values undergirding ethical thinking are the principles of:
1. Nonmaleficence – Do no harm;
2. Beneficence – Promote good;
3. Justice –Equality and right; fairness.
Judgement on a Decision
A decision is right or wrong is tested on four principals
1. The Legal Test: Is law of land involved? If yes, the issue is one of obedience to the
enforceable laws of the land, as opposed to the unenforceable canons of moral
code.
2. The Stench -Gut Test: The “gut test” or “gut level” determination is listening to
your gut because it tests your internal code of morality at the psychological level.
Does this course of action have about it an indefinable odor of corruption that
makes you recoil?
3. The Front Page Test: How would you feel if news about what you are about to do
appeared tomorrow morning on the front pages of the nation’s newspapers?
What would be your response if a decision made in private suddenly became
public? This is a test of your social mores.
4. The Mom Test: “If I were my Mother, what would I do?” or “If Mom knew about
this, what would she think?” This is about the moral exemplar who cares deeply
about you and means a great deal to you. Put yourself in another’s shoes and
Ethical Dilemmas
Ethical Dilemmas are defined by Kidder at “right vs.
right” and “at the heart of our toughest choices.”
It is “right,” on the one hand, to protect the Spotted
Owl, and “right,” on the other hand, to protect jobs.
They are genuine dilemmas precisely because each
side is firmly rooted in our basic, core values. When
people encounter these tough choices, it is rarely
because they are facing a moral temptation (that is, a
choice between right vs. wrong).
Kidder’s Four Paradigms for Understanding Ethical Dilemmas:
1. Truth vs. Loyalty: Right to stand on truth and right to be loyal.
Truth, is conformity with facts or reality. Loyalty involves allegiance
to a person, corporation or body of people, a government, or set of
ideas to which one owes fidelity.
2. Individual vs. Community:. Right to consider the individual & right
to consider the community. Individualism assumes that in a society
where each person pursues his interests, the social good would
automatically emerge. As such, the rights of the individual are to be
preserved. By “community” it is meant that the needs of the
majority outweigh the interests of the individual. Communities
speak to us in a moral voice. They lay claims on their members
Kidder’s Four Paradigms for Understanding Ethical Dilemmas:
3. Short-Term vs. Long-Term: Right to think and plan short-term as well
as long-term. The satisfaction of current needs in such a way as to
preserve the possibility of a future. It is usually defined by the
projection of future interests in such a way that there will be ample
means to meet future required needs.
4. Justice vs. Mercy: Justice urges us to stick by our principles, hold to
the rules despite the pressures of the moment, and pursue fairness
without attention to personalities or situations. Mercy urges us to
care for the peculiar needs of individuals case by case and to seek
benevolence in every way possible. It is right to be merciful. It is
right to enforce justice.
Resolution Principles
Understanding the type of dilemma helps in
- Separate right from wrong;
- Cut through mystery, complexity, and confusion;
- Strip away extraneous detail and get to the heart of the matter.
Once the dilemma is identified it helps to understand how one thinks
about ethical decisions. Kidder draws from the field of Moral
Philosophy to describe different ways of thinking about ethical
decision making. He describes three ways:
1.Ends Based: Known to philosophers as “utilitarianism,” this
principle is best known by the maxim “Do whatever produces the
greatest good for the greatest number.”
2.Rules Based: This principle is best known as the “categorical
imperative.” Rules exist for a purpose: they promote order and
justice and should be followed. Follow the principle that you want
others to follow. “Stick to your principles and let the chips fall where
they may.”
3. Care Based: Putting love for others first. It is most associated with
the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you.”
Kidders Ethical Decision Making Process
The Ethical Decision Making Process Kidder lays out nine checkpoints
for Ethical Decision Making:
1. Recognize there is a moral issue;
2. Determine the actor (who does the problem belong to?);
3. Gather the relevant facts;
4. Test for right vs. wrong issues;
5. Test for right vs. right paradigms;
6. Apply the resolution principles;
7. Investigate the “trilemma” option;
8. Make the decision;
9. Revisit and reflect on the decision.
QUESTIONS?
