Ethical Perspective

Ethical Perspective

In the following paper I am going to describe the four different ethical perspectives. I will start by describing my own personal ethical perspective as described by the University of Phoenix Ethical Awareness Inventory. After I describe my personal ethical perspective I will evaluate all four of the ethical perspectives starting with character/virtue based. I will then continue with obligation/ deontology based and results/utilitarianism based. I will conclude with a brief description of equity/relativism based ethics.

My Ethical style

According to the University of Phoenix Ethical Awareness Inventory my personal ethics perspective is obligation/deontology based. I believe that all people have a right to receive respect from all individual’s. The assessment revealed that I believe that overall social ethical conformity may not be the best resolution. I believe that all individuals should have the right to make his or her own ethical choices. I believe that when most individuals are given the opportunity to make well thought out ethical decisions the people make appropriate ethical decisions. I believe that a person needs to make his or her own ethical decisions. What is good for the general population might not be an appropriate for everyone. I believe that the majority of people will make the proper ethical decisions when given the opportunity. All individuals should first be given the opportunity to grow and make decisions for his or herself. I believe that all policies should be made to ensure equal opportunities and respect for all employees. (The Williams Institute for Ethics and Management, 2003)

There are many factors that can make my ethical perspective more difficult for me to address ethically. Occasionally some ethical decisions that need to make will make sense to me, but not to others. The reason for this is that what I believe is right may not be beneficial to the company or organization that I am currently employed with. My need to do what think is right may make get in my way to make decisions that can help the company grow. Another factor that can affect my ethical decision making abilities is that many business put a high value on cost benefit analysis. This is difficult for me for the reason that the majority of my ethical decision making processes are made through my moral values. My overall ethical decision perspective weighs highly on what I believe is right and wrong. (The Williams Institute for Ethics and Management, 2003)

Character/virtue

Virtue based ethics are based on moral character in contrast to moral rules. This ethical perspective believes that each individual has certain character traits that assist in ethical decision making processes. Virtue based ethics are derived from Greek philosophy. The philosophy believes that virtue, wisdom, happiness and well being assist in ones ability to make ethical decisions. Virtue ethics is highly motivated by how people should act and not the actions that should be made. Virtue ethics suggests that people that possess good moral values and character make good ethical decisions. In order to become successful in virtue ethics a person must also possess practical wisdom. A person needs to be able to make decisions that are both moral and smart for the situation involved. (Weiss, 2006)

Obligation/deontology

Obligation based ethics can be described as ethics that are highly based on justice, rights, fairness, honesty, and respect. Deontology based ethics were developed by Immanuel Kant. Deontology based ethics forces the decision makers to act responsibly toward every individual that may be involved in the situation. The basis of this ethical perspective is human welfare. This perspective dictates that human welfare is the primary ethical decision making factor, but only if the decision is appropriate for the majority. Some people may think that the principles that deontology are based on are deficient in practical utility. These people believe that a person can not think of every affected person with each decision made. Some people also believe that in order to solve conflict not everyone can be treated equally. Deontology based ethics are directly affected by the welfare of all people involved in the conflict at stake. This ethical perspective may not work for all people but is very effective for certain types. (Weiss, 2006)

Results/utilitarianism

Utilitarianism was developed by Jeremy Betham and John Stuart Mill. The basis of this