Ethical Perspectives

Ethical Perspectives

Dan Flores

University of Phoenix

Ethical Perspectives

Introduction

Ethics involves identifying, differentiating, and defending concepts of right and wrong, and what values humanity retains from ethical growth and development. The Williams Group for Ethics and Management developed an exercise, called the Ethics Awareness Inventory, which analyzes responses to a set of questions, and categorizes the results under four ethical perspectives: Character (or Virtue Ethics), Obligation (or Deontological Ethics), Results (or Utilitarianism), and Equity (or Relativism). After completion of the inventory, my ethical perspective was determined to be Obligation, or Deontological Ethics.

I will begin by explaining the core beliefs and values of the ethical perspective of Obligation, and look into the beliefs and values of the remaining three perspectives. I will also examine a few issues which will likely be faced in my workplace, examining how my ethical perspective comes into play.

Obligation/deontology

Deontological Ethics "falls within the domain of moral theories that guide and assess our choices of what we ought to do (deontic theories), in contrast to (aretaic [virtue] theories) that -- fundamentally, at least -- guide and assess what kind of person (in terms of character traits) we are and should be." (Alexander & Moore, 2007, 1).

The first perspective I will explain involves focus on "an individual's duty or obligation to do what is morally right." (University of Phoenix - Ethics Awareness Inventory, 2003). The Obligation perspective establishes that human beings can not be treated as "means" to accomplishing a goal, and that the intent behind an individual's action is a much better definition as to if their actions are ethical, rather than examine the results.

People have the right to their individual respect, and to make their own choices. If an individual is denied opportunities and respect, social traditions and policies aimed at "the best interests of society as a whole" should be set aside. These events only detract from the development of society toward an "ethical ideal," and should be reconsidered to include a greater percentage of the population.

Minority groups have been left out, and segregated from the majority for centuries. They lack in numbers, which, according to western ways of thinking, renders them insignificant. Minority groups are defined as "a group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination." (IDRA, 2007, 5). Deontological Ethics involves focusing on the obligation an individual has with relationship to these unethical considerations made by societal majorities.

Character/virtue

Virtue Ethics deemphasizes rules or consequences, and focuses on character as the main component in ethical thinking. Focusing on "what it is good to be, rather than what it is good to do.," the Character perspective believes that attention to ethics should focus on the achievement of moral excellence. (University of Phoenix - Ethics Awareness Inventory, 2003). Traits such as honor, justice, and benevolence are emphasized when looking for evidence of virtue in an individual's character, as character is more important than an individual's actions. If an individual possesses good character, then they are incapable of choosing between conflicting rules or standards of right and wrong.

Results/utilitarianism

The third perspective focuses on the consequences of actions, and has been known to be called Utilitarianism, or Consequentialism and is the perspective of which I am in complete opposition. The core belief behind Consequentialism is that "whether an act is morally right depends only on the consequences of that act or of something related to that act, such as the motive behind the act or a general rule requiring acts of the same kind." (Sinnott-Armstrong, 2006, 1). Utilitarian Ethics is concerned with the good of the majority only, and ignored minorities altogether, as this perspective believes that achieving the greatest good for society as a whole is the ultimate goal of ethics and that improving the well-being of the majority is the top priority.

Equity/relativism

The fourth ethical perspective, Relativism, bases its beliefs on the premise that "some central aspect of experience, thought, evaluation, or even reality is somehow relative to something else, i.e. standards of justification, moral principles or truth are sometimes said to be relative to language, culture, or biological makeup." (Swoyer, 2003, 1). Pragmatism is viewed as the only reasonable guide to actions, and absolute standards of right and wrong are disregarded. Ethical considerations must be made on a day-by-day and situation-by-situation basis, and "institutionalized codes of ethics" are generally distrusted.

Ethical issues of right and wrong are extremely important to consider, especially in a workplace setting. If an employee is being "short-changed," I believe society should uphold a moral and humane obligation not only to point out