Ethics Awareness

Ethics Awareness Inventory Analysis

After taking the ethics awareness analysis online, and finding out that I am "results" oriented, I was not surprised. The end result is what we are all after. The things we do to get the end result are what we call the "means to an end." And some people will do things ethically or not to get the end result that is desired. That is the crux of the problem: do the ends justify the means? According to Ruggiero (2004), the problem these days is that people are acting like "...decisions about right and wrong are purely personal and subjective...whatever anyone claims to be morally acceptable is morally acceptable, at least for that person" (p. 3). Ruggiero call that belief moral relativism.

I like that the EAI (Ethical Awareness Inventory) was correct in identifying me as a results orientated person. I find a way to accomplish the goals I set for myself. Although I have committed several unethical acts in my lifetime, I do not consider myself unethical, nor do I consider the things I have done to get ahead in life or at work to be unethical. The reason for this is that I realize that nobody is perfect, and an occasional slip up does not equal the title of unethical person. I believe a person who demonstrates a pattern of unethical behavior can be called unethical.

Being fair to all is the basis for ethical behavior. "We are theoretically capable of understanding when we are doing the one and when the other. This is so because we have the capacity to put ourselves imaginatively in the place of others and recognize how we would be affected if someone were to act toward us as we are acting toward others being fair to all people is the basis of ethics" (Paul & Elder, 2003, p. 2).

Paul & Elder, in their Tools for Taking Charge book pose the question of how to survive in the world that continually transforms itself. "Accelerating