Download Ethical Decision Making- 5 approaches File

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Ethical Decision Making
Dr. Laura Dooley
Second-level Education Officer
Educate Together
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Can lying be justified?
1.
Do you agree?
2.
How did you make your decision- what factors did you
consider? (Note these for later and relate to ethical
decision making approaches)
3.
What has influenced this decision making- prior
experience, upbringing, religion, family, values etc.?
4.
Does everyone agree? Would considering another
viewpoint change your opinion?
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What is Ethics?

Ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human
beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find
themselves.
What Ethics is not:

Feelings
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Religion
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The Law
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Science
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Following culturally accepted norms
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5 Approaches to Ethical Decision
Making
1.
The Utilitarian Approach
2.
The Rights Approach
3.
The Fairness or Justice Approach
4.
The Common-Good Approach
5.
The Virtue Approach
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Utilitarian Approach
Utilitarianism was conceived in the 19th century by Jeremy
Bentham and John Stuart Mill to help legislators determine
which laws were morally best. Both Bentham and Mill
suggested that ethical actions are those that provide the
greatest balance of good over evil.
1.
Identify the various courses of action available to us.
2.
Ask who will be affected by each action and what benefits
or harms will be derived from each.
3.
Choose the action that will produce the greatest benefits
and the least harm.

The ethical action is the one that provides the greatest good
for the greatest number.
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Rights Approach
This approach to ethics has its roots in the philosophy of the 18thcentury thinker Immanuel Kant and others like him, who focused
on the individual's right to choose for herself or himself.
According to these philosophers, what makes human beings
different from mere things is that people have dignity based on
their ability to choose freely what they will do with their lives,
and they have a fundamental moral right to have these choices
respected. People are not objects to be manipulated; it is a
violation of human dignity to use people in ways they do not
freely choose.
•
Ask does the action respect the moral rights of everyone?

Actions are wrong to the extent that they violate the rights of
individuals; the more serious the violation, the more wrongful
the action.
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Fairness or Justice Approach
The fairness or justice approach to ethics has its roots in the
teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who said
that "equals should be treated equally and unequals
unequally.”
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Ask how fair is an action? Does it treat everyone in the same
way, or does it show favoritism and discrimination?

Favoritism gives benefits to some people without a justifiable
reason for singling them out; discrimination imposes burdens
on people who are no different from those on whom burdens
are not imposed. Both favoritism and discrimination are
unjust and wrong.
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Common-Good Approach
The common good is a notion that originated more than 2,000
years ago in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. In this
approach, we focus on ensuring that the social policies, social
systems, institutions, and environments on which we depend
are beneficial to all. Examples of goods common to all include
affordable health care, effective public safety, peace among
nations, a just legal system, and an unpolluted environment.
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Reflect on broad questions concerning the kind of society we
want to become and how we are to achieve that society.

Appeals to the common good urge us to view ourselves as
members of the same community,. While respecting and
valuing the freedom of individuals to pursue their own goals,
the common-good approach challenges us also to recognize
and further those goals we share in common.
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Virtue Approach
The virtue approach to ethics assumes that there are certain
ideals toward which we should strive, which provide for the full
development of our humanity. These ideals are discovered
through thoughtful reflection on what kind of people we have
the potential to become. Honesty, courage, compassion,
generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and
prudence are all examples of virtues.

Ask what kind of person should I be? What will promote the
development of character within myself and my community?

A person who has developed virtues will be naturally
disposed to act in ways consistent with moral principles. The
virtuous person is the ethical person.
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Ethical Problem Solving
These five approaches suggest that once we have ascertained the
facts, we should ask ourselves five questions when trying to
resolve a moral issue:
1.
What benefits and what harms will each course of action
produce, and which alternative will lead to the best overall
consequences?
2.
What moral rights do the affected parties have, and which
course of action best respects those rights?
3.
Which course of action treats everyone the same, except
where there is a morally justifiable reason not to, and does not
show favoritism or discrimination?
4.
Which course of action advances the common good?
5.
Which course of action develops moral virtues?
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A pregnant woman leading a group of people out of
a cave on a coast is stuck in the mouth of that cave.
In a short time high tide will be upon them, and
unless she is unstuck, they will all be drowned
except the woman, whose head is out of the cave.
Fortunately, (or unfortunately,) someone has with
him a stick of dynamite. There seems no way to get
the pregnant woman loose without using the
dynamite which will inevitably kill her; but if they
do not use it everyone will drown. What should they
do?
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40 years from now, you have gone into politics and become the
Minister for Health. During this time, medical advances have
made transplant surgery very successful, so that from one
healthy body at least five lives can be saved. But improvements
in car safety have also meant that fewer people are dying in
accidents, so there is a shortage of donor organs.
A proposal from MI13 comes across your desk. They have a
plan to “disappear” healthy people who have no friends or
family, so that the organs of each one can be harvested to save
five lives.
+ Two men are travelling in the desert. They have only one bottle
of water between them. If they share it, they will both die. If one
drinks the water, he will survive, but his companion will not.
What are they to do? One view holds that they should share
their water, so that neither will witness the death of his fellow.
Another view argues that the owner of the bottle, who had the
foresight to bring it, should drink the water.
We have two contradictory interpretations. How are we to
consider the divergent views? Whose life takes precedence?
What if one traveller is a child and the other an adult? What if
the travellers are a man and a woman? How do we measure the
value of life?
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What’s your favourite film?
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What is the main storyline?
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Who are the main characters?
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Why is this your favourite film?
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Do you think it would be suitable to use in the classroom?
Why? /Why not?
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Bechdel Test
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Developed by Allison Bechdel in her comic strip Dykes to
Watch Out For in 1985
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http://feministfrequency.com/2009/12/07/the-bechdel-testfor-women-in-movies/
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http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/wpcontent/uploads/2014/05/The-Rule-cleaned-up.jpg
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Does your favourite film pass the Bechdel test?
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Should we all be feminists?
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http://www.singjupost.com/we-should-all-be-feminists-bychimamanda-ngozi-adichie-full-transcript/