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Ethical Systems Table
PHL/323 Version 4
Ethical Systems Table
Directions:
1. Fill in brief definitions of each primary ethical theory.
2. Identify alternate names or variations of each ethical system based on your reading of the
text and supplemental materials.
Match the real-world examples listed below with the corresponding systems. The first one
has been completed for you in the table.
a. I believe people should be able to eat sand if they like the taste of it.
b. I believe that if sand is going to be eaten, it should be available for everyone to
eat.
c. I believe people should be able to eat sand because it is the right thing to do.
d. I believe people should be able to eat sand because it is good for one’s health.
e. I believe people should be able to eat sand if they decide they want to,
regardless of whether it is someone else’s sand.
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Ethical Systems Table
PHL/323 Version 4
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f. I believe people should be able to eat sand if they want to because they are free
to make the decision themselves.
g. I believe I will eat sand because it is the standard meal for my community.
3. Develop your own workplace example that fits with each system. Present each workplace
scenario in a substantial paragraph of approximately 40 words. Although the table field
will expand to accommodate your workplace examples, you may list them at the end of
the table; make a note in the table to see the attached examples, however, so your
facilitator knows to look for scenarios below the table.
4.
Ethical
Theory or
System
Duty-based
Ethics
Format references according to APA standards and include them after the table.
Brief Definition
Deontological ethics, or
deontology (from Greek:
deon, for obligation or
duty) holds that people
should only, or mainly,
make their decisions
based on their individual
duties and the rights of
other people. Some
systems come from
Biblical or other sacred
tenets.
Some principles of
morality are binding,
regardless of
consequences. This
focuses on particular duty
instead of results. Moral
obligation is more
important that what a
person wants to
do.(Treviño & Nelson,
2007, Ch. 4).
Take the decision that is
based on the possible
consequences of this
choice.
Consequencebased Ethics
Decisions are ethical when
they provide the most
benefit to a particular
group and minimize
potential harm
Other Names
for Theory
Real-world Example
Pluralism,
C
deontology, rights- I believe people should be
based, moral rights,
able to eat sand because it is
the right thing to do.
Workplace Example
I have a duty to carry out my
boss's instructions, even if I
do not think they are the
right thing to do. I have a
moral obligation to show
respect to authority figures.
Golden Rule
Categorical
imperative
Utilitarianism
Teleological
Altruism
Consequentialism
D.
I believe people
should be able to eat
sand because it is
good for one’s health.
I should go to work because
if I am absent I will be
punished
Ethical Systems Table
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Concerned with people's
legal rights as individuals.
Ethical rights are usually
conceived as positive and
negative rights.
Rights-based
Ethics
Rights-based ethics seek
to prevent people from
having their choices
limited, guard access to
socially acceptable
freedoms.
Concerned with basic
nature of human existence
Human Nature
Ethics
Human nature and ethics
are part of the basic
motivating factors for
human beings
B.
Negative or Positive
Contractarianism
Natural or
Conventional ethics
Physical
Hereditary
Natural ethics
People are born with a
nature and inherent traits
that motivate their choices
If I work more than 40 hrs in
a week, I have a legal right
to get overtime payment
from my employer
I believe that if
sand is going
to be eaten, it
should be
available for
everyone to
eat.
A.
Darwinian ethics
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I believe
people should
be able to eat
sand if they
like the taste
of it.
The summer temperature
can climb to more than 100
degrees. My right to drink
water is based on my body's
essential need for hydration
to stay healthy
F.
Morality and ethics are
based on how people think
Ethics depend on what
society thinks of particular
ideas, or acts
Relativistic
Ethics
Ethical relativism
Moral relativism
I believe
people should
be able to eat
sand if they
want to
because they
are free to
make the
decision
themselves.
E.
Entitlementbased Ethics
I believe
people should
be able to eat
sand if they
decide they
want to,
regardless of
whether it is
I do not think that lying is a
moral problem, so it is a
useful idea for me to lie on
my product report to make
my performance appear
better.
Ethical Systems Table
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someone
else’s sand.
Virtue-based
ethics
The virtue ethics approach
focuses more on the
integrity of the moral actor
than on the moral act itself
(Treviño & Nelson, 2007,
Ch. 4).
A virtue ethics perspective
considers primarily the
actor’s character,
motivations, and intentions
(Treviño & Nelson, 2007,
Ch. 4).
Aristotelian
G.
I believe I will
eat sand
because it is
the standard
meal for my
community.
Reference
Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2007). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it
right (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
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