Download Chapter 1: Welcome to Ethics

Chapter 1: Welcome to Ethics
You Decide –pg. 4
1. If you found a wallet containing $50, would it be wrong to keep the money? Why or why not?
2. If you could win at a sport more often by cheating occasionally, would it be wrong to cheat? Why or why
not?
3. If a friend got an unflattering haircut, would it be wrong to lie and tell the person that it looked good? Why
or why not?
4. If you dropped your cell phone, which you were not supposed to be using, while calling a friend, would it
be wrong to lie about how the phone was broken? Why or why not?
5. If you found out that a classmate was selling illegal drugs, would it be wrong to keep quiet about what you
learned? Why or why not?
Personal Reflection –pg. 5-6
Look at your answers to “You Decide” and consider the following questions.
1. In which part of your life do you face the most ethical problems and decisions? Why do you think that is?
2. What do your answers say about the kind of person you are?
3. How many of your classmates do you think answered the questions the same way you did?
4. What major life experiences have affected your personal ethics the most?
5. What ethical principle(s) do you see behind the responses you gave? (Remember, the principles are in the
why part of your answer.)
Do you see how one moral decision can have several ethical principles behind it? Understanding principles
like those –and learning to apply them to different ethical situations and issues –is at the heart of
understanding what ethics is about.
Checkpoint –pg. 8-9
Define the following terms in your own words.
Ethics in the Workplace
Chapter 1
1
Ethics:
Morality:
Ethical Issues:
Universal Ethical Principles:
Relativism:
Legalism:
What do you think now? –pg. 9
Take another look at Tamika’s situation at the beginning of the chapter. Use the table below to list three
ethical issues and three ethical principles to which the scenario refers. (You may have to read between the
lines in the scenario.)
Ethical Issues
1.
2.
3.
Ethical Principles
1.
2.
3.
Checkpoint –pg. 13
In your own words, summarize the following meanings of the sources of ethical beliefs.
Authority:
Culture:
Intuition:
Reason:
Personal Reflection –pg. 14
1. Which of the sources of ethical beliefs has influenced you the most? Why?
2. Which of the sources has influenced you the least? Why?
Ethics in the Workplace
Chapter 1
2
3. Write one specific action you could take to make reasoning more of a factor in your ethical decision
making.
Checkpoint –pg. 17
1. How is the standard of ethics different from the standard of etiquette?
2. What is the difference between the standard of ethics and the standard of law?
Personal Reflection – pg. 18
1. Give an example of a situation in which the standard of etiquette turned out to be important to you.
2. Describe a situation when you were confronted with the importance (and potential consequences) of the
legal standard.
3. Provide an example of a time when you had to make a difficult ethical decision. How did the concept of
the ethical standard apply to your situation?
A. ethical principles
Chapter 1 Assessments –pg. 19
B. universal principles
Vocabulary Builder
Match the following terms to their definitions.
C. ethics
1.
A source of ethical beliefs holding that right and wrong have been
built into a person’s conscience and that he or she will know what is right by
listening to that “little voice” within.
2.
A source of ethical beliefs holding that an action is right or wrong
because “someone important said so.”
3.
The belief that because there are laws and policies to cover issues of
right and wrong, ethics is irrelevant.
4.
The belief that because ethical beliefs vary so widely, there can be no
universal ethical principles that apply to everyone.
5.
General guidelines of ethical behavior (of how people should act).
6.
The part of human conduct that can be evaluated in terms of right
and wrong.
D. morality
E. ethical issues
F. relativism
G. legalism
H. authority
I. culture
J. intuition
K. reason
L. standard
7.
The source of ethical beliefs holding that consistent, logical thinking
should be the primary tool used in making ethical decisions.
M. standard of etiquette
Ethics in the Workplace
N. standard of law
Chapter 1
O. standard of ethics
3
8.
The source of ethical beliefs holding that the morality of an action depends on the beliefs on one’s
culture or nation.
9.
Rational people thinking logically agreeing that everyone should follow these.
10.
Rules of behavior imposed on people by governments.
11.
Social expectations concerning manners or social graces.
12.
Social expectations of people’s moral behavior.
13.
The study of what is right and wrong, good and bad.
14.
Topics of actions that raise questions or right or wrong.
15.
An accepted level of behavior to which people are expected to conform.
Reinforcement –pg. 19-20
1. What are the two key criticisms of ethics discussed in this chapter?
2. What are the four possible sources of ethical beliefs?
3. What is the primary difference between the standards of etiquette and ethics?
4. What is the primary difference between the legal standard and the ethical standard?
Ethics in the Workplace
Chapter 1
4