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How do you approach ethical issues?
Posted by voodooKobra • 10/03/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: ethical theories, ethics, evil, fair, good, justice, moral, morality, morals, Theories
There are way too many ethical theories to classify them all in any neat, meaningful way. The general theories they cover in a basic ethics class are Universalism, Relativism, Egoism, Hedonism, Altruism, Stoicism, Natural Law, Natural Rights, Aristotelian, Kantian, Utilitarianism, and the Justice Theories. Without going into too much detail, please explain how you approach ethical issues.
(You can find the basic premises, consequences, and faults with all of the above theories by looking through Wikipedia.)
What are the first questions you ask yourself when confronted with a moral dilemma?
User Comments
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"Without going into too much detail"
boy is that going to get ignored
This article gives a rather incomplete explanation, but brevity is sometimes better:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_law#Liberal_natural_law-
Hmm, a secular natural law? I have not heard of such a thing.
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I suppose it is inspired by a secular God
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I'm a melting pot of ethical theories, and I don't always take the same considerations in the same order, especially if the information I have is limited.
Natural law, egotism, and hedonism are typically very far from my mind, though.-
egoism or egotism?
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First question I ask myself - is how I would feel if I were in the same situation.-
reciprocity
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Very Kantian.
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That sounds bad... LMAO --- glad it's an A instead of a U... LMAO
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Hahaha. No, I wouldn't say that to you.
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Slowly, carefully and with heavy armor. -
Deliver a bloody nose to the first person who rankles me -
My first question is, is it my business or not?
then, Who or what does it impact on?
How big is the pain factor if it does affect someone?
Then I ask again, is it my business?
I was in a situation recently where at first something that happened locally annoyed lots of people; at first I said, this is not my battle. After consideration for about 6 weeks I said, yep there is an issue here, I need to speak up, so I did. In the end all that happened was I got very frustrated with the media lies on the issue and the limited thought that was happening regarding the issue. It died eventually and a lot of people were left feeling aweful.
I probably should have stopped at point 1 and saved hours of pain. -
I consider first what the other person is entitled to - their rights, their property, their position. After I've thought through this, I consider what would aid the other person, and then eliminate ideas based on what's none of my business andor contradicts the first question. Then I consider what I owe to third persons not present here right now that might be interfered with. Finally, I consider whether I care.-
and then, draw out that AK47
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No that's only if there are no free candies...
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ok.. i will remember..
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That's right, candies, CANDIES!!!!
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hmm... to approach ethical issues is by respect other ethical issues and the human feelings associated with it -
This is my rule: As long as I'm not hurting others or affecting their lives in a negative way, I will do whatever the hell I please. If I hurt myself in the process, then it's MY stupidity and MY prerogative. -
I approach ethical issues with gunsablazing. -
Ethically?
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Derek,
That is not ethnic at all
Spot the deliberate spelling error.-
It is too. Maybe not according to your ethical guidelines, but I don't follow your ethics.
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By having no opinion one way or the other.-
Coward
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LOL
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wwjd?
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(you know I'm teasing.)
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Or I ask: What would Tyler Durden do?
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How do I approach ethical issues? Carefully and thoughtfully. How else?
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I think it's rare that we're confronted with true moral dilemmas. What we classify as moral dilemmas are more often conflicts between the moral option and what we want to do. True moral dilemmas do exist, of course, but I don't find that many arise in day-to-day life.-
I agree. The most common situation for me with true moral dilemmas is when I'm talking to a friend who has completely screwed up their entire life and way of seeing and I'm trying to judge between not scaring them away and pushing them in the right direction, and I know they only have so much time. That's the only moral dilemma that comes up for me often.
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Jeremy, wouldn't you say that's more of a practical dilemma than a moral one? You know what you need to DO, just not how best to execute it (or at least, that's how it sounds from what you've written here).
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You think so? I mean, I think we all know what we NEED to do it's just a matter of how we all do it.
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Do you think everyone knows that? Really?
What I was trying to say is that when you're talking to that friend, you know what you want to communicate, you just don't know exactly what the best way to communicate it without alienating him/pushing him in the wrong direction is (at least, that's how I took what you wrote).
Say, for instance, that you have a close friend who is planning to have an abortion, and you don't believe in it. If you're conflicted about whether you should speak up or support your friend because your anti-abortion beliefs are in conflict with your "support my friend's right to make her own decision" beliefs, you have a moral dilemma. But if you feel strongly that you have to attempt to dissuade her and just don't know how to go about it, that's a practical dilemma.
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I don't know how exactly to classify because I haven't studied the different "isms" but I generally do what I believe is right based on what I believe is fundamentally right. I avoid "harming" others but I believe there is a significant difference between "hurt" and "harm" because of that I may choose to cause someone pain but only if I believe it is ultimately best for them.
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