- relates to a value

system of cultural

beliefs; standards

of conduct;

And what a society

considers as

being…

or

Ethics author Mary Guy defines ethics as

“that behavior which is the right thing to do, given the circumstances.”

Ethical behavior involved four key principles:

Honesty

Integrity

Fairness

and CONCERN for others.

Honesty + Integrity +

Fairness – Concern to others =

Critical question:

• things commonly thought to be good, like money, knowledge,

love and power, can be misused and therefore not good

without qualification.

• All of the actions that one person use the other person

merely as a means to self-advantage (power, fame, money),

disregarding other persons as valuable ends in themselves.

• Thus, One must never use another person as a means to one's

own selfish end.

– founder of critical philosophy, a moral law that is

unconditional or absolute for all agents, the validity or claim of which does not depend on any ulterior motive or end.

- a Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at University of Konigsberg in 1770.

- he wrote philosophical treatises to change the history of Western thought (1781-1798)

Moral Imperatives - a principle that is from a person’s mind that would force that person to act it out.

Example:

*Even if a good act makes you feel good, it is not a reward, it’s just a bonus of what you did said by Kant.

• The rightness or wrongness of actions is to be judged by

the goodness or badness of the consequences of a rule

that everyone should perform the action in like

circumstances

• Acts that are right tend to promote happiness for all

concerned; not just the individual.

The Greatest Happiness Principle:

Happiness = pleasure, and

the absence of pain

Unhappiness = pain, and

the absence of pleasure

Everyone’s happiness

counts equally.

Whether an action is morally right or wrong depends entirely on its consequences. An action is right if it brings about the best outcome of the choices available. Otherwise it is wrong.

The Good: Things (goals, states of affairs) that are worth pursuingand promoting.

The Right: the moral rightness (or wrongness) of actions and policies.

“Suppose that a person has promised to meet a friend for a social engagement, but on the way to the agreed upon the meeting point, he sees a serious accident and is in the proposition of being able to bring relief to the victims.”

*An act is a prima facie duty when there is a moral reason in favor of doing the act, but one that can be outweighed by other moral reasons.

*An act is a prima facie wrong when there is a moral reason against doing the act, but one that can be outweighed by other moral reasons.

• (a) Duties of Fidelity:-are duties to keep one’s promises and contracts and not to engage in deception.

• (b) Duties of Reparations:- a duty to make up for the injuries one has done to others

• (c) Duties of Gratitude:- a duty to be grateful for benefactions done to oneself and if possible to show it by benefactions in return

• (d) Duties of Justice:

• (e) Duties of Beneficence:-

• (f) Duties of Self-Improvement-

• (g) Duties of Non-Maleficence-

• “the acceptance of moral principles”

• “Veil of ignorance”

-

• Decisions that will be made in this situation will represent

fairness and rightness.

- a professor in Harvard University

- developed a contract theory in ethics where in the social and moral order is founded on convention or agreement, “the contract”.

equality of access to basic liberties.

He mentions specific liberties from the Bill of Rights:

Freedom to vote

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Assembly

Freedom to own Personal Property

Freedom from arbitrary arrest

Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure

more complicated principle, refers to two limitations on inequality:

• the first limitation concerning a form of recognition of prudential concerns • and the second referring to openness of offices.

-the second part of this principle assures equal access to the hierarchy of authority and responsibility in society.

–Rawl’s defines as “the successful execution of a rational plan of life.”

FOUR FACTORS OF SELF-RESPECT: A belief in one’s own worth A belief that one’s plan of life is a worthy one A belief in one’s ability to carry out the chosen plan of life Appreciation and confirmation by associates

ETHICSapplied to

theWORKPLACE

Two key suggestions have been made as to why

unethical behavior is so widespread:

•

•

5 Cultural Climates that will

describe pose serious ethical

dilemmas for organizations

When organizations engage in illegal behavior or behavior that is considered to be highly unethical, an individual may “BLOW THE WHISTLE” and reveal the conduct to a regulatory agency or to the news media.

1. Intentional2. Responsive3. Accusatory4. Public5. Support seeking6. Via various media7. Reputational8. Straining a “contractual agreement”

1) The harm to the public is serious and considerable.2) The internal channels of the organization have been tried and exhausted.3) Accurate evidence of wrongdoing has been collected and documented.4) Public knowledge of wrongdoing will force organizational changes and rectify the

situation.5) The harm caused to the organization, its members, and stockholders it outweighed by

the public harm.

• Kant’s Categorical Imperative is difficult to apply in this situation because one could NOT universalize a maxim of action to brrach loyalty, or confidence or contracts. And so in tolerating the continuation of the injustice and harm caused by organizational behavior.

• The Five Criteria fit a UTILITARIAN analaysis. They are targeted to alleviate serious societal harm. And balancing the harm brought about to the organization and attempts to save the organization harm by giving it an opportunity to correct the situation on its own terms.

• ROSS would view the situation as a classic one involving conflicts of PRIMA FACIE DUTIES. The principal conflict between duty of fidelity and non-maleficence.

• In Rawl’s the organization’s conduct must be balanced against the right of the public to know about the dangerous and unjust practices of the organization.

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