Free Essays on Ethics

Ethics is something very hard to be defined in one document, even by some of the greatest philosophers of all time. Although it would be wonderful if we all were utilitarian, I don’t think it is possible. That is simply because human nature is that we put ourselves a little bit higher than everyone else. Some people put themselves on a level much higher than others and some put themselves just above others. I myself care for the fellow man but just as discussed in the book, I care more for family and friends safety than I do for the strangers. I should not however, because they are no better or worse than my family, friends, or me. If everyone was utilitarian everyone would take care of one another, therefore creating a balance of life. Hobbes’ â€Å"Social Contract† is a wonderful piece of work and I believe states a lot of truth. This document has and will continue to open many eyes. The cooperation in society is vital to achieving the desires that we humans strive for. I have become a slight follower of the â€Å"Social Contract,† but I do believe that humans are not just completely selfish. I see that humans also express the ability to help one another out, for no self accomplishments. I am not sure if this is part of human nature or is something that is taught and passed down to each generation. Helping out a person that hasn’t the ability to complete that task is a common everyday thing, but this is most likely something passed down to the children. I say this because you can see that some people will help and some will not, just because of the way they were raised. We must set rules for the society and abide by them, just for our own safety. If we all follow the law, then it is set that a certain action will receive punishment. David Hume did see a degree of altruism in humans, which can be understood, but still I am unable to decide if it is human nature or taught. Impartiality can also be agreed with. I... Free Essays on Ethics Free Essays on Ethics Ethics Ethics can be defined broadly as a set of moral principles or values. Each of us has such a set of values, although we may or may not have clearly expressed them. It is common for people to differ in their moral principles and values and the relative importance they attach to them. These differences reflect life experiences, successes and failures, as well as the influences of parents, teachers, and friends. Ethical behavior is necessary for a society to function in a orderly manner. It can be argued that ethics is the glue that holds a society together. Philosophers, religious organizations, and other groups have defined in various ways ideal sets of moral principles and values. The following are different approaches, from ancient and modern traditions and philosophers, depicting their meaning and understanding of ethics and how it can be applied in ethical decision-making. Utilitarianism was founded by the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham toward the end of the 18th century. He be lieved that all human actions are motivated by a desire to obtain pleasure and avoid pain. The principle of utility expresses that actions were right if they tended to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. When faced with a moral dilemma, utilitarianism identifies right and wrong and also considers the consequences that may result. This can be regarded as an appropriate action, but offers no realistic way to gather necessary information to make the required decision. Confronting certain situations in life, there is no time to weigh all possible outcomes and decide the one that provides the greatest benefit to all; majority of predicaments allow just enough time for a person to act on impulse alone. To calculate the welfare of the people involved in or effected by any given situation, utilitarianism requires that all individuals be considered equally. Quantitative utilitarians would contemplate the pleasure and pain th... Free Essays on Ethics Ethics of Spartan Housing ABSTRACT This paper gives the pro’s as well as the cons of the proposed and accepted plan for student housing at the Spartan School of Aeronautics Campus located south of the airport on Pine Street. There are general concerns about the safety of living close to an airport and under the runway that I will discuss in the following pages. I will also give the reasons I believe Spartan have for doing such a costly project at their main campus. Universities and Private Colleges alike are constructing student housing facilities for the students coming into their schools. Many of these schools get government grants that help pay for their construction and many get donations from private and public companies and residents. Other schools that already have housing facilities are remodeling and or upgrading the buildings to accommodate the demands of their students. So now the question arises, why? Why are the schools doing all this and spending all this money for temporary residents? Why are students opting for housing on campus rather than off? Why are students choosing small rooms to share rather than their own apartment? Colleges and Universities spend on an average, twenty-million dollars on construction and or renovating the facilities, so why are they doing it? Though there are many answers, the main one is profit. Schools profit from student housing thru many different ways. Some schools generate an extra income from having their students live, eat, and spend money on campus. Spending money can be interpreted by using the laundry facility, student parking, vending machines, telephone, phone cards, student stores, and all the other little things we purchase at school. Schools use this money to maintain the housing facilities and pay all the utilities for each unit. What happens in the long run is that the housing units become self supporting and at the same time, generates extra income for the sc... Free Essays on Ethics "For many organisations 'ethics' is something to be defined and managed by senior executives. " Consider the arguments for and against this control-oriented position. In today's world it is all too prevalent to see more and more people hungry to gain success at an ever-increasing rate. Modern culture can and indeed is labelled 'greedy' and 'thoughtless'. Through my relatively short time spent in business, I have encountered many of these types of people. But who are they hungry for? Who benefits from their thoughtlessness, and why do they do what they do? More importantly, who is to blame when things don't go according to plan? These are all questions asked constantly in the business domain, questions that often seem to include the word 'ethics' in their answer. Whether we look to consequentialism and always consider the outcome of a particular action, or conform to a more deontological form of ethical thinking and focus on always acting in a manner that seems 'right', I believe that a person cannot always be 'ethical', all of the time. If it were that easy, ethics would be a very small area of study. So what does the word 'ethical' mean? To me, it is to take into account every aspect involved in any given situation, peoples' feelings, thoughts and well-being, both now and in the future, and act as best one can to achieve the most satisfactory outcome for all concerned. From my viewpoint, acting in an ethical manner comes from each and every individual, each having learned from the environment in which they have grown and developed. Should the judgement, therefore, always be left to the individual? This is certainly not the case, as more and more organisations in the business world develop codes of ethics that they expect each member to follow. This definition and management of ethics can be seen as a control-oriented position. This control paradigm for organisational ethics is largely concerned with extracting the best possible results... Free Essays on Ethics If I were to ask one hundred people how they viewed the importance of being honest and ethical in their business practices, I wouldn’t be surprised to get one hundred different answers. Very probably, I would get the answer of â€Å"it depends on the situation†. This seems to be a very normal response when the question of morals and ethics is asked. Besides, who decides what is moral and what is considered proper business ethics. In our case study, we look at the company BlueSuitMom.com and the misleading statements made by its founder, Maria Bailey. The statements she used to help gain customers were misleading to her customers and the public. She’s guilty of adding the names of freelancers and part-timers to the biographies in her business and creating fictitious e-mail addresses to give the impression that there were other people staffing her nonexistent departments. Additionally, she suggested to prospective clients that she had executives from compani es such as Blockbuster and Alamo on staff when she had only received free consulting services from people with those corporations. Many people would say that what she did was smart business savvy, while I say she was wrong for exaggerating the information she used as â€Å"bait† to gain a larger customer base. The question we will examine is â€Å"was it immoral for Maria Bailey to represent her company as she did?† While the case can be argued that every one stretches the truth in business, I don’t believe this to be true. I do know that many companies do stretch the truth, but not all. A major problem in today’s society stems from people failing to recognize the origin of truth and ethics. I believe that these truths come from God and that without the belief in these truths we have a chaotic society. When people want to argue that what may be right for me is not what may be right for you, it leads to confusion. No one seems to want to give credit to its origin, G... Free Essays on Ethics We teach the children only the highest of our ideals, the most virtuous of our values. An integral part of our â€Å"code of chivalry† is Immanuel Kant’s Golden Rule: Do as you would be done by. It is taught as a rule to be followed not only in school, but one to live by. Children never fail to imitate the behavior of their elders. This is a beckoning to us, the people of the village who will raise the child, to illustrate our words, to show that the Golden Rule isn’t just an empty clichà ©. Whether we look to utilitarianism or consequentialism and always consider the outcome of a particular action, or conform to a more deontological form of ethical thinking and focus on always acting in a manner that seems ‘right,’ a beginning of an overview on this subject would serve to shed light on a common, yet far from resolved issue plaguing those who grapple with the issue of the death penalty. In examining the ethical issues surrounding businesses today, it is important that we examine a few types of ethical views in order to better understand this heated issue at hand. The Consequentialist view is that thoughts and actions must be right to make the world a better place, and therefore, the right action is the one that produces the best consequences. Utilitarianism is a form of Consequentialism developed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism takes Consequentialism one step further and defines the action that will produce the best consequences as the one that produces the most happiness. Act-utilitarianism holds that each case should be judged separately in terms of which possible action would maximise happiness; this means that there are no rules to follow, but the theory seems to provide a decision-procedure to act upon in that one acts upon a principle of justice. However, as a system of moral analysis, Utilitarianism has a number of difficulties. One of the major problems is the fact that it is extremely diffi... Free Essays on Ethics Ethics is something very hard to be defined in one document, even by some of the greatest philosophers of all time. Although it would be wonderful if we all were utilitarian, I don’t think it is possible. That is simply because human nature is that we put ourselves a little bit higher than everyone else. Some people put themselves on a level much higher than others and some put themselves just above others. I myself care for the fellow man but just as discussed in the book, I care more for family and friends safety than I do for the strangers. I should not however, because they are no better or worse than my family, friends, or me. If everyone was utilitarian everyone would take care of one another, therefore creating a balance of life. Hobbes’ â€Å"Social Contract† is a wonderful piece of work and I believe states a lot of truth. This document has and will continue to open many eyes. The cooperation in society is vital to achieving the desires that we humans strive for. I have become a slight follower of the â€Å"Social Contract,† but I do believe that humans are not just completely selfish. I see that humans also express the ability to help one another out, for no self accomplishments. I am not sure if this is part of human nature or is something that is taught and passed down to each generation. Helping out a person that hasn’t the ability to complete that task is a common everyday thing, but this is most likely something passed down to the children. I say this because you can see that some people will help and some will not, just because of the way they were raised. We must set rules for the society and abide by them, just for our own safety. If we all follow the law, then it is set that a certain action will receive punishment. David Hume did see a degree of altruism in humans, which can be understood, but still I am unable to decide if it is human nature or taught. Impartiality can also be agreed with. I... Free Essays on Ethics Ethics in Decision Making The decision making processes that people go through in their lives can have many different influences. One of the more important influences in the decision making process is the ethics involved in a decision. This begs the question, â€Å"What are ethics?† One definition of ethics could be a structured set of guidelines for personal and professional behavior (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000). Another definition could be the study of the moral choices people make, and what drives these choices (Houghton Mifflin Company). Regardless, not all decisions carry a significant ethical weight. It is important to recognize the decisions that do have ethical questions attached to them and to weigh the decision against an ethical standard. Ethics can have gray areas and vary from one culture to culture, or even from one person to the next. One person may decide it is ethical to sell a car â€Å"as is†, knowing the car needs expensive servicing or repairs. This person may suppose that the buyer should read into the â€Å"as is† tag and understand the inherent risks associated. This ethical standard could shock someone else who might think it the worst sort of deception. The key is to reflect on the values of the society in which you live, and the personal moral code that one lives by. In a society such as mainstream America, the above sale would be legal and even ethical in most jurisdictions. Ethical standards are particularly applicable to business and professions, and as such are largely constructions of laws. Despite the legality of the aforementioned car sale, such an act would likely be viewed unfavorably by the majority of people in American society. As such, any person who chose to try and make a living selling cars must understand that while the sale was legal, society will not tolerate this and act decisively. People would eventually choose not to buy cars from that person. They would tell their fri... Free Essays on Ethics Aristotle places great emphasis on the moral virtue of temperance in relation to the nature of states of character. In his examination to achieve true temperance Aristotle asserts, â€Å"The general account being of this nature, the account of particular cases is yet more lacking in exactness; for they don not follow under any art or precept, but the agents themselves must in each case consider what is appropriate to the occasion† (-1104a9). He believes that we achieve our own good will, but attaining the good isn’t an exact science, it isn’t precise like math or physics. However, he still attempts to arrive to a definition of true temperance. In defining true temperance Aristotle speaks about human function. He says the enjoyment of pleasure is reasonable and the abstention of pleasure as unreasonable. He says true virtue lies between Self-indulgence and abstention. Therefore, temperance represents the mean lying between excess and abstention. He doesn’t concern himself with a uniform rule, but with something all humans have in common allowing us to act accordingly. In book two of the ethics Aristotle concerns himself with three objects of choice: the noble, the useful, and the pleasant, as well as three objects of avoidance: the base, the harmful, and the painful. These objects motivate one to act or avoid any action. Most people avoid the painful and choose the pleasure, which Aristotle believes is in accordance with virtue. However, continuing to choose pleasure over pain leads to self-indulgence. Therefore, how must one attain the mean? Aristotle declares, â€Å"[to achieve virtue and temperance] that the intermediate state in all things is to be praised, but that we must incline sometimes toward the excess, sometimes toward the deficiency; for so shall we most easily hit the mean and what is right† (1109b28). I agree with Aristotle’s statement affirming that in order to reach the mean, humans must at times pu... Free Essays on Ethics From a business perspective, working under government contracts can be a very lucrative proposition. In general, a stream of orders keep coming in, revenue increases and the company grows in the aggregate. The obvious downfalls to working in this manner is both higher quality expected as well as the extensive research and documentation required for government contracts. If a part fails to perform correctly it can cause minor glitches as well as problems that can carry serious repercussions, such as in the National Semiconductor case. When both the culpable component and company are found, the question arises of how extensive these repercussions should be. Is the company as an entity liable or do you look into individual employees within that company? From an ethical perspective one would have to look at the mitigating factors of both the employees and their superiors along with the role of others in the failure of these components. Next you would have to analyze the final ruling from a corporate perspective and then we must examine the macro issue of corporate responsibility in order to attempt to find a resolution for cases like these. The first mitigating factor involved in the National Semiconductor case is the uncertainty, on the part of the employees, on the duties that they were assigned. It is plausible that during the testing procedure, an employee couldnt distinguish which parts they were to test under government standards and commercial standards. In some cases they might have even been misinformed on the final consumers of the products that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the part of the employees would fully excuse them from any moral responsibility for any damage that may result from their work. Whether it is decided that an employees is fully excused, or is given some moral responsibility, would have to be looked at on an individual basis. The second mitigating factor is the duress or threats that an employee migh... Free Essays on Ethics 1- While reading the â€Å"Merck and River Blindness† case, I was able to identify three important facts about the case that I believe are vital in the decisions to be made. The first fact involves the 1978 World Health Organizations estimation that there are more then 300,000 people who are currently blind because of the effects of Onchocerciasis, and 18 million who were infected by the disease. I believe this figure to be the key because it sheds light on exactly how valuable a cure would be. It may not seem very valuable in an economic sense, but the ability to heal so many people and better their quality of life will be recognized by many. The next key fact is that it takes $200 million in research and 12 years time to bring the average drug to market. After reading this, it is not hard to see why the researching decision is such a vital and complex one. Having an organization devote so many resources to a cause, it should expect a significant return on their investment. F inally, the last key fact I read in the case was that the drug Ivermectin was found to kill parasites in horses that are very similar to the worm found to cause River Blindness in humans. I found this information crucial because the fact that they already had a fully developed, and marketed drug in Ivermectin as their base for the cure to Onchocerciasis, leads me to believe that the cost to research and market a cure would be dramatically less. 2- Assuming Merck does take on this assignment to develop a cure for Onchocerciasis, they will be setting themselves up for a big outcome. Whether the outcome is positive or negative is yet to be determined. Regardless of the outcome, I will identify and briefly discuss two potential costs, and two potential benefits. First, I will discuss two potential costs of going ahead with the investment. I think the clearest potential cost to Merck for attempting this project is the financial resources. Although they may have Ivermect... Free Essays on Ethics Table of Contents Page # Executive Summary 1 Jones Soda’s Vision & Goal 2-3 Measurable Results for Jones Soda 3 Input-Processing-Output Model 4 World, Behavioral, & Business Dimensions 4-6 Timeliness, Exclusiveness, & Accessibility 6-7 Format Required (Graphics, Voice, Video, etc.) 7 Behavioral & Marketing Dimension Interaction 7-9 Organizational Dimension Charts 1 & 2 10 Self-Evaluations 11-12 References 13 Jones Soda’s Vision and Goal The company of Jones Soda began in 1987, when company founder and president, Peter van Stolk, recognized the potential of emerging â€Å"alternative† products in the beverage industry. Jones Soda is a unique company with a vision that is growing with the times. Distribution of Jones Soda began with an â€Å"alternative distribution strategy.† Following the execution of the alternative distribution strategy, Jones began an up and down the street â€Å"attack† of the marketplace; this time placing products in convenience and food stores. Finally, the company has now begun to achieve larger chain store listings with companies such as Starbucks, Safeway, Albertson’s and 7-Eleven stores. Jones Soda has always focused on interacting with the consumer and always keeps up with the demand. Jones Soda has created a trend, and it is a passion not only among soda drinkers but with its employees, directors and shareholders. Jones Soda’s current goal is to e xpand nationally within the next two years. Jones Soda Company develops markets and distributes alternative or new age beverages, including premium soda, diet soda, spring water and energy drinks. We believe that we are creating a new category in the ‘New Age Beverage’ market, and we are offering distributors something new to sell. We se... Free Essays on Ethics Business Ethics Ethics in Business From a business perspective, working under government contracts can be a very lucrative proposition. In general, a stream of orders keep coming in, revenue increases and the company grows in the aggregate. The obvious downfalls to working in this manner is both higher quality expected as well as the extensive research and documentation required for government contracts. If a part fails to perform correctly it can cause minor glitches as well as problems that can carry serious repercussions, such as in the National Semiconductor case. When both the culpable component and company are found, the question arises of how extensive these repercussions should be. Is the company as an entity liable or do you look into individual employees within that company? From an ethical perspective one would have to look at the mitigating factors of both the employees and their superiors along with the role of others in the failure of these components. Next you would ha ve to analyze the final ruling from a corporate perspective and then we must examine the macro issue of corporate responsibility in order to attempt to find a resolution for cases like these. The first mitigating factor involved in the National Semiconductor case is the uncertainty, on the part of the employees, on the duties that they were assigned. It is plausible that during the testing procedure, an employee couldnt distinguish which parts they were to test under government standards and commercial standards. In some cases they might have even been misinformed on the final consumers of the products that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the part of the employees would fully excuse them from any moral responsibility for any damage that may result from their work. Whether it is decided that an employees is fully excused, or is given some moral responsibility, would have to be looked at on an individual basis. The second mitigating factor is the duress or ... Free Essays on Ethics Ethics, Culture, and Hinduism Ethics is a study of moral issues in the fields of individual and collective interaction. The term is also sometimes used more generally to describe issues in arts and sciences, religious beliefs and cultural priorities. The professional fields that deal with ethical issues and include medicine, trading, business, law, and etc. Modern Culture and its Influence on Ethics Modern science has positively influenced general attitudes and beliefs in ethical and moral social code. However, all is not well as far as the health of ethics is concerned. Ethics has not produced the desired effect in eradicating material disparity between haves and have-nots. The plight of vast majority of people in South East Asia, Latin America, and Africa is most pathetic, to say the least. The dollar is now nothing less but 'adored deity' and consequent hankering after materialistic gains has pushed the nobility of ethics and morality into disrepute. Materialistic influence has also led to the general belief that gratification of senses is the only way of enjoyment. This has produced highly selfish mentality without spiritual concept of life. The question of unethical trends cannot be put directly on one individual scientist, but there is no doubt that 'scientific culture' has led to this disparity and discrepancy in making the scarce resources available to all. How to reconcile such diverse trends in ethics? Are they related to prevailing culture? To answer these questions we must know something about culture and civilization. Culture may be defined as a particular stage in civilization associated with certain tastes in art and manners, and also all the knowledge and values, shared and favored by a society or a social group. Civilization means societal norms and aspects of human interrelationship that have advanced and reached a particular state of fossilization based on a given culture. Thus we can talk of Ve... Free Essays on Ethics â€Å"Whenever organisations act, people act, and for every act of an organisation there are at least some acts of individuals such that if these individuals had not performed their acts, and no one else had, then the organisation would not have performed the act attributed to it† (Haworth, 1959). This quote, in my opinion begins to attribute responsibility wholly to individuals, and thus removes any need for a control-oriented approach. Since the organisation as an entity cannot be held responsible, why then should any body of people seek to control the moral judgement and actions of others? If I am likely to be held accountable for my actions, then I know I want to exert my own moral judgement before acting. Therefore, as it appears to me, it is the actions of the people (be it a manager or a cleaner) that are accountable, and consequently the people who are responsible! So why do some organisations take this control-oriented approach? I’m sure that with some it is simply to keep the power in their own hands; these people think they need to have power in order to be successful. However, I think a more pertinent reason as to why some organisations take this approach is to hide behind the organisation themselves. Many individuals within organisations are scared of the book stopping with them so they create a ‘code of ethics’ which, in terms of blame, is large enough to hide behind. Surely then, with the control-oriented approach the organisation should be responsible? On the contrary, with an organisation that employs the autonomous approach, each individual must be responsible for their own actions since they are solely attributable for every part of every move they make. In listing these two types of approaches and the degree of control that they attempt to possess, can it be said of any one organisation that it has successfully adopted a control-oriented or autonomous approach, and that there is no middle ground? I believe... Free Essays on ETHICS Public Relations Code of Ethics Preamble We pledge to be committed, caring, and concerned to all of our employees. As a firm  ¡Ã‚ §pledge to conduct ourselves professionally, with truth, accuracy and responsibility ¡Ã‚ ¨ (Code of Professional Standards of Public Relations). In return we ask all employees to abide by all requirements, rules, and regulations found in the Broadnax ¡Ã‚ ¦s Public Relations Code of Ethics. Each heading provides an extensive overview of what is expected of each employee. It is important that each employee review all of the information provided. If any employee is caught violating any of the rules, regulations and requirements and investigation process will begin. After the investigation process is completed the CEO and General Manger will decided what actions will b taken. If a employee is found guilty suspension or termination may occur. Avoid harm to others Æ’Ã ¦ Each employee is treat others and they want to be treated. Æ’Ã ¦ All employees must respect clients, visitors and other employee ¡Ã‚ ¦s. Æ’Ã ¦  ¡Ã‚ §Harm means injury or negative consequences such as undesirable loss of information, loss of property, damage, or unwanted environmental impacts ¡Ã‚ ¨ (ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct). Æ’Ã ¦ All employees should not discriminate others because of race, religion, disability, sex and all attributes one might possess. Privacy Æ’Ã ¦ Privacy is extremely enforced and mandatory for all current and former employees of Broadnax ¡Ã‚ ¦s Public Relations Firm. Æ’Ã ¦ Privacy is strongly enforced to prevent lawsuits. Æ’Ã ¦  ¡Ã‚ §Communications between practitioner and clients/employers are deemed to be confidential under Article 13 of Code of professional Standards. However although practitioner/client/employer communications are considered confidential between the parties, such as communications are not privileged against disclosure in the court of law ¡Ã‚ ¨ (PRSA, Public Relations Society of Amer... Free Essays on Ethics In America, society’s view of human rights is a complete contradiction. On one hand, we form a deep and heavy opinion on one’s right to life. On the other, we hold an equally strong opinion on one’s freedom to live that life as they please. Clearly, American society has a firm belief in an individuals right to live. Therefore, if one comes to the conclusion that a fetus actually is a true person, then that fetus should receive the protection in regard to a right to live. This society in which we live also holds the firm belief in one’s right to the sovereignty of his or her own body, equal to that of one’s right to live. In this case, it is imperative that we understand what liberties we can and cannot take upon ourselves concerning our lives. Society dictates what we are allowed to do, and how we are allowed to live, by law. Most of Anglo-American laws are written to preserve one’s rights to individuality, and one’s right to take the liberty to live their lives as they see fit. However, laws are also written to undermine those who’s actions compromise the liberties and freedoms of other individuals, thus protecting the concepts and ideals of agency and liberty. Based on our society’s laws, essentially, we believe that what you do to yourself is one’s own choice, and is accepted by law, so long as it does not stop or impede the lives and freedoms of others. The difficulty in this particular conundrum lies within the question of whether an abortion falls into a category of protection of a woman’s right’s over the sovereignty of her own body, or whether it falls into a different category or schema of an action which is not permissible because the baby is a person whose life and freedom is being compromised.... Free Essays on Ethics Aaron Silverstein Ethics By the definition of ethics, â€Å"The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession: medical ethics.†( The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright  © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.), asking someone if they posses them could bring a broad array of answers to the table. Also falling in line with that are the questions of someone’s morals, â€Å"Conforming to standards of what is right or just in behavior; virtuous: a moral life.†(The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright  © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.), which can be directly tied in with ethics. As to if I consider myself to have â€Å"good† morals and ethics, I’d say they both fall under common sense. Saying please and thank you, holding the door for a lady and not chewing with your mouth full, are all typical examples of regular moral values. One’s that are all commonly found in today’s society, one’s that I for one consider common courtesy. To me that may be common courtesy, but to others it would be considered a hassle. So to me the typical thing of just being polite is me being me, not me being ethical or displaying my moral values. Any decent human being knows the difference between right and wrong. Obviously, if you see an old woman struggling to open a door, you’re not going to just walk right by her and continue on your way, that’s not right. The right thing to do would be to take 2 seconds of your life and open the door for her. To me, all of that is common sense. My moral and ethical values have all been instilled in me since birth, so much so that I don’t think twice about me possessing either of them. I was raised in a matter that you do whatever you can to help a person out in their situation to the fullest extent of your capabilities, if you feel that it is right. I add the â€Å"if... Free Essays on Ethics The most recent addition to the Ruffin Series in Business Ethics, edited by R. Edward Freeman, is this significant contribution on moral imagination by Patricia Werhane, who is the Peter and Adele Ruffin Professor of Business Ethics at the Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia. She is uniquely suited to write on this topic, as she has served as editor of Business Ethics Quarterly for ten years, authored many books on business ethics, and has had extensive experience in theory building and research in the area of ethical decision making. Books in this series are aimed at three audiences: management scholars, business ethicists, and business executives. Through a judicious balance of concepts, theory, and examples, Werhane writes in a way that reaches each of the audiences, especially the academic audience. The book strikes me as primarily targeted at scholars who are concerned with the ethics education of managers and executives, which is consistent with the other books in the Ruffin Serie s. As a result, the book is extremely useful to scholars in management and business ethics who are seeking a more thorough, theory-based look at ethics concepts. Since the book is laced with recent and relevant examples, it is useful from both a theoretical and applied perspective. Werhane states her objective to be an exploration of the role of moral imagination in management and corporate decision making. In particular, she aims to provide some fresh insights on two important questions: Why do ordinary, decent managers engage in questionable behavior? and Why do successful companies ignore the ethical dimensions of their processes, decisions, and actions? Her basic argument is that the phenomenon of moral imagination holds the answers to these questions, and she follows others in writing on moral imagination. I first became aware of the concept, as it applies to business ethics, in a book by Powers and Vogel (1980), and I adopte... Free Essays on Ethics Ethics in Business From a business perspective, working under government contracts can be a very lucrative proposition. In general, a stream of orders keep coming in, revenue increases and the company grows in the aggregate. The obvious downfalls to working in this manner is both higher quality expected as well as the extensive research and documentation required for government contracts. If a part fails to perform correctly it can cause minor glitches as well as problems that can carry serious repercussions, such as in the National Semiconductor case. When both the culpable component and company are found, the question arises of how extensive these repercussions should be. Is the company as an entity liable or do you look into individual employees within that company? From an ethical perspective one would have to look at the mitigating factors of both the employees and their superiors along with the role of others in the failure of these components. Next you would have to analyze the final ruling fro m a corporate perspective and then we must examine the macro issue of corporate responsibility in order to attempt to find a resolution for cases like these. The first mitigating factor involved in the National Semiconductor case is the uncertainty, on the part of the employees, on the duties that they were assigned. It is plausible that during the testing procedure, an employee couldnt distinguish which parts they were to test under government standards and commercial standards. In some cases they might have even been misinformed on the final consumers of the products that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the part of the employees would fully excuse them from any moral responsibility for any damage that may result from their work. Whether it is decided that an employees is fully excused, or is given some moral responsibility, would have to be looked at on an individual basis. The second mitigating factor is the duress or ... Free Essays on Ethics Morals within one culture can be a complicated subject. Even within our own country elections can be decided based on whose morals agree with who instead of what is truly best for the country and its people. Considering how complicated just one culture can be. Now imagine comparing and contrasting the thousands of different cultures out there today and the millions of morals that exist in those cultures. It is humanly impossible to judge between these morals and cultures which one living life what some might call the â€Å"right way†. We all come from some background and all of us are biased whether it is apparent to us or not. So though my English teacher in high school, who was a pronounced lesbian, taught us about cultures in Africa that cut out the sexual stimulating part of the female body and to show us how there still exists â€Å"evil people in the world today†. It’s pretty clear she was biased towards females and I don’t believe she had the right to judge that culture negatively. At the time my classmates and I were astonished and couldn’t believe this existed. However none of us actually took the time to look into the culture and learn more about why they do what they do. We judged knowing very little and I blame my English teacher for trying to almost recruit people to her own morals. Now that I’m older and as I read the two pieces on morals I kept thinking about that story and also how much violence and destruction in the world could have been prevented if people didn’t try to physically enforce their morals on others. Unfortunately when morals become sacred and religious to one they feel the need to correct others who aren’t aware of the â€Å"right way† to live. A lot of the problems we see in today’s world stem from people over stepping their bounds and putting their morals on others. I don’t know if I would consider opening a McDonalds in the middle of Islam enforcing m orals on others though it may be offens... Free Essays on Ethics Ethics By: Lisa Ethics can be defined broadly as a set of moral principles or values. Each of us has such a set of values, although we may or may not have clearly expressed them. It is common for people to differ in their moral principles and values and the relative importance they attach to them. These differences reflect life experiences, successes and failures, as well as the influences of parents, teachers, and friends. Ethical behavior is necessary for a society to function in a orderly manner. It can be argued that ethics is the glue that holds a society together. Philosophers, religious organizations, and other groups have defined in various ways ideal sets of moral principles and values. The following are different approaches, from ancient and modern traditions and philosophers, depicting their meaning and understanding of ethics and how it can be applied in ethical decision-making. Utilitarianism was founded by the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham toward the end of the 18th century. He be lieved that all human actions are motivated by a desire to obtain pleasure and avoid pain. The principle of utility expresses that actions were right if they tended to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. When faced with a moral dilemma, utilitarianism identifies right and wrong and also considers the consequences that may result. This can be regarded as an appropriate action, but offers no realistic way to gather necessary information to make the required decision. Confronting certain situations in life, there is no time to weigh all possible outcomes and decide the one that provides the greatest benefit to all; majority of predicaments allow just enough time for a person to act on impulse alone. To calculate the welfare of the people involved in or effected by any given situation, utilitarianism requires that all individuals be considered equally. Quantitative utilitarians would contemplate the pleasure an...