Ethical Considerations

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Ethical Considerations
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Ethics

• What do we mean by ethics or unethical?
• Motivations to behave unethically
• Personal gain, especially power
• Competition
• Restoration of justice or fairness
• What is fairness?

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Some Ways to Behave Unethically

• Selective disclosure /or misrepresentation
  to others
• Deception
• False threats or false promises
• Provide false information (lie)
• Inflict intentional harm on the other party
• Selective disclosure or misrepresentation to
  constituencies

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Ethical Decisions Have Complexity

• Multiple alternatives
• Broad long-range consequences
• Uncertain consequences
• Mixture of economic, legal, ethical, social, and
  personal benefits and costs

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Some Ethical Systems

• Eternal law "capital-T truth"
• Ethical Egoism seek self-interests promote
  greatest balance of good over bad for self, with
  ethical constraints
• Utilitarianism greatest good for the greatest
  number, or maximize the social benefit function
• Universalism (Categorical imperative) would I
  be willing to make the basis for my action a
  general law binding everyone, given similar
  circumstances?
• Enlightened self-interest self-interest rightly
  understood, with long-term perspective or judging
  from my deathbed
• Ethics of interdependence interdependence
  between individuals is fundamental be willing to
  compromise to help the other side achieve goals

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Some Ethical Introspections

• Is it right?
• Is it fair?
• How does it smell?
• Who benefits and who gets hurt?
• What if details were made public?
• What would you tell your child to do?
• What if everyone did this?

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Consider

• Learning from your mistakes
• Look in the mirror see how you like what you
  see
• Put yourself in the other persons shoes and see
  how they see you
• However, dont be naive

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Case A Tragic Choice

• Review silently the questions at end of the case
• We discuss Q.1
• Each group takes one of questions 2-5 plus the
  general question If you were Jim, what would you
  do and why? - reports back
• All join in discussion of each

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Tragic Choice Questions

• It could be argued that, if Jim does shoot one of
  the hostages, he is not merely killing that
  hostage, he is murdering that person. What do
  you think about this? Can such a shooting be
  excused? ...justified?
• What if Jim had arrived in the clearing with his
  young son and the captain had threatened Jim by
  saying, "Either shoot one of the hostages or
  we'll shoot your son." Would this change your
  reasoning and decision?
• Suppose you were one of the twenty hostages what
  alternative would you prefer?
• Suppose that all of the hostages wanted Jim to
  kill one hostage so that the rest could go free.
  Does such "permission" justify such an action by
  Jim?
• With any alternatives you consider or select, try
  to be aware of assumptions that may be implicit
  in your reasoning - try to make them explicit and
  examine them.

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A Shade of Gray (A)

1. Frame the decision(s) objectives, constraints,
   other factors.
2. What alternatives would you consider?
3. Critique these alternatives and decide what you
   would do.

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A Shade of Gray (B)

• Critique the HR Directors decisions

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The Insufficiency of Honesty/honesty.doc

• Honesty refusal to steal, lie, or deceive in
  any way
• Integrity trustworthiness incorruptibility to
  a degree that one is incapable of being false to
  a trust or responsibility

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Integrity

• Honesty is necessary, but not sufficient
• The most important thing in acting is honesty
  once you learn to fake that, youre in.
• - Sam Goldwyn

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Integrity

• Honesty
• Discerning
• Examining beliefs assumptions
• Searching for "truth," avoiding error
• Allowing others the same
• Acting on what you have discerned
• Even at personal cost
• Fulfilling moral obligations
• Do no harm to others
• Not just the minimum

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Some Moral Dilemmas

• Individually, review your thoughts notes re the
  three scenarios you read (Heinz)
• Focus especially on your reasoning
• In groups, share discuss your thinking re the
  assigned scenario
• Representative from each group gives summary
  report to class
• Class joins in discussion

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Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development

• Stage 1 Obedience and Punishment (e.g., I won't
  hit him because he may hit me back.)
• Stage 2 Individual Instrumental Purpose and
  Exchange (I will help her so she will help me in
  exchange.)
• Stage 3 "Good Boy/Girl" (I will go along with
  you because I want you/people to like me.)
• Stage 4 Law and Order (I will follow the
  rule/order because it is wrong not to.)
• Stage 5 Valuing Rights of Others plus Social
  Rights and Responsibilities (Although I disagree
  with his views, I support his right to have
  them.)
• Stage 6 Individual Principles of Conscience
  Grounded in Universal Ethical Principles (There
  is no external force that can compel me to do an
  act that I consider morally wrong.)

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Star Trek CaseMeasure of a Man
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Star Trek Characters

• Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (of Starship Enterprise)
• Capt. Phillipa Louvois (Chief JAG officer for the
  sector)
• Cmdr. Bruce Maddox (Starfleet Professor of
  Robotics)
• Lt. Cmdr. Data (android science officer on
  Enterprise)
• Guinan (bartender, wise old soul)
• Cmdr. William Riker (2nd to Picard)

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Star Trek Case

• Refer to the posted case material you were asked
  to bring
• At two times in the video, you will need to
  respond to several questions in the case, writing
  individually then discussing
• Pay particular attention to how the characters,
  you, and others in the class think

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Questions at First Stop

• Define the issue (or dilemma) faced by Captain
  Picard and Lt. Commander Data at this point in
  time.
• Which of the six ethical frameworks would each
  of the following characters (a) claim to be using
  in justifying his position? ...and (b) is
  actually using, in your opinion?
• Lt. Commander Data
• Commander Maddox
• Captain Picard

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Questions at End

1. How was the issue in the case finally defined in
   the hearing for the purpose of making a ruling?
2. What was Guinan's contribution to Picard's
   thinking approach to the hearing? Be specific
   in explaining how she contributed to clarifying
   the issue for him. What advantage did she have
   over the other characters in advising him?
3. What are the pros and cons of using an
   adversarial process in examining an ethical issue?

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1. What was Commander Data's position on the
   decision of his "disassembly?" Did it change
   during the course of the story? If you think his
   position did change, why do you think he changed
   it?
2. When Captain Picard said that the mission of the
   Starfleet was to seek out new life, how did
   this relate to the issue in the hearing? How do
   mission and values differ? How do values and
   ethics differ?
3. Is there a BEST framework for deciding ethical
   issues? What lessons does this case have that
   can be applied to your work or life situation?

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