Ethical Decision Making

Paper Summary:

A discussion of personal ethics and how experiences with other individuals, in addition to our basic personal values, shape the groundwork for ethical personal decision making. Major ethical approaches are looked at in detail, and ground rules for ethical decision making are discussed.

From the Paper:

"An ethically defensible decision includes a number of important elements. Most crucial are the ground rules that underlie such a decision. These can include informal ground rules like religious faith, family values, personal experiences, and the personality of the individual. However, more formalized ground rules that are usually steeped in the philosophy of ethics may prove to be much more useful for making ethically defensible decisions. For example, a decision to allow a request for doctor- assisted suicide is ethically defensible using Kant's Categorical Imperative.

In recent years, the impact of ethical debacles like Enron and WorldCom in the business world have resulted in renewed discussions of ethical decision making in both the personal and business spheres. Clearly, Enron and WorldCom represented some of the most extreme examples of "ethically challenged" decisions, yet they clearly represent a need for a better understanding of ethics in decision making."

More papers on Ethical Decision Making:

• Analytical Essay # 69383 : "Ethical Decision-Making"
• Essay # 46930 : "Ethical Decision Making"
• Case Study # 91835 : "Ethical Decision Making"
• Essay # 84574 : "Ethical Decision Making"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: