Phil21 wk2 ethical decision making

Responsible Ethical Decision-Making

1. How do we make good ethical decisions?

2. Where do we go wrong when we make an ethical decision improperly?

3. Who are we responsible to?

The Trolley Problem

2

The Trolley Problem: take 2

3

The Transplant Surgeon

4

Consequentialism & Deontology

Consequentialism – rightness depends on consequences

Deontology – rightness depends at least in part on a formal moral rule or principle

5

United States vs. Holmes (1842)

Consequentialist or deontological ethical reasons?

• Murder is absolutely prohibited

• Bad effect of corroding moral standards

• Must engage in due process

• Save the majority

6

Morality and personal relationships

7

Sample ethical problem

“You’ve got to help us,” Clarence Woody said. “Keith is… was… our only child, and he meant the world to us. When the police came and told us he was dead, all Sara and I could think of was how we could get him back.”

“ But you can’t get him back,” Dr. Alma Lieu said. “Even if we prepared one of his cells and implanted it in your wife’s uterus, the baby wouldn’t be Keith.”

“But he would be his genetic twin,” Clarence said. “He would be as close as we can get to replacing our son.” His eyes filled with tears. “Won’t you help us?”

8

Sample ethical problem

If a father has no other way to raise money for surgery necessary to preserve the life of his child, would it be morally permissible for him to sell a kidney?

Should we hold him morally blameworthy if, given the opportunity, he refused to do so?

9

Ethical Decision-Making:the ABC model

AWARENESS

• relevant facts•issues

• stakeholders • stakes • options

BALANCE

• Ideals• Obligations

• Utilities

COURAGE

• intention to act• skillful action


AWARENESS



BALANCE


• Utilities

COURAGE


11

situation context

person

CharacterAffective stateEngagementBiases


AWARENESS



BALANCE


• Utilities

COURAGE


12

situation context

person

Issue intensityObedience to authorityPeer pressureSlippery slopesSunk costs

Situational “Intensity”

social consensus – the degree of social agreement that about the moral value (e.g. evil) of a proposed act.

magnitude of consequences – the sum of the benefits/harms done to victims/beneficiaries of the moral act in question.

concentration of effect – how spread out or concentrated are the harms/benefits of the proposed action.

probability of effect – a joint of function of the probability that the act in question will actually take place and that it will actually cause the harms/benefits predicted

temporal immediacy – the length of time between the present and the onset of consequences of the moral act in question.

proximity – the feeling of nearness (social, cultural, psychological, or physical) that the moral agent has for the victims/beneficiaries of the evil/good act in question.

- Jones, 1991


AWARENESS



BALANCE


• Utilities

COURAGE


situation context

person

LawOrganizational policies and normsProfessional dutiesCulture

situation context

person

Ethical Decision-Making: the ABC model

AWARENESS



BALANCE


• Utilities

COURAGE

• intention to act

• skillful action

LawOrganizational policies and normsProfessional dutiesCulture

Issue intensityObedience to authorityPeer pressureSlippery slopesSunk costs

CharacterAffective state

metacognition

learning

Beware these common stumbling blocks

1. Ignorance (though one can be negligent or reckless in one’s ignorance, and one can also choose to be ignorant)

2. Failure to consider non-obvious alternatives

3. Using oversimplified decision rules that are inappropriate in more complex circumstances

4. Settling for an option people can live with, even if it’s not the best option.

5. The path of least resistance may make it easier to do the wrong thing

6. A lack of courage to do what’s right and deal with the consequences

7. Peer pressure / organizational culture distorts our moral perception or reasoning

An Ethical Analysis

Documents

Phil21 wk2 ethical decision making