Lecture IV

The Bridge from Personality to Professionality of Ethics.

Ammar Latif ammar@iqraisb.edu.pk

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* Until now we have been talking mostly about personal ethics ie/ relating to the individual. * How do we look at ethics in a professional setting? * How do we apply the theories we have learnt? * How to put principles into action?

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* Why look at personal ethics at all? * Because this is the starting ground for it all.... * By developing ethical philosophies we can guide our actions in the world. * Looking at personal ethics enables us to formulate a philosophy of ethics.

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* Or in other words by being aware of our general level of ethics & making decisions according to these personally held ethics, an ethics philosophy is gradually developed over time.

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* How to become more aware of our ethics? * Simplicity in itself! * Self-reflection is the key... This involves Objectively looking at one's actions and guiding thoughts & Assessing whether the decision made are ethically sound.

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* Ethics questionnaires are a good way of determining where ye stand on an ethics issue. * The following 7 step framework helps in being clear about your own view of things. All about making better decisions. In the light of an increased knowledge of ethics.

Lecture IV ~ 7 Step Framework for better decisions.

* 1) Stop & think, * 2) Clarify goals, * 3) Determine facts, * 4) Develop options, * 5) Consider consequences, * 6) Choose & * 7) Monitor & modify.

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* 1) Stop & think. Thinking ahead. Stop the momentum of events for long enough to permit calm analysis. Prevents rash decision. Prepares for more thoughtful solutions to problems. Instills discipline.

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* 2) Clarify goals. This is necessary for choosing. Be clear about short & long term aims. Sometimes immediate gratification can prevent the achievement of long term goals.

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* 3) Determine facts. Intelligent choices are based on accurate information. Need to resolve what is known with what needs to be known. Good judgment exercised in terms of Reliability & credibility, Authenticity, accuracy & Multiple perspectives.

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Good to seek out informed opinions. Evaluate information critically.

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* 4) Develop options. Good to make a list of available options. This consists of identifying a set of actions to possibly pursue. Seeking advice at this stage is very useful. If one or two options are available, think again!

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* 5) Consider consequences. Must be done to maintain ethicality of decisions. Involves filtering (what does this mean?) the optional choices through your ethical paradigm. Look at things from a purely ethics perspective. A new light.

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* 6) Choose. At this stage if things are not manifestly clear then Talk to people whose judgment ye respect. Place yourselves in an ethical person's shoes.

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* A question to ask yourself? Would ye be comfortable with your decision being public? * Golden Rule > Do unto others as ye would have them do unto ye.

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* 7) Monitor & modify. Sometimes wrong decisions are made. Maintain a sense of scrutiny. Re-evaluate decisions in the light of hind sight (it's always 20/20). Did the decision have the desired effects?

Lecture IV ~ Rationalisations.
* What is a rationalisation? What people say to themselves before they want to feel good about something they are going to do. * Shaky ethical ground. * These are easy to fall into the habit of using. * Need to be careful!

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* If Its Necessary, Its Ethical - This rationalization rests on the false assumption that necessity breeds propriety. The approach often leads to ends-justify-the-means reasoning and treating non-ethical tasks or goals as moral imperatives. * The False Necessity Trap - As Nietzsche put it, "Necessity is an interpretation, not a fact." We tend to fall into the "false necessity trap" because we overestimate the cost of doing the right thing and underestimate the cost of failing to do so.

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* If Its Legal and Permissible, Its Proper - This
substitutes legal requirements (which establish minimal standards of behavior) for personal moral judgment. Ethical people often choose to do less than the maximally allowable, and more than the minimally acceptable. * Its Just Part of the Job - Conscientious people who want to do their jobs well often fail to adequately consider the morality of their professional behavior.

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* Its All for a Good Cause- People are especially vulnerable to rationalizations when they seek to advance a noble aim. "Its all for a good cause" is a seductive rationale that loosens interpretations of deception, concealment, conflicts of interest, favoritism and violations of established rules and procedures. * I Was Just Doing It for You - This is a primary justification for committing "little white lies" or withholding important information in personal or professional relationships.

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* Im Just Fighting Fire With Fire - This is the false assumption that promise-breaking, lying and other kinds of misconduct are justified if they are routinely engaged in by those with whom you are dealing. Remember: when you fight fire with fire, you end up with the ashes of your own integrity. * It Doesnt Hurt Anyone - Used to excuse misconduct, this rationalization falsely holds that one can violate ethical principles so long as there is no clear and immediate harm to others.

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* Everyones Doing It - This is a false, "safety in numbers" rationale fed by the tendency to uncritically treat cultural, organizational or occupational behaviors as if they were ethical norms, just because they are norms. * Its OK If I Dont Gain Personally - This justifies improper conduct done for others or for institutional purposes on the false assumption that personal gain is the only test of impropriety. A related but narrower view is that only behavior resulting in improper financial gain warrants ethical criticism.

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* Ive Got It Coming - People who feel they are overworked or underpaid rationalize that minor "perks" such as acceptance of favors, discounts or gratuities are nothing more than fair compensation for services rendered. * I Can Still Be Objective - By definition, if youve lost your objectivity, you cant see that youve lost your objectivity! Does the person providing you with the benefit believe that it will in no way affect your judgment? Would the person still provide the benefit if you were in no position to help?

Lecture IV ~ On being good.

* Ethical decisions have consequences, and one long-term consequence is to make you into a person of character. But what is character? It is the sum of ones distinctive traits, qualities and predilections, and amounts to ones moral constitution. Character is ethics in action.

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* "Ones character is ones habitual way of behaving," education scholars Thomas Lickona, Eric Schaps and Catherine Lewis have written. * "We all have patterns of behavior or habits and often we are quite unaware of them.

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* When Socrates urged us to Know thyself, he clearly was directing us to come to know our habitual ways of responding to the world around us." * Conscience is the awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to ones conduct; it urges us to prefer right over wrong. Because not everyone has good character, not everyone has a reliable conscience.

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* After all, a bad person with no conscience at all feels just as good as a person with a clear conscience. * Having a bad conscience is not necessarily a bad thing - its a sign that one at least knows right from wrong. * That is the crux of an ethical philosophy.

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* When Socrates urged us to Know thyself, he clearly was directing us to come to know our habitual ways of responding to the world around us." * Conscience is the awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to ones conduct; it urges us to prefer right over wrong. Because not everyone has good character, not everyone has a reliable conscience.

Video Analysis & discussion ~ The Story of Cosmetics.