Overview
This lecture introduces a practical framework for ethical decision-making, clarifies what ethics is (and isn't), and presents six major ethical lenses to evaluate dilemmas.
What is Ethics?
- Ethics refers to standards and practices guiding how people ought to act in various roles and situations.
- Ethics concerns character, requiring knowledge, skills, and habits.
- Ethics is not the same as feelings, religion, law, cultural norms, or science.
- Each of these may inform, but do not define, what is ethical.
The Six Ethical Lenses
- Rights Lens: Ethical actions protect and respect the moral rights of all affected.
- Justice Lens: Ethics demands fair and equal treatment according to a defensible standard (merit, need, etc.).
- Utilitarian Lens: Ethical actions produce the greatest good and the least harm for the most stakeholders.
- Common Good Lens: Actions should contribute to the well-being of the whole community, especially the vulnerable.
- Virtue Lens: Ethics requires actions consistent with ideal virtues like honesty, courage, and integrity.
- Care Ethics Lens: Focuses on relationships, empathy, and meeting individuals' specific needs with compassion.
Using the Lenses
- Ethical lenses may yield different answers, but each offers insights for deciding what is right in a situation.
- Disagreements may exist about the standards or definitions within each lens.
The Ethical Decision-Making Framework
- Identify the Ethical Issues: Determine potential harm or benefits and whether the issue goes beyond legality or efficiency.
- Get the Facts: Gather all relevant facts, identify stakeholders, and explore all possible actions.
- Evaluate Alternative Actions: Use each lens to test which action best meets ethical standards.
- Choose and Test an Option: Select the best option; consider how others would view your choice; plan careful implementation.
- Implement and Reflect: Carry out the decision, review its outcome, and consider necessary follow-up actions.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Ethics — Standards guiding how people ought to act.
- Rights Lens — Focus on protecting individual moral rights.
- Justice Lens — Focus on fairness and equality.
- Utilitarian Lens — Maximize overall good, minimize harm.
- Common Good Lens — Contribute to community well-being.
- Virtue Lens — Foster moral character and virtues.
- Care Ethics Lens — Emphasize relationships and empathy.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Practice using the ethical decision-making framework on a real or hypothetical situation.
- Reflect on which ethical lens you tend to use most and why.