The Kantian Deontological Theory of Ethics - Personal Statement Example

What are your personal ethics and how do they fit with your future in Academia? PERSONAL ETHICS AND HOW THEY FIT WITH MY FUTURE IN ACADEMIA Name Institution My Personal Ethics and how they fit with my future in Academia This essay explains my personal ethics and how the personal ethics fit with my future in Academia as a lecturer at university. The paper also gives my experiences as an academic. The essay ends with a conclusion that sums up my personal ethics and my experiences as an academic professional. MY personal ethics are mainly informed by Emmanuel Kant’s Deontological Ethics. In his famous categorical imperative, Emmanuel Kant asserted that in moral dilemma, one should take action that he/she would wish to be made into a universal law applicable to all such cases. In other words, Immanuel Kant meant that in making moral decisions, one should make a decision that he/she would wish to be made a universal law applicable to all such cases, under the same circumstances. In the categorical imperative, Immanuel Kant also asserted that in dealing with people, we should always treat people as ends but never as means to some ends ( Rickaby, part 11, chapter 1). By this assertion Kant meant that human beings have intrinsic value and dignity and this means that they should be treated as such, i.e. as ends and not as means to some ends. The Kantian Deontological theory of ethics therefore is the main ethical theory that has informed my personal ethics. Apart from being influenced by the Kantian deontological ethics, my personal ethics is also influenced by the Aristotelian Virtue ethics. According to the Aristotelian Virtue ethics, we should strive to develop a good/virtuous character, through habituation to virtuous actions, so that in making moral decisions, we may be predisposed to easily take morally upright actions (Nicomachean Ethics, book 11, and chapter 1). In my personal ethics therefore I have habituated myself to virtuous actions so that I may be able to easily take the morally upright action when faced with a moral dilemma. My personal ethics therefore are characterised by treating other human beings with utmost respect, as beings with intrinsic value and dignity. For this reason, I never treat other human beings as means to achieve egocentric goals. The following are descriptions of the main tenets of my personal ethics. The first element of my personal ethics is honesty. In all my dealings with other people, I treat other people honesty and I don’t entertain any form of dishonesty in dealing with other people. This ethical value of honesty fits very well with my future in academia. As an academia professional, I will be honest with co-workers as well as the students; I will not lie to anyone, nor will I withhold any important information to anyone (elements or outline, line one). As a university lecturer, I will not entertain any form of cheating in exams by my students as this is against honesty. Through being honest in all my academic affairs, I hope to inculcate the value of honesty among my students. The second element of my personal ethics is Fairness. Fairness is actually central in my personal ethics. I give people what they deserve, without giving preferential treatment to anybody, irrespective of their relationship to me, or their social status (Elements or outline, line two). Fairness fits well with my future in Academia because as an academic, I will treat all my students fairly, without discriminating against anybody; I will grade my students fairly and objectively, without giving preferential treatment to my relatives. The third element of my personal ethics is Friendliness. In my personal ethics, I relate with people in a friendly manner, irrespective of their social status in the community. As an academic professional, I will try to make my colleagues and students to feel welcome and comfortable. I will present a personable and approachable persona so that they would feel comfortable and welcome in my presence (Elements or outline, line three). The fourth value of my personal ethics is Truthfulness. In dealing with people, I am truthful and trustworthy. In my academic profession as a lecturer, I will deal with the students and my colleagues in a truthful manner, and this will make my colleagues and the students to develop trust on me. This in turn will create an open and secure learning environment, thus giving the students a conducive environment for learning. Without conducive learning environment, the goal of education cannot be achieved. This view is supported by Lee-Partridge in his view that the professors should seek to create a sustainable research environment by building relationships with friends (Partridge, 43). My personal ethical value of honesty therefore will be very important in my academic profession as a lecturer. The fifth aspect of my personal ethics is Respect. In my personal ethics, I respect all people. I treat people as ends in themselves, and not as means to an end. This has enhanced my good relationship with all the people that I deal with. As an academic, I will deal respectfully with my students and also with my colleagues in the teaching profession. This again will enhance the learning environment, as well as enhance my relationship with my colleagues and my students (Elements or outline, line 14). The sixth element of my personal ethics is Punctuality: In my personal ethics, I strictly keep time unless in an event of unavoidable circumstance. I have habituated myself to keeping time and I normally don’t find it difficult to keeping time. In my academic profession, punctuality will be quite important. Punctuality would help me to accomplish my responsibilities in good time; observing punctuality strictly also would be a good example to my colleagues and my students (Elements or outline, line 13). The seventh element of my personal ethics is Law Abiding. In my personal ethics I have tried as much as possible to abide by the rules and the laws governing me. I have habituated myself to being a law abiding person and I now find it quite easy to obey the laws governing me. As an academic professional, I will strictly observe the professional code of conduct of my profession. Also, I will observe all the laws and regulations governing the school where I work. This fact therefore shows that my personal ethical value of abiding by the rules and regulations governing me fits very well with my profession as an academic. The eighth aspect of my personal ethics is Patience: In my personal ethics, I am patient even when things seem difficult and unpromising. I normally don’t rush to making crass decisions, without taking enough time to reflect and make informed decisions. The ethical value of patience will fit in very well with my academic profession. As a lecturer, sometimes the students and my colleagues in the teaching profession can be very frustrating, but through patience, I will be not rush to make hasty decisions that may be influenced by emotions rather than informed by thoughtful reflection (Elements or outline, line 9). This again will enhance my relationship with my students and also with my colleagues in teaching. The ninth element of my personal ethics is Kindness. In my personal ethics, I am very king to people and I treat people kindly especially those in need. I am not judgemental to people and I listen carefully to people before judging them. As an academic professional, the ethical value of kindness will be very helpful. This is because as a teacher I will be kind to my students and I will not be hastily judgemental to them (Elements or outline, line 8). I will be kind to my students and I will try to put myself in their shoes before making judgement about their actions. Also, kindness to my co-workers will be very important. Treating my co-workers kindly also will enhance my relationship with them. The tenth value is my personal ethics is Loyalty. In my personal code of ethics I am loyal and patriotic to my country. Also, I am loyal to any organisation or the environment where I work. Through habituating myself to being loyal to my country or any organisation where I work has made me predisposed to being loyal to wherever I find myself. As an academic professional, the ethical value of loyalty will be quite important. This is because through being loyal to my country and to the school where I teach, I will set a very good example, to my students and also to my co-workers, of what loyalty really means (Elements or outline, line 13). This will be an inspiration to my students and co-workers to embrace the ethical value of loyalty. Having looked at my personal ethics and how my personal ethics fits with my profession as an academic, let me now look at my personal experiences as an academic profession. Currently, I am deputy director, department of special education, ministry of education (Resume, first page). Before assuming this position, I have served in other capacities as an academic. In the year 2006, I was lecturer, teaching in a university. From a mere span of four years, was promoted from a lecturer in 2006 to education supervisor and finally to the post of deputy director in 2010 (Resume, page 1). This was brought about not only by my excellent performance in my position, but also of my advocacy in the improvement of the situation for people with disabilities. My personal ethics helped me a great deal in rising on my career radar. It was through the application of my personal ethics to my profession that I managed to perform so excellently in my career leading to the promotions to the current enviable position that I am currently holding. Through my experiences as an academic professional, I have come to learn that performing your work well and adhering strictly to your personal ethics in your profession brings about a lot of fulfilment in life. This is because doing your work well, guided by personal ethics leads to success in your work, and the success comes with a lot of fulfilment. Conclusion In conclusion, my personal ethics is chiefly informed by the Kantian Deontological theory of ethics defined by treating human beings as ends in themselves and not as means to an end; also, my personal ethics is influenced by the Aristotelian ethics defined by habituating oneself to virtuous acts, so that one may be able to easily act in a morally right manner. My personal ethics therefore is guided by treating people with utmost respect. Also, my personal ethics has made me to be an honest, trustworthy, and reliable person. The application of my personal ethics to my profession has led to great success in my career. My experiences in academic career have taught me that to succeed in one’s career we need more than academic qualifications. Without an application of personal ethics, guided by honesty and respect for others, it is difficult for one to succeed in their career, even with very high academic qualifications. References Aristotle. (2005). Nicomachean Ethics; Aristole; Ethics. ( Robert Crisp, trans). Google books.R etrieved on. 14/04/2014. From. http://www.archive.org/details/ The Nicomachean Ethics Lee-Partridge. (2007). “Preparing Doctoral Students for Scholar Communities”.Communicati ons of the Association for Information Systems. Vol.20. Pgs.41-45. Rickaby, J. (2005). Moral Philosophy. Project Gutenberg books.( n.d). Retrieved on 15/04/2014. From. http://archive.org/stream/moralphilosophy08103gut/7m Read More