Normative Ethical Theory - Essay Example

Student’s Name Your Instructor’s name The Course Date Week 2: Normative Ethical Theory Week 1 focused on the introduction of normative ethical theory whereby the lecturer outlined some of the objectives of the subject, or course. One of the objectives of the subject was to offer tools that are essential in the understanding of ethical issues, sustainability, and corporate responsibility. It also intended to introduce and defend optional courses of action, as well as appreciating the available criticism basis of business. Besides, the subject aimed at offering us such critical thinking skills as questioning generally held notions concerning society or business, which people take for granted. Furthermore, the topic addressed day-to-day ethical issues that arising in various business organizations. It also focused on the fact that ethical acts are worth pursuing and intuitively good. It was also worth noting that relativism is appears to be sensible, but its implications are usually uncomfortable. The topic also emphasized on the fact individuals find it hard to make a decision on what makes something right o wrong, or good or bad (Geirsson, Holmgren, and Holmgren189). Moreover, the week attempted to address the issue of defining the term ‘good behavior’. Here, it was imperative to learn that early scholars developed different ethical theories in attempt to define the concept. In addition, it stressed the fact that ethical theories aid in the understanding of right decision-making. The topic also maintained that great decisions results from consideration of several frameworks (Barker 522). In terms of ethical theories, it was interesting to learn about their various categories that included consequentialist (ethical egoism and utilitarianism); non-consequentialist (moral acts and Kant’s categorical imperative); justice; and contemporary (feminist ethics, virtue ethics, and environmental ethics) (Barker 522). It was persuading to note that rightness associates with the actors’ self-interest and those individuals should pursue their self-interests. This is because this does not essentially ignore acting on behalf of others, but that actions are good and right if handled from a person’s self-interest. Another surprising thing during this week was consequentialist theory explanation that actions are morally good or right only if their outcomes are morally good or right. This helped me reflect on some of the things that usually do, and those that my friends do. It was eye opening to realize that our actions’ moral standing largely depends on their results or outcomes. It was also thrilling to learn the relationship between utilitarianism and consequentialist theories. Additionally, the lecture had some confronting issues like relationship between human rights and ethics. The issue of the nature human and natural rights; their basis of existence; and the results of the clashed rights were very confronting. Besides, the debate on whether individual ought to overshadow collective, and if rights are timeless or universal. What is more, the lecture illuminated on some new ideas involving the existence of positive rights, which are those that individuals require whenever in need like education, justice, and medicine. There was also the concept of negative rights as those that required protection like assembly, privacy, religion, and freedom of speech. In relation to negative rights, I wondered why John Locke and Robert Nozick referred to them as negative rights. The lecture was also influential in bringing about the worldwide statement of human rights. Here, it was fulfilling to learn that human beings have equal rights and freedom; and have a right to liberty, life, and security. It was also thrilling to learn that servitude or slavery is illegal, and human rights are against torture, degradation, cruelty, or inhumanity (Geirsson, Holmgren, and Holmgren189). I also learnt that human rights are against human subjection to detention, exile, or arbitrary arrest. Lastly, I was happy to see the human rights’ emphasis on innocence until confirmed guilty. Therefore, the lecture was worth attending it brought to my attention vital realizations, confrontations, and knowledge. The lecture is influential in that it changed the way I see and act in life. I now know have to think seriously about the consequences, virtues, and intentions of my actions before I undertake them. Week 4: Levels of ethical dilemmas Week 4 is worth remembering because of its significant topic regarding ethical dilemma levels. This lecture sought to explore some of the ethical concerns that various organizations face in the corporate world, as well as the levels of these issues. Secondly, the lecture addressed some of the effects of ethical behavior. Here, it focused on what shapes people’s conduct. The lecture’s third focus was on organizational reactions to ethical dilemmas in form of the programs, policies, and systems put in place to address the issues. In terms of the influences of ethical dilemmas, it was interesting to learn that two categories of factors affect ethical decision making namely individual and situational factors. I learnt that cultural and national features; personal values; psychological factors; and personal integrity; and moral imagination affect effective ethical decision-making. On the other hand, situational factors involved issue-associated factors like moral framing and moral intensity. Situational influences of ethical decision-making include context-related factors, such as, rewards, bureaucracy, authority, work-roles, national context, and organizational culture (Geirsson, Holmgren, and Holmgren189). Another section of the lecture that caught my attention regards ethical decision-making process that focused on moral judgments based on nationality, cognitive moral growth, and personal integrity and values (Barker 522). This also emphasized on recognizing and acting in the process of ethical decision-making. In week 4’s lecture, the importance of making ethical decisions in workplace greatly persuaded me. This is because I realized that ethical decisions ensure success and healthy relationships in every organization because such decisions do not infringe on anyone’s rights. The most confronting thing in lecture 4 involved the management of ethical issues in organizations. Notably, there are controversial opinions on the influences of personal features, and individual on ethical decision-making. However, there are personal values and integrity greatly influence ethical decision-making in organizations. Here, I realized that there was a need for extensive research on other issues affecting sound ethical decision-making in various businesses. The lecture also facilitated my understanding on the significance of situational factors on the determination of ethical behaviors in the firms. This implied that ethical judgments happen depending on the articulation, modeling, and rewarding of behavior (Geirsson, Holmgren, and Holmgren189). Another significance of this lecture lies on the new things that it brought to my attention. Firstly, through the lecture, I realized that code of conduct, culture, leadership, and learning. According to the lecture, codes of ethics ought to set out principles and guiding principles in organizations. They should also consider resolution processes, value clashing, as well as flexibility versus clear prescriptions. The lecture was also crucial in that it emphasized on the effective execution of the codes through participation, discipline, and clear communication of role, intention, and use. Nevertheless, it was worth noting that use of codes of ethics in an organization leads to suppression of people’s moral instincts. I also noted that culture is influential in the effective ethical decision-making, and that it is hard to develop and regulate. Here, the issues that arose regarded ways in which culture affects ethical decision, as the materials used provided inadequate information on the same. Learning and leaderships also emerged as critical to efficient decision-making in business environments (Barker 522). Thus, I found the lecture interesting and indispensable for me because the knowledge gained will enhance my career performance in business organizations. Week 6: Sustainable Development In week 6, the lecture focused on the issue of sustainable development. First, it explained the concept of sustainable development as the ability to meet the present generations’ needs without compromising the future generations’ capacity to satisfy their needs (Baker 15). It also clearly outlined arising global trends on sustainable development including threats to environment like land, water, and fossil fuels. It also focused on social forces on sustainable development including poverty, inequality, population growth, and industrialization. The lecture also addressed global environment concerns including global warming, ozone depletion, and species extinction. The lecture also focused on the recognition of global cooperation and interconnected in the maintenance of sustainable development. Additionally, the lecture outlined some of the milestones as from 1960s to 2012 regarding sustainable development in the world (Sharma and Starik 93). Lecture 6 also touched on significant insights about various strategies, meetings, and conferences, which include the 1972 Stockholm UN conference on Human Environment; 1980 World Conservation Strategy; and the 2012 Rio + Summit. Furthermore, I found the lecture confronting by stressing on the fact there is an increase in life supporting resources consumption, but a decrease in the available life supporting resources (Baker 5). The lecture illustrated this with facts that 20% of the globe’s population consumes about 80% of the available resources. Another confronting issue in the lecture was issue of transportation covering more land than agriculture in various parts o the globe. It was also disturbing to note that the fossil fuels that the world’s economy burn in a year took almost a million years to develop. Additionally, it was shocking to learn that demand would outweigh water supply in 100 years, if the world manages to eliminate pollution, capture water, and distribute it equitably. The fact that the earth’s industrial production must quintuple for the next 4 decades to sustain the present living standards of people was also disturbing. These facts are confronting because they imply more pollution that harms the environment; hence, failure to attain sustainable development in the world. What is more, the lecture had persuasive ideas on sustainable development. It emphasized that effective protection of environment needs economic development, as poverty causes resource misuse. More important, the lecture maintained that economic development ought to occur in a sustainable manner, and this growth should happen by use of minimum resources (Sharma and Starik 93). It also helped understand some of the considerations like needs, justice, limits, and rights, and their significance on the achievement of sustainable development. Further, the lecture revealed to me new things concerning strategic imperatives that enhance sustainable development. First, I learned that maintenance or revival of growth; change of growth quality, and satisfaction of basic human needs is crucial. I also saw the need to ensure sustainable production level, and re-orient technology whilst managing risk. More imperative, I understood the need to merge economics and environment during effective decision-making. Moreover, the lecture brought out vital societal choices to ensure sustainable development including mitigation of climatic changes, adaptation of climatic changes, suffering the unavoidable climatic issues, and redesigning world economy into a less-destructive one. Additionally, the lecture was crucial in providing ways of developing sustainability in form of technocentric view, sustaincentric view, and ecocentric view. Here, I noticed the importance of maintaining usual business, facilitating change, and integrating society and environment to achieve sustainability. Therefore, the lecture will guide my actions to avoid contributing to global warming and other environmental threats, but take part in the conservation of environment and sustainable development of the world. Week 7: Business and Sustainable Development This lecture focused on the relationship between business and sustainable development. Here, the lecture explained ways of developing sustainably in detail. First, the lecture described ecocentrism to involve integrating social, ecology, and economy (Baker 5). The lecture also noted that ecocentrism entailed living off interest and preserving the environment. For sustainable development to occur there has to be radical redesigning of economy, as well as radical cultural, political, and institutional change (Elliott 7). Further, the lecture addressed some of implications of ecocentrism. To start with, the lecture reiterated importance of reducing waste, satisfying primary human needs, use of little resources in production, community-based activities, and regenerative economic activities. Nevertheless, the lecture pointed out a confronting issue on industrialization, as destructive and unnecessary (Quaddus and Siddique 14). This issue was disturbing because it dismissed the importance of industrialization, something that always believed to be highly indispensable in the modern world. Is industrialization really destructive and unnecessary in the present world? Besides, the lecture addressed the issue of technocentrism as a brown agenda with a light green color to symbolize weak sustainability. Here, the world can develop sustainably through substitutability and rationing, and evolutionary change (Quaddus and Siddique 14). This view also emphasized on the fact that present political, economic, and institutional arrangements have enough incentives like pollution or carbon taxes, price, and emissions trading. In relation to the view’s implications, the lecture maintained that radical change is unessential; markets should deal with ecological concerns; and that lack of scientific agreement ought to issue warning on change. The most disturbing fact in this view is the lecture’s dismissal of necessity of radical change in achieving sustainable development (Elliott 7). Another issue of importance in the lecture was on sustaincentrism as one of the ways of maintaining sustainable development. Here, it was worth noting that sustainability entails community, ecology, economy, and culture. This view also supported the need for environmental conservation to ensure human survival and welfare. It also notes that humans are superior, and that they should restructure systems for nature and human benefits (Quaddus and Siddique 14). The lecture also shows a connection among human, natural, and economic systems and need for synthesis. Additionally, the view shows economic activity ought to offer essential human needs, and non-human and human ethics. It was also vital to recognize crisis, limits, and necessity for changes. What is more, active government and technology are vital and ought to pursue to bring about benefit. In terms of sustaincentrism implications, the lecture raised various questions on the essential instruments, costs, decision makers, transition and speed, and effectiveness (Baker 5). Some of the new things that the lecture illuminated on included agenda 21, which is an agreement to action plan, which 179 countries in 1992, such as, Australia. The agenda included objectives activities, basis for action, and means of execution. The agenda also emphasizes on citizen involvement, global interconnection, key issues, and partnership. Moreover, the lecture handled local agenda 21 local, which involved local councils and communities in its implementation. It also handles the identification of local needs and priorities, as well as incorporation of land use plan, transport planning, and planning. More so, the lecture introduced a new issue concerning Ecological Sustainable Development (ESD). Here, it was thrilling to learn that ESD implies to use, conservation, and enhancement of the community’s available resources to ensure maintenance of the ecological processes for the current and future generations. It is also was also imperative to know that the key to ESD involves incorporating development considerations and environment in decision-making (Sharma and Starik 93). Another persuading issue from the lecture regards carbon tax, as a way of ensuring sustainable development. This tax entails setting of prices carbon dioxide emissions, internalizing pollution costs, and the tax is distributive (Dawson 74). What is more, adaptation and mitigation, global collaboration, gradual adjustments, trading and sales of emission licenses make up a list of emissions trading schemes (World Bank 268). Therefore, I value this lecture because of the numerous issues and ideas it taught me. The knowledge acquired is vital in practicing sustainable development, as well as educating other people on the same. Overview of the journal This journal consists of four entries based on lectures of weeks 2, 4, 6 and 7. The journal reflects on the four main topics including Normative Ethical Theory, Levels of Ethical Dilemmas, Sustainable Development, and Business and Sustainable Development. Through ethical normative theory, I learned several concepts on ethics including consequentialist theory, utilitarianism, ethical egoism, non-consequentialist, justice, environmental ethics, feminist ethics, and virtue ethics. This topic focused on some ethical theories that include consequentialist theory that states that an action is morally right or good if its outcomes are right or good. Under this theory, there is ethical egoism theory that maintains that rightness or goodness depends on the actor’s self-interest. Ethical egoism theory also asserts that individuals ought to pursue freely their self-interest. The second theory learnt from the lecture is utilitarianism that advocates that rightness or goodness relate to consequences of the action. This theory focuses on collective social well-being. Thirdly, there is Kantian theory that values motives instead of consequences. It advocates for morality connected to obligation and duty (Geirsson, Holmgren, and Holmgren189). Lastly, the lecture touched on the importance of human rights, which are negative and positive rights. In week 4, the lecture focused on levels of ethical issues as per the moral development by Kohlberg. These levels include preconventional (Level 1); conventional (Level 2); and post conventional (Level 3). Here, I also learned various factors, individual and situational, factors that influence ethical decision-making. This topic also explored on codes of conduct and their significance in the ensuring success and healthy relationships in business organizations. It also focused on leadership, culture, and learning and their importance in attainment of ethical decision-making (Geirsson, Holmgren, and Holmgren189). In week 5, the lecturer focused on sustainable development. Through this topic, I learnt various arising global trends on sustainable development. The issues dated from 1960s up-to-date, entailed threats to environment in terms of land, fossil fuels, and water. They also involved social forces including inequality, poverty, industrialization, and population growth. These issues also included international ecological issues, such as, global warming, ozone depletion, and species extinction. To ensure sustainable development in the world, there is need for interconnectedness, and coordinated global collaboration by institutions and nations (Baker 5). The lecture also showed various milestones as from 1960s to date concerning world’s attempts to develop sustainably. It also addressed some insights regarding strategies, summits, and conferences on the sustainable development. Surprisingly, the lecture demonstrated the fact about the diminishing life supporting resources with increasing consumption of the resources (Sharma and Starik 93). Lastly, the journal has entry concerning business and sustainable development. Here, the lecture discussed various views on sustainable development, which include ecocentrism, technocentrism, and sustaincentrism. These views were very new to me and helped in the effectively understanding of the topic at hand. Moreover, some of the global strategies used in ensuring sustainable development which include interconnectedness, collaboration, and carbon tax on Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHEs) (Dawson 74; World Bank 268). The topic also warned on the increasing demand for resources whilst the resources decrease rapidly. The topic also stressed on the need for economic developed to ensure sustainable development, and the need to do economic development in a sustainable manner. This lecture also points out that development should use minimal resources, and maintain better living standards for people. Therefore, this journal is vital in that it consists of the indispensable topics that advocate or ethical businesses to ensure sustainable development. Works Cited Baker, Susan. Sustainable development. London New York: Routledge, 2006. Pp. 5-20. Barker, Anne M. Advanced practice nursing: essential knowledge for the profession. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2009. Pp. 522-525. Dawson, Brian. The complete guide to climate change. London New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. 74-75. Elliott, Jennifer. An introduction to sustainable development. London New York: Routledge, 2006. Pp. 7-8. Geirsson, Heimir, Holmgren, Margaret, and Holmgren, Margaret R. Ethical theory: a concise anthology. Peterborough, Ont. Buffalo, NY: Broadview Press, 2010. Pp. 189-192. Quaddus, MA and Siddique, MAB. Handbook of corporate sustainability: frameworks, strategies, and tools. Cheltenham, Glos, UK Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2011. Pp. 14-20. Sharma, Sanjay, and Starik, Mark. Stakeholders, the environment, and society. Cheltenham, UK Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2004. Pp. 93-94. World Bank. World development report 2010: development and climate change. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010. Pp. 268-270. Read More