Ethical Fingerprint - Essay Example

Ethical Fingerprint The tenets of ethics and morals define “appropriate behaviour” in a social context and restrict the citizens to act in certain ways that are considered as rightful (Chippendale, 2001, p.1). These covenants rather tend to rigidly rely on what is right or wrong than what is good or bad. Thus, irrespective of what outcomes a certain act brings, one has to consider the ethical and moral principles, strictly follow them, and act accordingly. On the other hand, situational ethics postulate that an individual needs to “determine” what is “right or wrong” depending on specific situations and the outcomes it brings for the stakeholders (Thompson, n.d., p.9). Personally I feel that rather than the focus on the right and the wrong, ethical and moral decisions that we make must be based on the concepts of good and bad. Thus, for fetching a good outcome for others, there is nothing wrong in acting in an unethical or immoral way while one should not eschew his or her values for attaining selfish motives. Religious ethics and morals tell people to abide by the rules of God, which are conveyed to humans through the scriptures in various religions. Such morals rely on what the God teaches us a good or bad and cannot always be considered as beneficial to all. For example, religion says that telling a lie is a bad thing. However, personally I feel that if a lie can protect a person from harm, without causing any harm to others, nothing is wrong with lying. Thus, my moral intuition will not deter me from telling a lie to safeguard a person, but I will make sure that such a lie does not inflict any harm on others. Thus, my moral intuitions and judgements will become religious only to the extent that it protects the interest of the larger group. Utilitarian philosophy relies on the concept of “pleasure and freedom from pain” to a larger number of people for a longer period of time (Mill, 2010, p.5). Thus, I personally believe that any act that benefits a larger number of people for a longer period of time becomes ethical even if it compromises certain ethical principles. Therefore, if I were a police officer, when I see a terrorist planting bomb, I will shoot to kill him rather than arrest him and put him on trial. The act violates his basic human rights and deprives him the fair chance to stand trial. But I consider that safeguarding the wider interest of the society is more significant than protecting his rights as an individual. Thus, depending on the circumstances and the situation, the concepts of moral and good keep changing. Therefore, I will modulate my moral and ethical behaviour depending on the specific circumstances and individual merits of each situation. For example, in the workplace if I need to take a decision of firing an employee I will consider its morality from two angles. First, the reason for firing the employee and second, how firing him will impact the overall functioning of the organization. If an efficient employee, who is an asset to the company, is to be laid off due to financial crunch, I will consider the overall benefit to the company and the remaining workers in deciding the case despite the individual employee being efficient. Similarly, in the context of the state, a politician may be corrupting, manipulative and a threat to the party in the long run. But he is my relative and a close associate. Under the circumstances, I will first consider how his actions affect my party and the society in general rather than considering it from my personal point of view. Though for the short term, a corrupt politician who is my sidekick will fetch me some benefits. But his continuance in office will hamper my party and ruin my reputation in the long run. Therefore, in the overall interest and for the benefit of a larger population, it is my duty to remove such a person from office though he may be my relative. Thus, when modulating my behaviour according to the circumstances, I will consider the over benefits my behaviour and action can fetch to the larger number of people for a longer period of time. I believe that ethics and morals are not intended primarily to focus on the right and wrong of things but these values need to apply to the concept of what is good or bad for people who are involved. Parents Beating Children: Parents often harbour a misconceived notion that punishments will help in imbibing a sense of discipline in their children and beat them when they do something wrong. Such parents must appreciate the fact that children do not have the faculty of intellectual development that will enable them to take informed decisions and, therefore, when they commit a mistake it is not their fault. Thus, punishing them for a mistake does not seem the appropriate action on their parts though the punishment may deter the child from committing the same mistake again. However, the child will develop negative attitude and suffer a loss of confidence besides losing his or her self respect. Research evidence suggests that children who receive physical punishment become “more defiant” and such children are less likely to “empathize with others” (Gershoff, 2008, p.13). Any change in behaviour and compliance to instruction can, at the best, be seen as a temporary reaction to the fear of punishment rather than a refined modification of behaviour. On the other hand, if parents explain to their children about their mistake and the possible negative outcomes such errors can fetch on their lives, they will be able to understand why it is a mistake and what impacts it can have on their life. This will prevent them from committing the same mistake in future and also help develop positive attitudes in them and can fetch long term positive changes in behaviour. Choice of Producer in Purchasing Products: People buy different products for their consumption every day and it makes the firms producing consumer goods thrive in their business. However, the entire benefits go to the firms or the investors though some of the corporate entities do donate to charity and other social causes. There are some NGOs like CARE, Greenpeace, Oxfam, Save the Children Worldwide Fund for Nature etc, which are collaborating with multinational companies which enable them to formulate “novel and viable business models” that can benefit the cause that such organizations promote (Dahan et al, 2010, p.327). In this backdrop, one should consider the producers who manufacture the products so that he or she can ensure that the benefits go to disabled persons, destitute children on animals. This will enable the person to indirectly contribute the cause(s) that the NGO is promoting, while still getting the supply of the products. In the modern day, the cost of living has escalated to a very high level and most of the people may find it quite difficult to allocate any funds in their budget for charity, though they may have a desire to contribute something to the society or the people who are suffering. Thus, buying goods from such vendors may help them meet their demand of products as well as to have the satisfaction that they are indeed doing something for the needy. Reference List Chippendale, P. 2001. On Values, Ethics, Morals & Principles. Minessence.net. Available at [Accessed on 24 March 2013]. Dahan, et al. 2010. Corporate-NGO Collaboration: Co-creating New Business Models for Developing Markets. Elsevier. Available at [Accessed on 24 March 2013]. Gershoff, E. T. 2008. Report on Physical Punishments in the United States: What Research Tells Us about its Effect on Children. Columbus, OH: Center for Effective Discipline. Available at [Accessed on 24 March 2013]. Mill, J. S. 2010. Utilitarianism. Jonathan Bennett. Available at [Accessed on 24 March 2013]. Thompson, B. n.d. The Effect of Situation Ethics upon Moral Values. Apologetic Press. Available at [Accessed on 24 March 2013]. Read More