Ethical Models, Faith and Religion - Essay Example

Reflection on ethics Ethical questions seldom present themselves in an obvious manner. In most cases, the situations that happen in our day to day lives provide a roadmap for these questions. They sometimes make us hesitate, and reflect on the moral quality of the most probable modes of actions or withholding actions. Let us look at the illustration that follows; Mark has his girlfriend’s birthday coming up in a day. He neither has no money at hand nor prospects of getting the money by the time the birthday happens. By sheer luck, he notices a wallet with an address on the street. This automatically creates an ethical dilemma: if Mark does not buy his girlfriend a present, she will be disappointed in him. On the other hand, if he buys, she will be happy but not for long as she might learn about the incident and rebuke him. Mark will also live in guilt and at its worst; it might metamorphose to a nasty police case. In the health sector, there are ethical problems. Everyone knows the problems that arise with medical techniques such as artificial insemination, organ transplants, plastic surgeries and other techniques. In most cases, when faced by moral dilemmas, people may apply existing guidelines, for instance those passed by an ethics committee, an existing statement of policy or “common sense," “rules of behavior” or mostly “the way things are done” (Leer 206). What we apply to solve ethical dilemmas is not considered in many cases, what matters are the paths which we will take to solve those problems. More often than not, our environment plays a major role on our standards. This environment includes our families, culture and our own internal reflection. Culture comprises of religion, customs, etc. Ethical models Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with questions of morality. This branch has instinctively played a major role in our decisions. Based on the philosophy, there are models of moral theories which exist. However, moral theories such as the right theory (moral rights), utilitarianism and theory of justice are of more influence on our lives. The right theory considers the respect to be accorded to every individual member of the society as well as their fundamental and basic rights. However, critics of this theory say that it does not take responsibility of the costs and benefits of getting respect for another’s right. Hence, most people tend to say that “your rights end where mine begin." This loophole does not make this theory very appealing. The individuals who subscribe to the theory of justice as their moral model of choice believe that it has to be applied in pursuit of a just society. Their definition of a just society is whereby all people are treated impartially and fairly based on legal rules (Williams 123). This utopian world also believes that the moral system necessitates the sharing of benefits and problems equally among all the people in the society. The cultural relativism model states that the moral aspects are interpreted in a social context. In this way, a person’s decision will be based on their culture. On the other hand, subscribers to universalism claim that the standards of values are absolute and apply equally across all contexts. Perhaps the most realistic premise is the utilitarianism theory. This theory claims that a person faced by an ethical dilemma (the decision maker) should maximize utility for the society as a whole. This is interpreted to mean that the decision maker should critically evaluate the costs and benefits accrued from their performance to the society. In this theory, a utilitarian can only consider his actions socially viable if the benefits realized outweigh the costs. Utilitarianism, therefore, advocates that the people consider their friends, family, themselves and the whole society. Critics of this theory claim that it is very difficult to measure the personal pain and gain against those of all the society’s members. The fact that it is hard to please everyone at the same time jeopardizes this theory. The good thing about a utilitarian is that they aim at creating a win-win situation for all the parties involved. Back to the moral dilemma faced by Mark above. This is arguably a case of personal ethics and values which might not be so apparent to him. All of us have ever found ourselves at those moral crossroads. When making a decision, do we rely on intuition only? From an ethical context, it is important to deeply think about the following: is my decision compliant with my values? Is it legal or not? Say I do what my mind tells me; will I feel good or guilty later? Will my decision apply the ethical theory and actually benefit the whole society? Does my decision make me a better person? Is my decision something I can feel proud of enough to tell my parents/guardians and people who care about me? It is advisable to seriously consider these questions until you make a viable decision (Williams 125). As already stated, the family a child grows up in goes a long way in determining the kind of moral; decisions he will make as both a child and adult. This is because the family plays a vital role in teaching what is wrong and right. For example, my father believes in always telling the truth, no matter how it stings or stinks. He says that lying has inherent and more monstrous ethical problems. Then there is a culture and the traditions. These are predetermined by the society. The cultures of your people will definitely affect thee standards of your decisions. So much so that if there is a culture which condones corruption, a person engaging in such acts will be in line with its rules but will be viewed as wrong in other cultures. Faith and religion Faith statements are not only limited to “religious” paradigm. This means that the context which one only talks about God, thee transcendent or any otherSupreme Being. If subscribers of any ‘religion” comprehend it to be a form of religion compliant to a particular point, then, we can see that religion will function as a challenge to those people who share such a religion. In this case, the people will base their moral decisions on that. As we leant in class, almost all religions have a universal standard of what passes as right and what is wrong. It should be remembered that the point and thus the ethical dilemmas we face are something beyond our control. To avoid self-serving control and subjectivism of the fact we have to profess the faith we subscribe to. By so doing, we do and say things which are expected of our religion’s rituals rather than selectively choosing what suits our own purposes. This opens a path to do away with self-justification, moral insensitivity, stale lip service and self-justification. The Christian heritage or most other religions for that matter do have viable avenues for articulating a critical approach in formulating a foundation of moral reflection (Hester 13). The Judeo-Christian religion, for example, advocates for forgiveness and reconciliation. The Holy Bible actually provides for these premises. In the New Testament, the bible shows the healing works of Jesus. This provides medics with the challenge to help others or to offer quality healthcare in pursuit of healing. Furthermore, this faith advances to considering the other person’s needs as you would consider others. In fact, I think the basis of moral reflection is provided for by the “love your neighbor as you love yourself” doctrine. Under this notion, communitarians steps in people help the poor, orphans, the widows and the vulnerable in the society. The close relationship, therefore, between religion and values is a strong determinant of our moral notions. Perhaps a faith based approach to moral reflection would make more sense if a person allows themselves to be criticized pursuant to what they believe. Through the practice of humility believers find the strength, coherence and objectivity to keep practicing integrity. The same discussion on ethical reflection can be extended to corporate social responsibility. From the textbook, corporate social responsibility is an aspect of business regulation which includes the larger community. In recent times, more and more companies are dedicating part of their revenues to the needs of the society around them by providing a clean environment by avoiding pollution and dumping and advancing free healthcare to the surrounding areas. Despite the criticisms leveled against some of those medical practices, we can all attest to their benefits. For example, a person who had an accident will probably need to undergo plastic surgery (Hester 15). The ethical dilemma will present itself when this is done purely for beauty purposes. Also, it should be remembered that an action may be viewed as acceptable in one domain and unacceptable in another. For example, judging whether certain medical procedure, for example euthanasia, should be carried out is dependent on many factors. It is important to understand how it works, the risks involved, whether there exists alternatives to the body, the consequences involved and in some instances, the legality of the issue. In conclusion, it is safe to say that much of how a given society rates a person is largely dependent on what the said community deems necessary at that particular time. Also, in a community which has never dealt with homosexuality, a case like this would automatically create an ethical dilemma despite the existing mechanisms that exist to the people on moral reflection. Works Cited Hester, D. & Toby Schonfeld. Guidance for Healthcare Ethics Committees. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 2012. Print. Lebeer, G., ethical function in hospital ethics committees. IOS Press: Amsterdam. 2002. Print Williams, B., ethics and the limits of philosophy. Routledge, London. 2011. Print. . Read More