The Various Normative Theories of Ethics - Term Paper Example

Ethics WORD COUNT: 997 (excluding reference) 1071 (including reference) Part Ethics are a set of rules or standards that help a person to make moral choices and right conduct. The normative theory of ethics is a prescriptive theory which aids a person to understand what he/she is expected to do. As per Professor V. R. Ruggiero, there are three factors which are concerned with most of the ethical systems; they are obligations, ideals and effects. (Shaw, W.H., Barry, V. and Sansbury, G. 2009) Obligation implies the binding duties upon a person with reference to his or her relationship with other human beings. A person may be bound with another person by virtue of personal or professional relationship. They bind people to perform certain actions, or to avoid them, as the case may be. These obligations differ from person to person. They are also dependent upon the type of relationship, that is whether personal or professional. Nevertheless, a person is morally bound to fulfill the same. Secondly, ideals are a set of standards, on the basis of which a person performs actions. It varies on the basis of culture of a person. Moreover, there may be several ways of pursuing these goals or standards. The most common virtues or ideals found in all cultures include loyalty, compassion, tolerance, justice, peace etc. These virtues help us determine whether an act is morally justified. Further, organizational ethics include customer satisfaction, efficiency, superior quality, productivity, fair pricing etc. An action either honors these ideals or disregards them. Hence, these standards help us to determine the morality quotient of the action. Lastly, ethics are concerned with the consequences of our actions and their effect on other concerned people. While determining the likely procedure, one has to consider the outcome of the action. Thus, while evaluating various options available, one must identify the parties involved and carefully analyze the pros and cons involved. From the above, it can be concluded that any course of action which recognizes the obligations, keeping in mind the ideals and benefits all the people concerned, can be acknowledged as morally correct. An action which does not qualify either of the above three factors, cannot be regarded as morally sound, therefore it should be revised. However, one might be in jeopardy, because of conflicting ideals, obligations or effects. To simplify, the course of evaluation to determine the correct action, can be divided into two steps. (Shaw, W.H., Barry, V. and Sansbury, G. 2009) In the first step we ascertain the obligations involved and towards whom they are involved; the ideals which are recognized and those which are ignored. We also identify the people who are affected by our action and the extent of effect on them. The second step involves prioritizing, that is, we deduce which action will prove to be most appropriate out of the set of alternatives. While making a decision one should adopt a stronger objective of the two and the more important ideal which would result in "greater good and lesser harm". Part 2: In real life it is difficult to categorize ideals or objectives on the basis of the importance, so is balancing objectives ideals and effects. Hence the crux of the decision making criteria is left unanswered here. Some propagate that business ethics has unique principles to determine right and wrong on the basis of its business settings. They say that business ethics need not be in tandem with the ethics laid done by the society of right and wrong. (Warlick, Staten Leslie.1998). Some action may be considered as ethical from the point of view of business while it may be unethical from society's point of view. While marketing a company's product, people resort to lying or exaggerating the quality of the product or service in order to sell the product. Say a firm promoting a fairness cream may exaggerate that the effectiveness of the cream shows in a month of usage, while in reality a visible results shows in at least 6 months. . In business such behavior is not only accepted, but it is also expected. However, we find that it completely disregards the ethical standards Let us view this situation in the light of the Kantian, Utilitarianism and Ruggiero theories. This practice disregards the ethics and fulfils the obligations as well as the effects. Since it does not qualify all three concerns laid down by Professor V. R. Ruggiero, this action should not be adopted. As the Kantian theory argues that a person should behave in accordance with one's own duties and other person's rights (Shaw, William H.1999) and that certain acts in life are good which a person should perform without fearing about the consequences while some acts in itself are bad which should not be performed even though they bring about good consequences sometimes. (An overview of Normative Ethical Principles for selected theories:Online). It can be concluded that the action should be discarded. On the contrary, the Utilitarianism theory holds the view that an act is judged by its consequences hence a person's behavior is contingent on the consequences. (Brandt, Richard B. Morality, 1992) A person's act should bring about the best consequences. This theory is not concerned with the act performed. It stresses more on the end result than the act (Deontological Ethics: Online). The action which provides maximum utility has to be selected of the options available. So by lying a person ensures that the profit is maximized and there is an increase in the shareholders wealth. So the action is ethical from the point of view of this theory even though the general norms are not adhered. We find that the above three theories of ethics provide different views on the matter discussed. The theories are contradicting each other, and therefore it would be difficult to determine whether a course of action should be pursued or not. Thereby we can conclude that that the theory does not provide a decision making framework that can be acceptable to supporters of the different normative theories. References: An overview of Normative Ethical Principles for selected theories , available at http://www.rsrevision.com/Alevel/ethics/virtue_ethics/ Brandt, Richard B. Morality, 1992. Utilitarianism and Rights, Cambridge University Press, 1992 Deontological ethics, available at http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Deontological_ethics Shaw, W.H., Barry, V. and Sansbury, G. (2009) Moral Issues in Business, 1st Asia-Pacific Edition, Cengage Learning, South Melbourne Shaw, William H. 1999. Contemporary Ethics, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers,1999 Warlick, Staten Leslie. International Business and Society 1998 Read More