ETHICS

Chapter 4:Steps in
Ethical Decision
Making
LESSON 1:ETHICAL
REQUIREMENTS
Reason is a declaration
made to EXPLAIN OR JUSTIFY
ACTION, DECISION, OR
CONVICTION.
• Capacity for consciously making
sense of things.
• Establishing and verifying facts.
• Applying logic in justifying
practices, beliefs based on new or
existing information. (Kompridis,
2000).
The proper role of ethical reasoning is to
highlight acts of two kinds :
• Those which enhance the well-being of
others---that warrant praise
• Those that harm or diminish the well-
being of others---that warrant criticism
Why is it important
to develop ethical
reasoning abilities?
When is the right time
to use our capacity of
ethical reasoning?
Predicting
consequences
Judgement must
be backed by
reason
“If you have good
reasons for an act, do it.
But if you don’t, then
you shouldn’t do it.”
IMPARTIALITY
• Evenhandedness or fair-mindedness
• A principle of JUSTICE holding that
decisions should be based on objective
criteria, rather than on the basis of bias,
prejudice or preferring the benefit to
one person over another for improper
reasons.
• Impartiality makes no
discrimination as to
nationality, race, religious
beliefs, class or political
opinions.
• There can be a temptation to
automatically take side when we know
someone who is in dispute but
ultimately this often just entrenches
that person even more in his/her
despair, anger, and disillusionment and
make him/her less likely to resolve it.
• Impartiality serves a purpose
in supporting conflict
resolution whether we are a
mediator or not.
IS REASON ENOUGH TO
MAKE THE MOST
REASONABLE
JUDGEMENT?
REASON AND
FEELINGS
• Biologists verify that
“Emotion is never truly
divorced from decision
making.” (Blakeslee, et. al.,
2007)
• Physicists confirm that seeing
the word with complete
objectivity is not possible, as
our observations affect what
we perceive. (Werner, 2002)
• Moral philosopher Mary
Midgley writes “Sensitivity
requires rationality to
compete with it, and vice
versa.”
• We rely on our reason
to guard against
feelings that may
reflect a bias.
• We rely on feelings to
move us to act morally,
and to ensure that our
reasoning is not only
logical but humane.
• Scientific evidence
supports this approach
to ethics.
• Explain to others the
reason of our moral
presumptions, but we
should listen carefully to
concerns they may have.
ETHICS VS.
FEELINGS
• Many times, there’s a conflict
between what we naturally feel and
what is considered to be ethical.
• Some people argue that human
race developed those subconscious
reactions as an evolutionary
mechanism to survive.
• The problem is most of our feelings
in today’s world are unethical,
politically incorrect or even outright
harmful. It takes a great deal of
effort to retrospect and self-analyze
our feelings to judge whether they
are ethical or not.
GROUPISM
•Natural feeling: I am a part of a
group. I am supposed to help this
group become better. I am also
supposed to compete with other
groups.
GROUPISM
• Reasoning: Being part of a herd made it
easier for us ancestors to survive in the
wild. There were so many survival benefits
that belonging to a group brought.
Naturally, our ancestors started developing
good feelings about belonging to a group.
GROUPISM
•Ethical viewpoint: Help the
group. Help other groups too.
There is no compelling reason to
compete in today’s times of
people.
PATRIOTISM
• Natural feeling: I was born in a place. I
am supposed to help people in the
geographical vicinity around me. There are
human-decided borders that definite my
country. Those outside the border don’t
deserve that much attention as those
inside the border do.
PATRIOTISM
• Reasoning: Patriotism is groupism in a
higher scale. Most borders were drawn for
political benefits by a small group of
individuals running that country. There have
been countless stories of propaganda by
governments to motivate people to join their
wars to fight people over borders. We
humans tend to justify these efforts as noble.
PATRIOTISM
• Ethical viewpoint: Wars are always bad.
There is no reason to be proud of your
country just because you were born in it. It
is okay to be in your country because you
are used to it. But it is also okay to move
to other countries and help those
countries.
DUNBAR’S NUMBER
•Natural feeling: I cannot maintain
more than 150 stable relationships.
•Reasoning: Our brains have limited

capacity and it becomes mentally hard
to maintain relationships.
DUNBAR’S NUMBER
• Ethical viewpoint: According to the Dunbar’s
number promotes Groupism. Just as we pushed
ourselves to become better humans, we should
also try to push the Dunbar number limit further.
Accepting that all life forms in this world (and
outside the world if life exists) are part of the
same group counters the negative effects of
Groupism.
NEGATIVE FEELINGS TO CONTENT
ON SOCIAL NETWORKS
•Natural feeling: I hate what’s being
posted on Facebook. They are just
stupid selfies, people gloating their
achievements or just distracting
unproductive content.
NEGATIVE FEELINGS TO CONTENT ON SOCIAL
NETWORKS
Reasoning: Many of us have been taught to
compete with others since our childhood. We tend to
compare ourselves with others. We don’t like selfies
because they are attention-seeking and we look
down upon those who seek attention. Distracting,
unproductive content is noise to us and we cannot
handle much noise in our daily lives.
Ethical viewpoint: We don’t have to compete with our
friends. We can applaud their life achievements without
comparing our lives with theirs. We don’t have to look
down upon those who seek attention. Comedians, actors
and other entertainers are attention-seeking. But we don’t
look down upon them. It is up to us to filter out noise in
our lives. Social networks aren’t thrusted into our face. We
can choose to stay away from them if they are noisy. Or
even better, adjust the content shown in our feed and
tailor it to our comfort.
LESSON 2:STEPS IN ETHICAL
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
According to American philosopher
Michael Davis (1999) who came up
with this seven-step guide,
professionals and students alike exhibit
stronger “moral reasoning skills” if they
base their actions and/or decisions on
a codified list.
1. State the problem
• Determine the possible moral dilemmas
at hand.
2. Check the facts
3. Identify relevant factors
• Who are the people involved? What laws or
professional codes can possibly apply?
4. Develop a list of options
• Set alternatives to the action or decision
• Avoid the binarism of “yes/no” questions in making
moral decisions
5. Test the options
Harm Test – Would less harm be done on other
people when I favour this one decision over the
others?
Publicity Test – Would I be proud of this
decision if it makes the evening news?
Would I want my loved ones to know?
Defensibility Test – Would I be able to

defend this decision before the court or a
panel of reviewers without appearing self-
serving?
Reversibility Test – Would I still prefer
my option of choice if it were to have some
adverse effects on me instead of others?
Would I still want it despite the
implications?
Colleague Test – How would my
profession’s ethics committee see the
option? What would they say?
Organization Test – What would my
company’s (or organization) ethics officials
and/or legal counsel say regarding the option?
Virtue Test – What kind of person would also

choose such an option? Is he/she who someone
might consider as “virtuous”? What would I
become of me if I enact this option all the time?
6. Come with a choice or decision based on the
abovementioned steps.
7. Review Steps 1-6
What can you do to prevent making such a decision
again?
Are there precautions to take?

ETHICS

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ETHICS

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Chapter 4:Steps in

•Reasoning: Our brains have limited

Defensibility Test – Would I be able to

Virtue Test – What kind of person would also

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