5 Ethical Quandaries
You may think
that challenging ethical issues are never really resolved. In my new book Make an Ethical Difference, I argue that we all have an innate ability to make sound ethical judgments. Not
only do we have an innate ethics sense, we can use it to resolve even the thorniest
ethical issues. Here are some examples of ethical quandaries that arise in everyday life, along with some tips on how to resolve them. Post your solutions here.
Five Ethical Quandaries and How to Think Through Them
Quandary #1: An Offer You Can’t Refuse?
Just after your
current employer has promoted you and given you a substantial raise, you
receive an attractive job offer from a direct competitor. When you got your
promotion, you told your boss that you were “in it for the long haul,” but now
you are not so sure. You wonder if you should tell your boss about the offer.
How to Think This Through
You have to
decide if you owe loyalty to your employer and your boss. Even though your
current company promoted you, the promotion was based on merit, not loyalty. To
make an ethically sound decision, look at the situation in the eyes of the
other affected parties. If you were in their shoes, what would you expect? And,
more importantly, is this expectation reasonable?
Quandary #2: My Back Yard
A developer
wants to build a casino immediately adjacent to your neighborhood. You
recognize that the casino will benefit most of the community - except for those
who live adjacent to it. You wonder if it is right to oppose the casino based
on your interests and the interests of a few others in the community.
How
to Think This Through
While you are
correct to consider the benefits to all concerned, there is more to the story.
You also need to consider the benefits of having a system of property use that
protects property holders. So it comes down to whether the benefits to the
community outweigh the benefits of protecting the rights of property holders.
Be sure to factor in your own bias as someone directly affected by the casino.
Quandary #3: No Pain
You are a doctor
and one of your patients who opposes euthanasia on religious grounds, asks you
to do whatever is necessary to stop his pain. The level of drugs needed to stop
the pain will almost certainly kill the patient in short order. The patient
recognizes this but still wants the pain stopped.
How
to Think This Through
The ethical
rules of the patient prohibit euthanasia and yet you are being asked to
participate in actions having the same outcome as euthanasia. Consider your own
ethical rules on how to practice medicine. You are being asked to challenge
your own conscience in order to relieve the patient's conscience. This is not
just between you and the patient, but between you and your conscience.
Quandary #4: Bell Curve Blues
A scientific
experiment you conducted on inheritance seems to inadvertently show that people
of certain races are less intelligent than people of other races. You wonder
whether you should publish this research. You know that many will distort your
conclusions to support their own racist beliefs.
How to Think This Through
While a
scientist is required to respect the scientific method, this does not mean that
you have to publish everything the
data supports. While you have to face the facts, you do not have to publicize
them especially if they are open to misinterpretation. You have to decide
whether the benefits of sharing this research publicly outweigh the likely fall
out from it.
Quandary #5: Speed Kills
The company you
work for is deciding whether to build a super fast car for street use. There is
a demand for the car and your company needs the boost this signature product
would give it. But you wonder if it is right to produce a car that capable of
travelling at two or three times any posted speed limit.
How
to Think This Through
Consider the
interests of the parties to this situation While the interests of your company
are clear enough, you have to consider the interests of those who might be
affected if the car is built and sold. It is not only the drivers of superfast
cars that are injured by them. On the other hand, if your company does not
build the car, won't some other company make an equally fast car? Does this make a difference?
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