• Question 1
Rights Theory
Selected
Answer:
Everyone has a set of rights and it is the role of government to
enforce those rights.
• Question 2
In the book A Simple Plan, the characters find a small plane buried in the rural snowdrifts of Ohio.
They keep the bags of money they find. But the initial decision was flawed. They have to cross
another line in covering up their misdeed. Then, they lie to the sheriff and face more problems
each of which requires choices. The characters keep slipping, and eventually commit murder.
This is an example of what?
Selected Answer:
Response Feedback:
That’s correct. We don’t know what became of the sadhu.
• Question 3
Which of the following people is associated with the “Front Page of the Newspaper”
test for ethical dilemmas?
Selected
Answer:
d.
Warren Buffett
Answer
Feedback:
Warren Buffett, when he had to take over at Salomon Brothers
because traders had illegally cornered the bond market, explained to
employees that he wanted them to make choices by assuming that
everything they did would be reported on the front page of the
newspaper. The idea was to give them a better perspective on their
conduct.
Response
Feedback:
You got it! Warren Buffett, when he had to take over at Salomon
Brothers because traders had illegally cornered the bond market,
explained to employees that he wanted them to make choices by
assuming that everything they did would be reported on the front
page of the newspaper. The idea was to give them a better
perspective on their conduct. Ken Blanchard is the author of “The
One Minute Manager” as well as “The Power of Ethical Thinking”
with the late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. Their test for ethics is: 1. Is
it legal? 2. Is it ethical? 3. How does it make me feel? John Rawls is
internationally known for his scholarship on the theory of justice
and contract theory. Rational people, who thought through all the
consequences of their actions, would make fair and decent rule and
abide by them, such as “Don’t touch my property unless I say you
can.” Laura Nash teaches at both the Harvard Divinity School and
the Harvard Business School. She has a twelve-step question
framework for evaluating ethical situations and dilemmas. Some of
the questions she believes we should ask ourselves: How did I get
into this situation in the first place? What are my intentions? Will I
feel good about this over the long run? Could I discuss my decision
with my supervisor? my family? my friends?
• Question 4
Ethics
Selected
Answer:
The unwritten rules we have developed for our interaction with
each other.
• Question 5
Laura Nash
Selected
Answer:
(1) Have you defined the problem accurately? (2) How would you
define the problem if you stood on the other side of the fence? (3)
How did this occur in the first place? (4) To whom and what do you
give your loyalties as a person and as a member of the corporation?
(5) What is your intention in making this decision? (6) How does this
intention compare with the likely results? (7) Whom could your
decision or action injure? (8) Can you engage the affected parties in a
discussion of the problem before you make your decision? (9) Are you
confident that your position will be as valid over a long period of time
as it seems now? (10) Could you disclose without qualm your decision
or action to your boss, your CEO, the board of directors, your family,
or society as a whole? (11) What is the symbolic potential of your
action if understood? If misunderstood? (12) Under what conditions
would you allow exceptions to your stand?
• Question 6
Methods avoid facing ethical dilemmas
Selected
Answer:
Re-labeling (copyright infringement vs. peer-to-peer file sharing)
and rationalizing.
• Question 7
A recent survey found that 24% of Americans feel that it is always wrong to speed.
In which of the following schools of ethical thought would this 24% fit best?
Selected
Answer:
d.
Virtue
Answer
Feedback:
Virtue ethics requires definitive rules and lines between right and
wrong. If someone believes that it is always wrong to speed, they
believe virtue ethics is the way society should function. They believe
that rules of law need to govern us or others are harmed. They
would be the 24%.
Response
Feedback:
A difficult question, but you got it. Virtue ethics requires definitive
rules and lines between right and wrong. If someone believes that it
is always wrong to speed, they believe virtue ethics is the way
society should function. They believe that rules of law need to
govern us or others are harmed. They would be the 24%. Ethical
egoists believe that if we behave in our own self-interest that
everybody is better for it. They could justify speeding because some
are good drivers and should speed so that those who cannot
command the roads can proceed at their own paces. Utilitarians
want to do the most good for the most people — if speeding means
fewer emissions, fewer cars on the road, and less time traveling,
they are in favor of it. If speeding gets us working more efficiently or
to work on time, then speeding serves a purpose that serves the
good of the whole. There are times when utilitarians believe it is
ethical to speed. Moral relativists believe it is fine to speed when
you’re late, when you’re in a hurry, when others are doing it, when
it is important to you to speed, when you have a health or safety
issue — moral relativists have a million reasons for speeding. Moral
relativists always find times when it would be acceptable to speed.
• Question 8
Blanchard and Peale model is associated with:
Selected Answer:
Is it legal? Is it balanced? How does it make me feel?
• Question 9
Moral Relativists
Selected
Answer:
Time-and-place ethics; making ethical choices based on the
circumstances.
• Question 10
Ethical Egosim
Selected
Answer:
Acting in our own self-interest and limiting our judgments to our
own conduct, not the conduct of others.
• Question 11
Which philosopher would start with a tabula rasa and then develop ethical
standards?
Selected
Answer:
c.
John Rawls
Answer
Feedback:
John Rawls threw this Latin phrase about — a blank slate — to help
us understand ourselves in a situation in which there were no rules.
We had to develop the rules for how we would interact with each
other individually and in business. Rawls believed that rational souls
would agree on some basic and fair rules that would help them but
also protect others.
responsible for it. Many folks want to choose Plato because “tabula
rasa” sounds foreign, and Plato was a foreigner. Except, he was a