Chapter 01 – Understanding Ethics
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CHAPTER 1
Understanding Ethics
Table of Contents
Chapter Summary and Learning Outcomes 1-2
Learning Outcomes 1-2
Frontline Focus: “Doing the Right Thing” Questions 1-2
Learning Outcome 1 1-3
Learning Outcome 2 1-3
Learning Outcome 3 1-5
Learning Outcome 4 1-6
Learning Outcome 5 1-6
Life Skills 1-9
Progress ✓Questions 1-9
Ethical Dilemma 1-12
Frontline Focus: “Doing the Right Thing—Megan Makes a Decision” Questions 1-14
Key Terms 1-15
Review Questions 1-16
Review Exercises 1-17
Team Exercises 1-19
Thinking Critically 1-21
Chapter 01 – Understanding Ethics
Chapter Summary
This chapter begins by defining ethics and how people decipher between “right” and “wrong” or
“good” and “bad” behavior. It explores how people live their lives according to a standard of
“right” or “wrong” behavior and how their personal set of morals are formed. Society plays a
role in the traditions and customs that shape the standards or moral set that people adopt.
Common standards shared among individuals can be called values or a values system. Some
people have different definitions of ethics such as, personal integrity, rules of appropriate
individual behavior, rules of appropriate behavior for a community or society, and some define
ethics as simply “doing the right thing.” The Golden Rule—do unto others as you would have
them do unto you—is also a goal of living an ethical life by some. There are also some ethical
theories discussed, which are divided into three categories—virtue ethics, ethics for the greater
good, and universal ethics. The chapter concludes with a discussion on ethical relativism, applied
ethics, ethical dilemmas, and how to resolve these situations.
Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to:
2. Explain the role of values in ethical decision making.
4. Discuss ethical relativism.
5. Explain an ethical dilemma and apply a process to resolve it.
Extended Chapter Outline
Frontline Focus
“Doing the Right Thing” Questions
1. What would be “the right thing” to do here? How would the “Golden Rule” relate to
Megan’s decision?
The “right thing” to do here would be to run the Wilson’s application through the standard
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2. How would you resolve this ethical dilemma? Review the three-step process in ‘Resolving
Ethical Dilemmas’ for more details.
First, Megan needs to analyze the consequences. If she listens to Kate, she will hinder the
3. What should Megan do now?
family.
Learning Outcome 1: Define Ethics.
• Ethics is the manner by which we try to live our lives according to a standard of “right” or
“wrong” behavior—in both how we think and behave toward others and how we would
Learning Outcome 2: Explain the Role of Values in Ethical Decision Making.
• Moral standards are principles based on religious, cultural, or philosophical beliefs by
which judgments are made about good or bad behavior.
Chapter 01 – Understanding Ethics
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Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill
Education.
o School
o The media—television, radio, newspapers, magazines, or the Internet
o Personal role models and mentors
• One’s personal set of morals—morality—represents a collection of all these influences as
they build up over one’s lifetime.
• Standards of ethical behavior are absorbed by osmosis as an individual observes the
• A person’s values can be said to have a specific “worth” for them. That worth can be
expressed in two ways:
o An intrinsic value—the quality by which a value is a good thing in itself and is
with a situation that places those values in direct conflict with an action. For
example:
thing.
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• The second category—personal integrity, demonstrated by someone’s behavior—looks at
ethics from an external rather than an internal viewpoint.
will probably have both similar and very different value systems.
• Each category represents a different feature of ethics.
o On one level, the study of ethics seeks to understand how people make the choices
they make—how they develop their own set of moral standards, how they live their
lives on the basis of those standards, and how they judge the behavior of others in
relation to those standards.
Learning Outcome 3: Understand Opposing Ethical Theories and Their Limitations.
• Ethical theories can be divided into three categories—virtue ethics, ethics for the greater
• Virtue ethics is a concept of living your life according to a commitment to the
achievement of a clear ideal—what sort of person would I like to become, and how do I go
about becoming that person?
o The Greek philosopher Aristotle’s belief in individual character and integrity
established this concept.
o The problem with virtue ethics is that societies can place different emphasis on
different virtues.
• Ethics for the greater good is more focused on the outcome of an individual’s actions
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o The problem with this approach to ethics is the idea that the ends justify the means.
o Universal ethics refer to actions that are taken out of duty and obligation to a purely
moral ideal rather than based on the needs of the situation, since the universal
Learning Outcome 4: Discuss Ethical Relativism.
• When faced with the requirement to select a model of how we ought to live our lives, many
people choose the idea of ethical relativism.
• Ethical relativism is the concept that the traditions of an individual’s society, the
• The idea of relativism implies some degree of flexibility as opposed to strict black-and-
white rules.
Learning Outcome 5: Explain an Ethical Dilemma and Apply a Process to Resolve It.
• Applied ethics is the study of how ethical theories are put into practice.
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➢ Leaving an equally right choice undone
➢ Likely to suffer something bad as a result of that choice
• In reality, the “answer” to an ethical dilemma is often the lesser of two evils, it is
questionable to assume that there will always be an acceptable answer—it’s more a
• The following is a three-step process for solving an ethical problem:
o Step 1—analyze the consequences
o Step 2—analyze the actions
o What are the facts?
o What can you guess about the facts you don’t know?
o What do the facts mean?
o What does the problem look like through the eyes of the people involved?
o Can you explain and justify your decision to others?
• The application of these steps is based on some key assumptions:
o There is sufficient time for the degree of contemplation that such questions require;
second
• Lawrence Kohlberg developed a framework that presents the argument that people develop
Chapter 01 – Understanding Ethics
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perception of right and wrong is initially directly linked to the expectation of
punishment or reward.
and advanced form of stage 1, a person is focused on satisfying his or her own
needs, i.e., something is right or wrong because it helps the person get what he
or she wants or needs.
➢ Stage 4: Law-and-order orientation—a person is increasingly aware of his or
her membership in a society and the existence of codes of behavior, i.e.,
something is right or wrong because codes of legal, religious, or social
behavior dictate it.
• Kohlberg’s framework offers us a clearer view into the process of ethical reasoning—that
is, that someone can arrive at a decision, in this case the resolution of an ethical dilemma—
Chapter 01 – Understanding Ethics
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Life Skills
What Do You Stand For, Or What Will You Stand Against?
This Life Skills box discusses how one’s personal value system is developed. It also talks about
how this model helps people make difficult decisions. People’s value systems are developed as a
child from their parents, friends, society, and often their upbringing. It is unique to each person.
Progress ✓ Questions
1. What is the definition of ethics?
2. What is a moral compass, and how would you apply it?
An individual’s morality, or personal set of morals, represents a collection of religious,
3. Explain the difference between intrinsic and instrumental values.
Intrinsic value is the quality by which a value is a good thing in itself and is pursued for its
4. List the four basic categories of ethics.
The four basic categories of ethics are:
5. What is the Golden Rule?
Chapter 01 – Understanding Ethics
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Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill
Education.
The Golden Rule is do unto others as you would have them do unto you or treat others as
you would like to be treated.
6. List the three basic ethical theories.
The three basic ethical theories are:
7. Identify the limitations of each theory.
Following are the limitations of each of the basic ethical theories:
• The problem with virtue ethics is that societies can place different emphasis on
8. Provide an example of each theory in practice.
Following are examples of each theory in practice:
• An example of virtue ethics would be Christian societies’ values based on faith, hope,
9. Define ethical relativism.
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11. What is an ethical dilemma?
12. Explain the three-step process for resolving an ethical dilemma.
Following is the three-step process for resolving an ethical dilemma:
• Step 1. Analyze the consequences—in this step, people should ask themselves
13. What are the eight questions you should consider in resolving an ethical dilemma?
Following are the eight questions that people should consider while resolving an ethical
dilemma:
• What are the facts?
14. What assumptions are we making in the resolution of a dilemma? What should you do if you
can’t answer these eight questions for the dilemma you are looking to resolve?
Some of the key assumptions in the application of these steps are:
Chapter 01 – Understanding Ethics
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Education.
• There is enough information available to you to answer the questions.
• The dilemma presents alternative resolutions for you to select from.
If the eight questions cannot be answered, then the analysis becomes a question of finding a
palatable resolution that people can live with rather than the most appropriate solution.
15. What are Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development?
Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development are:
16. What are the six stages of development in those three levels?
The six stages of development in Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development are:
Ethical Dilemma
1.1 – Peer Pressure
1. In what ways does giving in to peer pressure constitute ethical relativism?
Students’ responses will vary. In society, individuals and groups often feel pressured by
2. How could you use your personal value system to fight back against peer pressure?