Paper 2 Critical Thinking and Ethical Choices

Using Critical Thinking when Making Ethical Decisions

A. What is applied ethics? Applied ethics is the part of ethical study where ethical theories are applied to various situations for the purpose of making ethical decisions.

B. Applied ethics does not give a formula for determining the right answer to an ethical problem. Instead, applied ethics is aimed at asking the right question in the process of ethical deliberation.

C. These are general guidelines to follow when making an ethical decision.[2] Use them while imagining you are the manager of the toxic waste dump depicted in the case study below. Step 7 of these guidelines will be your answer to the question at the end of the case study: What would you do? Please give at least some discussion with respect to each of the following steps when writing your paper. Your paper should be no longer than ten pages.

D. You will choose to approach this paper either as a virtue ethicist or a utilitarian (but not both). Refer to the class notes and readings for more information on each theory.

  1. Gather the facts
    a. Often just having all of the facts present in one’s mind will make the ethical decision far less complicated. In fact, many times the answer to an ethical dilemma may become obvious when all of the facts are known.
    b. However, even if knowing all of the facts does not lead to an answer to the ethical dilemma, the facts will make the decision much clearer.
    c. There are two questions that need to be answered at this stage:

    1. What do we know?
      2. What do we need to know?

2. determine the ethical issues
a. “Ethical issues are stated in terms of legitimate competing interests or goods.”[3]
        b. These are the competing potential decisions that caused the ethical dilemma in the first place.

Therefore, the dilemma is generally stated in an “x versus y” format to reflect the competing      interests.
3. What principles have a bearing on the case?
a. Principles that may have a bearing on the ethical dilemma are those stated in a normative ethical theory, laws, personal or situational reasons that may have a bearing on the case, religious or scientific facts.
b. Once ethical principles have been determined, put the principles in order of most important to least important.
4. List the alternatives
a. This is a creative thinking process.
b. The longer the list of alternatives, the better your chances of coming up with some very good ones.
c. Furthermore, you may come up with some alternatives that you had not thought of before.
d. This step ensures that an ethical dilemma is not presented as two alternatives when there are really more than two. It avoids the logical fallacy of a false dichotomy.
5. Compare the alternatives with the principles
a. This is an exercise in eliminating alternatives. Alternatives are evaluated and compared in light of the ethical principles that come to bear on the dilemma.
b. Many times the dilemma will be solved at this point because the principles will eliminate all but one of the alternatives.
c. If a clear decision does not result from this step, at least many of the alternatives will be eliminated, making the decision more simple.
6. Consider the consequences
a. If ethical principles did not make the decision clear, then the consequences of each of the alternatives should be considered.
b. In this step, the consequences should be weighed in light of the possible benefits and detriments of each.
c. At the point of decision, one must realize that there are very few ethical decisions that are devoid of painful consequences. Therefore, rather than looking for the answer producing no consequences, look for the one that produces consequences that reasonable can be considered the best in the situation.
7. Make a decision
a. An ethical dilemma cannot be the subject of indefinite deliberation.
b. Generally the decision is the one that produces the least negative consequences and defies the fewest ethical principles.

 

Your paper: Using the guidelines above, as well as the readings and videos assigned, choose either utilitarianism or virtue ethics to guide you in making a decision in the following case.

 

You are the manager of a toxic waste dump located outside of Sacramento, California. The parent company is located in downtown Los Angeles. Some years ago, a cement “pond” was built to store toxic waste from the firm’s operations throughout northern California. Supposedly, the pond was built in impermeable soil. After the toxic waste was combined with other chemicals, it was rendered considerable less toxic and was considered to be safe in the pond. This operation has worked well for a number of years.

A few months ago, you noticed a change in the taste of the drinking water in your office and home. As a result, you ordered some tests to be run and to your dismay the tests revealed some leakage that was moving toward the water table. The engineers who conducted the tests could not determine with certainty if the waste was leaking into the water table, since the soul outside the pond acts as a partial filtering agent.

Being a responsible manager and concerned about the community, you report this to your boss in L.A. He consults with the top management of the company and their response is the same as his. Since the facility passed the state inspection only a few months earlier, they choose to ignore the problem, citing prohibitive costs involved for cleanup and compliance with state standards.

You maintain that the state standards are clearly not adequate, but the company is adamant. They will do nothing about the problem unless they are found to be in violation of state standards. You protest that decision, and they warn you not to do anything more. You are told to keep to managing the facility and leave these other decisions to them.

Your dilemma is compounded by the fact that “whistle-blowers” almost always lose their jobs and are frequently blackballed from the industry. Since you have a wife and three school-aged children, you cannot afford to lose your job.

As the manager of the facility, what would you do in this situation?

 

[1] Scott B. Rae Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), pg. 104.

[2] Ibid, 105-106

[3] Ibid, 105