Ethical Obligations and Decision-Making

Approaches to Determining Ethical Obligation

"It is to the great and fundamental principles of society and civilization—to the common usage universally consented to, and mutually and reciprocally maintained—to the unceasing circulation of interest, which, passing through its million channels, invigorates the whole mass of civilized man—it is to these things, infinitely more than to anything which even the best instituted government can perform, that the safety and prosperity of the individual and of the whole depends."Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man, "Applying Principle to Practice, Chapter One—Of Society and Civilization."

Common Sense Ethical Principles

The following list of prima facie ethical obligations (common sense ethical principles) is drawn from Business Ethics and Ethical Business by Robert Audi, Oxford University Press, 2009, "A Framework for Making Ethical Decisions," pages 30-32.

What does the word prima facie mean? It means "at first look," or "on its face." According to the Web law dictionary—dictionary.law.com—prima facie means a case where the evidence before trial is sufficient to prove the case before the court, unless there is substantial contradictory evidence which can be presented at trial.

• Justice
• Non-injury
• Fidelity
• Veracity
• Reparation
• Beneficence
• Self-improvement
• Liberty
• Gratitude
• Respectfulness

Note: The ordering of these principles has been slightly modified from the original text in the Audi textbook. Liberty has been moved from ninth to eighth on the list, and Gratitude from eighth to ninth.

Exercise: Can you think of one word that works as a theme for principles one and two? Can you think of one word that works as a theme for principles three, four, and five? Can you think of one word that works as a theme for principles six, seven, and eight? Can you think of one word that works as a theme for principles nine and ten? You cannot choose any of the ten common sense ethical principles as any of these four different words. Each word has to be a new word. This exercise will help you make the meaning of these virtues more memorable.

Concluding Thought on Common Sense

"The only general symptom of insanity is the loss of common sense and the logical stubbornness in insisting on one's own sense."Immanuel Kant, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, 1798.

Making Difficult Ethical Decisions: A Five-Step Model

1. Classification: "What are my obligations in this case?"
2. Identification of Conflicts: "What, if any, are the tradeoffs between the ten common sense ethical principles?"
3. Ethical Assessment: "How weighty are the conflicting obligations?" "Is it possible to do cost-benefit analysis regarding the tradeoffs between common sense ethical principles?" "If it is possible, is it ethical?" "What are the working principles for a judgment between the value of different ethical obligations, where one obligation might need to be traded off for another?"
4. Selection of Ethically Viable Options: "What are the ethically viable alternatives?" (See the scales of justice illustration in Audi, page 38.)
5. Universalization: "A sound ethical decision should be precedential: it should be justifiably usable as a guiding precedent for future decisions." (Audi, page 40)