Blog Assignment #10

Ethical Decision Making Framework

FOCUS: Moral Ideals


STEP ONE: THE DETAILS OF THE CASE

(1) Choose one inquiry, from inquiries 1 - 28 (pages 114 - 117). Indicate which inquiry you chose, and then briefly explain it in your own words: I chose inquiry # 21. It talks about a high school basketball coash having a rule for his players that if he catches any of them smoking or finds out that they have been smoking they will be dropped from the team for the rest of the season.

(2) Stakeholders: The basketball coach, the player caught smoking, the other teammates on the basketball team, the school, the other team they are playing.

(3) Are the details given sufficient? Why or why not? The details given are sufficient enough because within the inquiry the coach states what his rules are and what the consequences are if you break them. And he clearly


(4) What additional questions does this inquiry raise? What did the other teammates think about this decision? Did anyone else on the team know that the one player got caught? What would have happened if he had suspended that player? Would it make a difference to the team winning?


STEP TWO: THE RELEVANT CRITERIA


1. Obligations (aka "duties"): Optional this week

2. Moral Ideals (aka "virtues"): See breakdown of ideals below

3. Consequences (aka "outcomes" or "results"): Optional this week


NOTE: Not ALL of the following ideals will apply! Only consider the main ones that you believe apply, in the inquiry you chose. Don't just pick the easy ones to consider, because you didn't take the time to thoroughly read the chapter and learn what each one of these actually means. I will quiz you when we do group work on Thursday.


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Prudence: n/a


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Justice: This relates because the coach might give justice to the one player by a way of playing favorites so he can play in the game or maybe so they have a better chance at winning.


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Temperance: n/a


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Courage: The coach would show that he has courage by still punishing the player even if that means the player or players would get mad because it's such a big game and that he has courage for sticking to his word even though it might mean they won't win.


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Loving Kindness: n/a


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Honesty: If the coach was honest to himself and his players he would punish the player because it would show that he's sticking to his word and making things fair by being honest.


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Compassion: The coach might have compassion for the player and not punish him because hes worked hard all season and deserves to play in the big game.


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Forgiveness: The coach could forgive the player for smoking and not hold it against him.


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Reparation: This could be tied in by the player never smoking again to show his teammates and coach that what he did was wrong and that it affected them too.


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Repentance: This has to do with the inquiry because the player could apologize to the coach for smoking when he knew he would get in trouble.


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Gratitude: The player might have gratitude towards the coach for either forgiving him for what he did or for allowing him to still play in the game.


* Cardinal Ideal/Virtue of Beneficence: The coach might be easy on the player because it's such a big game and allow him to play as a random act of kindness even though what he did was wrong and he knows it. (pg. 110)


* Conflicting ideals--consider the relative importance of each; determine which ideal represents the greater good (or the lesser evil). See pages 110-11 for clarification. Erase this sentence & insert your own answer.



STEP THREE: POSSIBLE COURSES OF ACTION


Alternative #1: The coach could ignore what the player did and pretend it never happend.


Alternative #2: The coach could punish the player and no longer allow him to play in the game


Alternative #3: The coach could find another punishment for the player but still allow him to play in the big game of the season.


STEP FOUR: THE MOST ETHICAL ACTION


Examine the action taken or proposed and decide whether it achieves the greater good (the most widespread "respect for persons")...if it does not, choose one that will, from your alternatives. Where the choice of actions is such that no good can be achieved, choose the action that will result in the lesser evil.Erase this sentence & insert your own answer. Justify your answer in DETAIL. Make sure you cite specific passages from the book and/or chapter, which helped you arrive at your conclusion...thus proving to me you read this book.

The most ethical action would be that the coach stick to his word and not let the player play in the big game for smoking. It would show that he is firm about his rules. It would lead to his players listening and respecting him for his rules so others won't make the same bad decision and it would teach the player who was caught smoking not to do it again. I came to this conclusion by reading the ideals in conflict (pg. 110) because although the coach wants to punish the player he might be punishing himself because the team might not win. But with most decisions there is some kind of conflict but we still have to make that decision because we know it's whats right and most ethical.



SELF EVALUATION

1. In your own words, describe something new that you learned from this week’s assigned reading material and guidance.

I learned more in depth about values and virtues. I learned that there are many different kinds that we deal with everyday and we just don't realize it. Everyone has there own morals but there is still a basic code of morals and virtures that we all try to or should try to follow.

2. In your own words, describe in detail some insight you gained, about the material, from one of your classmates' blogs this week.

When I read over JDR's ethics blog I learned that everyone has different looks on what is ethical and what is the best decision that can be made in different situations.

3. Did you post a thoroughly completed post to your blog on time this week?

Yes i did :)

4. Did you ALSO print this out, so you can bring it to class and earn total points?

Yesss!


5. Of 25 points total, my efforts this week deserve:

I feel that I deserve atleast a 20 because I fully completed the assignment and did it on time. I answered each part to the best of my ability I'm just not sure if I did everything completely correct or how you wanted it. I took my time doing this assignment and spend a lot of time doing so. I also read the chapter to get a full and better understanding of the assignment so I could do it to the best of my ability.

Blog Assignment #9

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ASSIGNMENT PART ONE
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In this section, we're going to return for a moment to Chapter 7, to the section that discusses errors that are common in the analysis of moral issues (p. 89). Breifly explain each of the following errors in your own words, as if you were explaining the concept to a friend who had never taken this class (consider who, what, when, where, why, how, when); and then give an example of each one, preferably from your own past experience.

Unwarranted Assumptions: It includes not taking other important imformation into consideration because we take it for granted or we assume something without knowing.

Example: When your supposed to have a test scheduled for next week but you don't go to class the week before because you already have the necessary materials to study you assume that the test will remain schedualed for that day. But had you gone to class the week before the test you would have known that it got bumped up to the day before which is one of the days you decided not to go. Now since you assumed that it wasn't going to change, you've now missed a test and recieved a zero.

Oversimplification: Is not just looking at the most obvious aspects of a situation before coming to a conclusion. When analyzing something you need to think of all the other relevant information that can lead to a conclusion and not just what it most obvious.

Example: When you see your boyfriend and your best friend walking out of your boyfriends house together as you pull up. Don't just assume that anything was going on between the two of them or that he is cheating on you. Because they could have been studying together or planning something for you where they needed each others help.

Hasty Conclusions: Would be passing judgement on something without fully knowing what it is were judging or coming to a conclusion about.

Example: Meeting someone who when you met them seemed stuck up and spoiled so you wanted nothing to do with them because you don't like being around people like that. But one day your with a group of people at someones house and you overhear her talking and you end up talking to her later realizing that she wasn't stuck up or rude at all, all you had to do was talk to her and try to get to know her.

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ASSIGNMENT PART TWO
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Briefly answer the following "chapter opening" questions, in your own words, based on what you learned by studying chapter eight:

1. What do we do in situations where there is more than a single obligation? Well, for starters, which may be hard you can choose one over the other based on importance. If you can't do that then you try and figure out a way to balance both. The may be obligations of all sorts of things such as a professional obligation or a family or friend obligation. In those cases more people have different amounts of time set aside for each of those so finding some time for all those obligations shouldn't be too difficult unless they are conflicting.

2. How can we reconcile conflicting obligations? In my opinion and as it mentions in the book it's best to choose wisely. When you have more than one obligation it's obvious that they both are most likely important especially if you can't choose one over the other. The main problem though is that they must choose one over the other and you can't avoid that. You have to weigh out both obligations and try to come to a logical decision that ends up being the best one.

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ASSIGNMENT PART THREE
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1. In a nutshell, what is the most important thing, for you, that you learned from this assignment?

That in some situations you have to weigh out your options and choose one over the other even if it's a tough decision because either way one will be somewhat more important than the other.

2. How will you apply what you learned through this assignment to your everyday life?

That in life there are many difficult decisions that you have to make and they aren't always going to be easy. And that most decisions your going to have to think through and observe all aspects before making a decision or coming to a conclusion and I think a lot of people look past that, which is why many people pass judgements on others without fully knowing them.

3. What grade do you believe your efforts regarding this assignment deserve? Justify your answer.

I would say that I deserve around a 20 because I read the chapters and answered the questions to the best of my ability although I don't know if I answered all of them accurately. I felt that I put 100% into this assignment and tried to learn from what it was I was reading and writing.