Ethical Decision Making Group 2

Ethical Decision Making

​Student Learning Module

​Welcome to this online module about ethical decision making!

​Please note that you are taking part in an experiment about how people learn ethics effectively.

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It is very important that you follow the directions closely to ensure the integrity of the experiments results.

​Introduction

​This module will help you to recognise ethical dilemmas and analyse ethical case studies.

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Before you start learning we need to check your current level of knowledge about ethics so we can compare the results. We have created a short survey with some questions for you to attempt.

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It is important that you don't start viewing the module until you have completed all the questions in the first survey to the best of your ability. Don't worry if you don't know the answers - just answer the best you can (no googling please).

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​Go to the next page for the link to the survey.

First Survey

​Please complete FIRST SURVEY - the link has been given to you.

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Once finished, please move to the next page.

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Please don't go forward until you have attempted all questions in the survey.

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​Some important concepts in ethics

Now let's start by looking at some important concepts that will help you break down the case study and make it easier to understand and solve.

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​What is an Ethical Dilemma?

​A dilemma is a problem where a choice has to be made between two (or more) options and no one option is an ideal solution.

​For example: you feel like eating a burger for lunch but you know it is not healthy. A salad is healthy but you won't feel satisfied with your meal. Neither option is ideal.

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​An Ethical Dilemma has the potential to harm or benefit various stakeholders (other people).

Your own values may be challenged or there may be other conflicting interests.

​For example: you haven't studied for a test and you are worried that you will fail. An older student offers you the test answers for a small fee. You don't want to cheat and have an advantage over other students, but you also don't want your parents to be disappointed in your results. It's very tempting to take the offer.

What is a Moral Agent?

​An individual who has to make a decision or take an action that has the power to affect others is a moral agent.

​Companies and managers are moral agents when they make decisions that affect employees or customers in positive and negative ways.

​You have also been a moral agent many times in your life - whenever you had to make a difficult decision that affected others.

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Example: your friend is not a good singer but really enjoys singing. You have always encouraged them by saying they are very good. Now they have decided to go on "Singing Idol" on television. Will you own up to your lie about their singing? Or keep quiet and let them get embarrassed on TV?

​Who are Stakeholders?

​Stakeholders have a stake in a decision - that means they are affected by that decision (in a positive or negative way).

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​The stakeholders of a company are the employees, the customers, the government and even the public.

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​​For example: if a company decides to expand its operations and opens a new factory in a rural area, the local people may be affected by pollution but may also have new job opportunities. They are now stakeholders of the company because the company is affecting them.

​What is Informed Consent and Informed Choice?

​Informed consent means the person giving consent (agreeing to something):

1. has all the necessary information to make a fully-informed decision

2. is free to make a decision without coercion (force) from others

3. is given enough time to reach a decision

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​​For example: before you are given the Covid-19 vaccine you are given information about it and asked if you are willing to take the vaccine. This means you have made an informed choice and have given informed consent.

​Theories in Ethics

​Now that we have the basics, we are going to learn how to apply two important theories in ethics:

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1. ​Teleology - based on consequences

2. ​Deontology - based on duties

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​There are many other theories and approaches to ethics but we will focus on these two in this module.

​Teleology (Consequences)

​One way of solving ethical dilemmas is by looking at the possible consequences of the decision we make. This is called Consequentialism (another name is Teleology).

​For example: An assignment is due on Monday but you tell your lazy group member that it's due on the previous Friday so that you can fix it up on the weekend. The result is good for everyone so the ends justify the means (the lie is OK because it leads to a good outcome).

​Types of Teleology - Egoism

If we just look at the consequences for ourselves (or the moral agent - the one making a decision) then this theory is called Egoism.

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​"An act is morally right if, and only if, it best promotes an agent’s long-term interests."

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​An agent can be a single person, an organisation, a group or even a whole country. It doesn't matter if the action has negative consequences for others.

​​For example: You need to study but a friend wants you to drive them to a party. You choose to study and end up with a good result in your final exam.

​Another example: You need to study but a friend wants you to drive them to hospital because they are very sick. You choose to study and end up with a good result in your final exam.

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​​Types of Teleology - Utilitarianism

​If we looked at the consequences for all the stakeholders who are affected it is called “utilitarianism”.

Our own (or the moral agent's) consequences are no more important than any other stakeholder's.

"We should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions."

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​For example: You are riding your bicycle when a group of children jump in front of you. You can swerve but you will hit a tree and injure yourself. However if you keep going ahead you will injure the children. You swerve and break your arm, but the children are safe. You have created the best result for the largest number of people.

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​Deontology (Duties)

​ Deontology does not look at consequences but instead focuses on the duties a person has to other people.

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​For example: in your workplace you are given some tasks that must be completed each day. If you complete them you are satisfying your duties to your manager and the company.

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The same can be said of our duties as people in society. We have certain duties such as following the law, telling the truth, keeping our promises. You may have specific duties to your parents, to your teacher or to your friends.

​Types of Deontology - Kant's Theory

Immanuel Kant was one of the important Western philosophers of the 18th century.

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Kant’s ethics are grounded in respect for persons and in granting the individual the dignity that is due to all human beings.​

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​Kant claimed that we should not consider the consequences of people’s decisions but what is their duty. 

​He believed in the Categorical Imperative - that is a rule that applies to all of us without exceptions.

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For example: If you believe that lying is wrong then you should never lie under any circumstances - even if you are lying to save someone's feelings - or even to save someone's life!

​Kantian Ethics

According to Kant ethical actions must meet the following criteria:

Good will

Kant argued that good will is about acting from, or on, principle. You must do things because it is your duty.

Universal acceptability

A rule that every rational being would accept - if it works in one instance it should work in all.

Humanity as an end, never as merely a means to an end

Do not use others unfairly to achieve your goals - if you don't want something to happen to you, don't do it to others.

​Applying the theories to a real case

​Now that we know the meaning of the theories, let's see how they can be applied to a particular situation.

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​We will look at a case study and then work through a number of steps to figure out the best possible decision.

​Case Study: Free Range Egg Farm

• Some people are willing to pay more for eggs that are laid by chickens that are not kept in cages.

• However it is much cheaper to keep chickens in cages than to allow them to roam freely.

• You can make a lot more money selling eggs as "cage-free" when in fact you have kept your chickens in cages.

• The owner of the "Free Egg Company" was not able to make a profit when he tried to allow his chickens to live free range as he was losing too many chickens to predators and other causes of death.

• ​He changed his practices and put the chickens in cages to save money, but kept his old packaging showing the chickens roaming around in a field. He decided the chickens were safer in the cages anyway so he wasn't doing anything wrong.

• His company started making more money and he was able to make a profit.

Understanding the case study

​When you are looking at a case study you can ask a few questions to help you get started:

1. Why is this an ethical dilemma?

2. Who is moral agent?

3. Who are the stakeholders?

4. What are the options available to the moral agent?

5. Which option would you take?

6. Apply one of the theories (deontology or teleology) to the case and check if it matches your choice

7. Think about why it does or doesn't match up to your original choice - is there more to think about?

Let's try it

​Why is this an ethical dilemma?

The farmer is lying to customers about the eggs but he is making a profit and saving his business. If he tells the truth he will lose his customers and possibly his business, but if he continues lying the customers are being cheated and the farmer may be fined.

Who is the moral agent?

The farmer is making the decision about the way the eggs are labelled so he is the moral agent

Who are the stakeholders?

In this case the main stakeholders are the customers but you could also include the farmer's employees, other egg farmers, and even the government if there are regulations on how the eggs should be labelled.

​What are the options available to the moral agent?

1. ​Change the labels on the eggs and sell them honestly

2. ​Keep the false labels and ignore the lie

3. ​Any other option?

Some more things to think about

Which option would you take?

​Think about what you would do if you were the farmer, and the reasons for your choice.

Apply one of the theories (deontology or teleology) to the case and check if it matches your choice

​We will try this on the following pages

Think about why it does or doesn't match up to your original choice - is there more to think about?

​The theory should give you some additional ideas that you may not have considered. Applying multiple theories will give even more ideas.

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​Finally

​You will never have a perfect answer but you will have a better understanding of the case and more ways of explaining your decision.

How to Apply Egoism

1. Identify the moral agent

2. ​Identify the action

3. Identify negative consequences (for the agent only) of the action/decision

4. Identify positive consequences (for the agent only) of the action/decision

5. Weigh up consequences to determine long-term interest

​Applying Egoism

Identify the moral agent

​The Farmer

​Identify the action

​Continue labelling the eggs as "cage free"

Identify negative consequences (for the agent only) of the action/decision

​May feel guilty for lying

​Fines from the government if caught

​Employees may not want to work for a dishonest company

Identify positive consequences (for the agent only) of the action/decision

​More profit

​Business can survive

Weigh up consequences to determine long-term interest

​Survival of business may have stronger weight than the negative consequences - therefore using egoism this is the ethical choice.

How to Apply Utilitarianism

1. ​Identify ALL the stakeholders

2. What are the positive and negative consequences for each stakeholder?

3. Weigh up the consequences (some consequences may be bigger and more serious than others)

4. Select the option with the greatest good for the greatest number of stakeholders

​Applying Utilitarianism

​Identify ALL the stakeholders

Customers, Farm Employees, Farmer, Other Farmers, Government, Society

What are the positive and negative consequences for each stakeholder?

This answer will be very long but some examples include:

​Customer not able to make informed choice about their purchases, other farmers losing business due to unfair competition, Employees being able to keep their jobs.

Weigh up the consequences (some consequences may be bigger and more serious than others) Overall in this case you could decide that there are more negative consequences for more people - e.g. there are a few employees but many customers and other farmers affected. Also there is a negative effect on society as a whole if we accept that businesses can lie to their customers.

Select the option with the greatest good for the greatest number of stakeholders

​In this case telling the truth will result in the ethical outcome as more customers will be affected than employees.

How to Apply Kant's Theory

1. Universal Acceptability - Would a rational person accept this as a law that we should all live by?

2. Means vs Ends - ​Is anyone being used unfairly to achieve the moral agent's ends (goal)

3. ​Goodwill - ​Who does the moral agent owe a duty? Have they fulfilled that duty?

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​Applying Kant's Theory

Universal Acceptability - Would a rational person accept this as a law that we should all live by?

​Lying to customers is the law we are testing - no rational person would agree that this should be a law.

Means vs Ends - ​Is anyone being used unfairly to achieve the moral agent's ends (goal)

​The customers are not being told the truth about the eggs and cannot make an informed choice. Therefore they are being used unfairly for the farmer to make a profit.

Goodwill - ​Who does the moral agent owe a duty? Have they fulfilled that duty?

The farmer has a duty to the customers to give honest information about his products. He is lying and so not fulfilling his duty.

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​According to Kant this action is unethical

​Time to practice!

​Now you have 3 ways to look at a case study and discuss different concepts.

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On the next page is a case study - please read it carefully and try to apply all the learning we have done in this module.

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​Case Study: Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

​Volkswagen was caught cheating in emission tests by making its cars appear far less polluting than they are. They made a software program that was able to detect when cars were being tested and made them have much lower emissions. When the car is driving normally, the emissions are much higher - above the permitted levels.

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The US Environmental Protection Agency discovered that 482,000 VW diesel cars on American roads were emitting up to 40 times more toxic fumes than permitted - and VW has since admitted the cheat affects 11m cars worldwide.

Final survey

Now it is time test your learning in this module. This the most important part of the experiment.

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​Before you attempt the final test please review the content of the module as much as you like. When you are ready, go to the FINAL SURVEY - you have been given a link.

Thank you for completing the module!​

Good luck with your studies​