Develop a Research Topic

Ethics and Moral Reasoning

In Week One we explored the purpose and value of taking general education courses. We also discussed how being a global citizen in the world of advanced technology can be beneficial to your success in meeting your personal, academic and professional goals. This week we will pursue similar topics in relating educational opportunities and experiences to personal development in ethics and moral reasoning.

For us to meet problems rationally, we need to acquire the tools that will let us analyze dilemmas, approach them critically, and come to a reasoned, mature decision based on facts and conditions.

Ethics is Easily Understood

You have been practicing ethics all your life - you just didn't know you were. You should be aware that there are two extreme views. There are those called "absolutist". These people believe that there are absolute ethical standards that apply everywhere, every time, regardless of who is involved, what their condition, or where this problem occurs. On the other hand, there are the so-called "relativists". These people believe that there is no single moral/ethical code. These people think that solutions to ethical problems depend on the people involved, and the time, place, and other circumstances of the situation.

Ethical Issues

We deal with issues that may well affect the order and conditions of the lives of us each and others whom we may not even know. We are a social species. We cannot escape other people. Society means rules - it means Duties, Obligations, and Responsibilities; Rights, Freedoms, and Privileges. Each of these, and each of us, will come into some sort of conflict at some point. Over time and place and circumstance, we will each arrive at different conclusions - if we do not agree, we need some way to resolve differences peaceably.

Basic Requirements for Living

Our three most basic requirements are food, shelter, and procreation. To secure those three basics, we have to gain a certain amount of control over our environment-- not merely being able to grow food, but also to control others around us and secure some shelter. To provide security and peace, we institute customs, mores, morals, and laws. These, in turn, arise from basic commonalities of social behavior: Compassion, non-malevolence, and beneficence.

In compassion, we seek to identify with (or "feel for") the needs and suffering of others - either to protect them, help them, or to avoid harming. This requires that we be able to identify with others - "that could be me! - And I know how I would feel if 'x' happened to me."   In non-malevolence, we see some of the same properties - "would I want someone to do this to me? How would I feel if someone did 'x' to me? Would this hurt me?" And so a "normal" individual actively seeks not to hurt others, because he knows that that kind of action would be hurtful or harmful to him or herself.

In beneficence, we identify with the suffering of others and attempt to alleviate it, for the same reason. "If I were suffering like that, or if I were in that condition, what would I want someone to do for me? Thus, I should do something similar for this person."

People Are Social

Even before we are born, we are involved in societal interaction. Living in groups or societies gives us certain advantages. In a society, our most basic needs will somehow be met, for the most part. For large groups of people to stay together without open and continuous conflict, we must have certain rules to govern our interactions.

We need to have rules to govern our cooperative efforts. And so we need and are born into a societal structure. This structure provides us a basic identity (class and status), a set of prohibitions (what we cannot do), a set of prescriptions (what we should do), and a set of obligations or duties (what we are expected to do). In order for there to be a common understanding of this setup, the society must have a ready means of communicating it to the largest number of its members. While the most easily identified method of communication is a language, in societal terms we must speak of an over- reaching institution-- such as a religion or government-- that easily and readily involves all or almost all the members of that society.

Since there are so many of us living together all the time, we must take each other into account in our thoughts and actions. We have inescapable duties that we owe others in the entire group. We have certain obligations that we should carry out because of our allegiances and bonds to certain members of the society. And we all bear responsibilities for the actions we choose.

People Are Rational (more or less)

The ability to reason provides us the ability to choose freely between the many possibilities that face us. As we live each day, the next minutes and hours are an infinite stretch of un-limited possibilities. Each thing you do limits those possibilities and presents a different set of possibilities. Merely being in this class means that you have made several conscious decisions about yourself and your future. You do not have to come to class; you do not have to read the materials; you do not have to study; you do not have to come to college at all. You choose to do these things (or not). In choosing you have made decisions. Each of those decisions will have an effect your future. This is the primary reason why you are ultimately responsible to yourself and for yourself only.

Week Two Activities and Assignments

Here is a checklist of the weekly activities. Keep this handy as you move through the weekly tasks.

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