Ethics Lens

CONSEQUENTIALIST ETHICAL THEORIES

2

Ethical Lens Inventory

Michelle Freeman

Purdue University Global

GB590M1

Professor, Pricilla Aaltonen

June 5, 2021

ELI Results

According to my ethics lens inventory results, my preferred ethical values are based on intuition and autonomy. I value sensibility following my heart over rationality. I do what my intuition tells me to do over what my responsibility and reputation require me to do. It is the inner voice that directs me to make important ethical decisions. Sensibility helps to discover the basic moral truths, and everyday moral decision making and involves thinking about the choices available and making a moral judgment following intuition. I mildly prefer the value of autonomy. As much as I would like to pursue my own ideas and make my own decisions about certain decisions, I sometimes find myself considering the opinion of the other people and the expectations of larger society regarding what constitutes the “right thing to do”

Theories and Theorists

A major ethical theory associated with my ethical values is the virtue ethical theory. The virtue theory argues that one’s decisions are based on their character rather than any action that may deviate from their normal behavior (Chonko, 2012). Personal character is significantly linked to one’s intuition. Virtue theory takes morals, reputation and motivation of a person into account when evaluating one’s decision or action on a given situation. Another ethical principle that applies to my ethical value s is respect for autonomy. Respect for autonomy holds that a person is able to make decisions that apply to his or her life without influence from other people or any external forces (American Psychological Association). This principle holds that people should be entirely in control of their lives and any decisions that affect their lives because they are the only people who understand their chosen lives (Concise Encyclopedia of Business Ethics). However, according to my ELI report I mildly prefer autonomy, meaning that I do not entirely have control over my life decisions because I consider the opinions of other people, what they consider to be the good thing. Who are some theorists associated with these theories?

Strength Example

One example of how I have I applied my preferred lens (sensibility) in a professional setting is a situation where I was faced with a dilemma situation of giving out some money in order to be given a certain job I had applied. The hiring manager requested for money so that he can offer me the chance over the candidates who had performed better than me. However, my intuitions convinced that it was not the right thing to and that it was ethically wrong to get a job that I had not qualified. I put myself in the shoes of the qualifying candidate, that although he was not aware, he would loose a job because I bribed my way in.

An example of how I applied my preferred lens in a personal setting was in a situation where I wanted to pursue as certain career that I had passion for. However, instead of taking control over the decisions that would affect my life goals, I considered opinions of other people as to what they considered as a “good career.” Although I do not regret for my current professional career, I ended up I not pursing the career that I had much passion for because my choices were influenced by other people’s opinion.

I will use my intuition when managing others to ensure that I make the right decisions. As an intuitive leader, I will not be afraid to make decisions. I will be taking time to allow my unconscious mind to consider all the options before I finally follow my intuition. However, intuition as consequences, intuitive leader follows his intuition to make decision and it allows little input from other members. Therefore, when a certain decision results in negative outcome, the blame falls on the leader. Therefore, to avoid this consequences, I will follow my intuition to suggest the most appropriate decision and then ask input from my subordinates.

References

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. https://www.apa.org/ethics/code

Chonko, L. (2012). Ethical theories. https://www.dsef.org/wp- content/uploads/2012/07/EthicalTheories.pdf

Concise Encyclopedia of Business Ethics. (n.d.). Ethical theory: overview. https://conciseencyclopedia.org/entries/ethical-theory/