1.1 -1.3

Example of Moral Reasoning

(1) Racism is bad (2) Kelly is a racist. (3) Kelly is immoral.

Moral Reasoning should be

(1) logical (2) accurate, relevant, and complete (3) consistent

4 Steps to Ethical Behavior

(1) recognizing an ethical situation (2) choosing the ethical course of action (3) deciding to do the ethic course of action (4) carrying out the decision

"Over 2,000 people smoke marijuana." Is this a normative or descriptive claim?

Descriptive

Where do moral standards come from?

Family, Friends, Church, etc.

Which type of standard is Group 1? Which is Group 2?

Moral, nonmoral

"People should not smoke weed." Is this a normative or descriptive claim?

Normative

Kohlberg's 3 Levels of Moral Development

Pre-conventional Conventional, and Post-conventional

Types of Ethical Issues

Systemic, Corporate, Individual

Shareholder view of CSR

a company's only responsibility is to legally and ethically make as much money as possible for its owners (shareholders)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

a corporation's obligation to society

Ethical or moral relativism

a person's action is morally right if it accords with the ethical standards accepted in their culture (and vice versa)

Normative Study

an investigation that attempts to conclude whats good and bad, right or wrong

Descriptive Study

an investigation that attempts to describe the world without drawing conclusion

Microsocial norms (and example)

apply only in specific societies (i.e. can smoke weed in California)

Hypernorms (and example)

apply to people in all societies (i.e. human rights)

Preconventional

child level based on consequences and self-centered

Distorting Harm

denying or disregarding harm (e.g. victims just exaggerated the harm)

What is necessary for moral reasoning?

emotions

Individual Ethics

ethical questions about an individual's decisions, behavior, or character

Corporate Ethics

ethical questions regarding a corporation's policies, culture, climate, etc

Systemic Ethics

ethical questions surrounding social, political, legal, or economic systems

Forms of Moral Disengagement

euphemistic labeling, justifying actions, advantageous comparisons, displacement of responsibility, diffusion of responsibility, distorting the harm, and dehumanization, and attribution of blame

Moral seduction

exert subtle pressures that can gradually lead an ethical person into decisions to do what he or she knows is wrong (e.g. new employees changing morals to fit company)

Integrative Social Contracts Theory: 2 Kinds of Morals

hypernorms and microsocial norms

The ability to distinguish from moral and nonmoral norms is _________

innate and universal

Justifying Actions

justify actions due to moral cause (e.g. terrorism)

Law of agency

law that specifies the duties of persons— "agents"—who agree to act on behalf of another party—the "principle"

Conventional

living up to expectations set by loved ones

Stakeholder view of CSR

managers should give all stakeholders (anyone affected by or affecting the company) a fair share of the benefits a business produces

Diffusion of Responsibility

minimizing involvement (e.g. I was one out of many people involved)

"It's wrong to murder" is an example of a

moral norm

"Injustice is bad" is an example of a

moral value

Postconventional

no longer simply accepts values and norms

Moral Standards

norms and values about the kinds of actions believed to be morally right or wrong

Displacement of Responsibility

put responsibility on someone else (e.g. my boss told me to)

Moral Disengagement

rationalizing immoral behavior as legitimate, as a way of justifying one's own bad acts

Moral Reasoning

reasoning process by which human behaviors, institutions, or policies are judged to be in accordance with or violation of moral standards

Attribution of blame

redirecting the blame

Advantageous Comparisons

see situation in context of larger evils (e.g. not as bad as the other company)

6 Characteristics of Moral Standards

serious, above other values, not established by authority figures, universal, impartial (equal), associated with emotions

Business Ethics

specialized study of morality as it applies to business institutions and behaviors

Nonmoral standards and norms (aka conventional)

standards by which we judge what is good or bad in a nonmoral way

The government culture which allows bribery is an example of ______________; a business which chooses to accept bribes from other businesses is an example of ________; an individual choosing not to accept a bribe due to morals is an example of __________

systemic ethics, corporate ethics, individual ethics

Morality

the standards that an individual or a group has about what is right and wrong

Ethics

the study of morality

From the age of ____ we can distinguish ________

three, moral from nonmoral

From the age of ____ we tend to think that _____ are more serious than ___________

three, moral, nonmoral

3 Components of Moral Reasoning

understanding of our moral standards, info about what's being evaluated, a moral judgement about what's being evaluated

Euphemistic Labeling

veiling a situation (e.g. downsizing employees instead of firing staff)

Dehumanizing the victim

victims aren't real or fully humans (e.g. Nazi Germany and the Jews)