good piece on defination of ethics

1. Principles of Ethics
How do I relate Critical Thinking, Philosophical Anthropology and Principles of Ethics?
INTRODUCTION
Ethics is the study of morality and, in particular, of making decisions (or choices) in a moral context. In
normative ethics, a branch of philosophy, one studies the elements, or conditions, one ought to
consider when making moral choices. In descriptive ethics, a branch of developmental psychology,
one studies how moral decisions are made. Professional ethics, a type of applied ethics, has
traditionally been studied by philosophers, or normative ethicists, although it has been receiving
increasing attention by developmental psychologists. Courses in ethics and professionalism (E & P)
taught to accounting students should be grounded in a theoretical base. To simply expose students
to a series of case studies without giving them the theoretical tools to reason through those cases
would not enhance the students’ ability to reason appropriately, then, or when confronted with real
dilemmas later in their careers. The theoretical base should be three-pronged: traditional ethical
theories from the field of philosophy, theories of moral development, and the sociology of
professions(Armstrong, 1993, p. 77 & 81).
Ethical education can be through a specific course or made part of all or some of the courses
throughout the curriculum. Students in business have all of the ethical advantages of their college
education plus the experience in living and advanced course work to inform their decisions and
character. They know the difference between legal and ethical behavior and have a sense of
consequences if they ignore what they learned. They have moved through the stages of moral
development from pre-conventional, self-centered thinking to a place somewhere between the
conventional stage of meeting community expectations and post-conventional morality with adult
appreciation of the social contract (Meisel & Fearon, 2006, p. 150).
Executive learners have even greater life experience, more access to information and
developmental opportunities, and many years of acculturation. They have gained their positions of
responsibility and power by paying close attention to what their firms and society demand of
people of privilege. They are, overwhelmingly, decent, ethical people with a keen sense of their
family and community values. As a function of psycho-social development, their ethical framework
is set although they may fail to operationalize the knowledge. Our students do not enter the
business school with an ethical blank slate. Undergraduates come into college with moral and
religious training, ethical education throughout their school lives, and considerable direction from
their parents and society in general(Meisel & Fearon, 2006, p. 151).
HOW ETHICAL DECISION MAKING CONNECTS TO CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS?
Recent events in corporate behavior suggest that some executives may be lacking in some of the
skills and dispositions of critical thinking. The executives who have become exemplars of bad
behavior have acted in ways that defy explanations of simple greed. Of equal concern was the
apparent willingness of almost everyone to accept this behavior as normal or even as good
business. The various executives being “perpwalked” for the news cameras seem to have never
considered alternative courses of action that might have saved their companies from billion-dollar
losses and themselves from embarrassment and indictment. Another way to think about this is that
the executives in question (and occasionally in handcuffs) could not or would not see more than
one future for their actions. When even the auditors raise no objection to a misrepresentation of
US$400 million dollars in nonexistent profit, it is fair for an objective observer to wonder what was
missing when these people learned their craft. Although we have heard many expressions of “What
were they thinking?” a more interesting question might be “How were they thinking?” And, we
might add, “How were those working in close association with these executives thinking?” Hence
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2. the ability to questions assumptions behind business decisions and actions, is as important as
knowledge and application of the principles of rightness and wrongness of those same human
actions.
CRITICAL THINKING AND ETHICAL APPLICATION
One important lesson of this model is that a correct assessment of the level of uncertainty is
necessary for good decision making. Thinking we know the outcome (Level 1) when we can only
guess (Level 4) is an error that leads to dramatically bad decisions (Courtney et al., 1997). This also
helps make the connection of executive thinking to executive ethics. In a world of dramatic illegal
actions, we may not have considered the unethical behavior of launching the organization on the
path of a barely knowable and poorly considered future(Meisel & Fearon, 2006, pp. 150-151).
In so doing, every stakeholder is put at risk. A more desirable action is to use all the tools available
to reduce the levels of uncertainty as far as possible. Critical thinking, with its emphasis on rational
skills (e.g., judge the credibility of a source, attribute unstated assumptions) and critical
dispositions (seek alternative hypotheses, explanations, conclusions, plans, sources, etc. and be
open to them) is available to do this. What seems to be lacking in this is a clear linkage for
management students between how they think about a problem and ethical action. One way is to
argue that critical thinking is an enhancement to ethical intention; that is, that neither critical
thinking nor ethical intention alone will predict ethical behavior. Critical thinking might lead to an
ethical outcome, and ethical intent might also lead to an ethical outcome. However, when both are
used in conjunction, we can suggest that an ethical outcome is more likely(Meisel & Fearon, 2006, p.
155).
PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, CRITICAL THINKING AND ETHICS
Philosophical Anthropology also called the metaphysics of man, studies man from his most radical
underpinnings. It answers questions like: Who is man? What are the substantive and accidental
features of man? What is the destiny of man? Why does man exist? What is the importance of the
two human modalities [male and female] and are they complementary? What is human sexuality?
How does man attain happiness and can we talk about happiness using different levels? What is the
dignity of man? How does man differ from other (living) corporeal beings? Answers to these
questions affect the approach to ethics.
Assume I say that the reason why man exists is for the sake of pleasure. In this particular case, a
hedonistic or utilitarian approach to man, will affect the answers given for the consequent
questions. Such a person would say that the two modalities exist for the sake of pleasure and
consequently human sexuality and happiness is purely for the sake of pleasure. The dignity of man
becomes the measure or pleasure that he/she derives. Can this radically affect one's ethical view?
The answer is absolutely... The rightness and wrongness in this particular case is justified on the
basis of pleasure. The critical question to ask in this particular case is, is this correct? Assume I say
that all things which cause pain are wrong or evil, am I correct? How can such people justify the
actions of a loving parent who works tirelessly to feed the family or a soldier who goes to war and
endures all the pains of war knowing that the possibility of loosing one's life is likely? On the other
side, is a rationalistic or idealistic view of man the most preferable?
If the answers are not clear and concise, then the understanding, formulation and implementation
of ethical codes and ethical conduct will be fuzzy. The rightness and wrongness of human actions is
premised on an elaborate understanding of what is right and what is wrong depending on the
nature of a being. Hence critical thinking becomes an additional tool in the scientific approach to
such issues. It facilitates the reflexive understanding of various concepts, arguments, principles and
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3. points of view. It can be said that Ethics is premised on Philosophical Anthropology and the critical
approach to these two disciplines implies the application of critical thinking.
CONCLUSION
Care must be taken, however, that the various codes are not taught as facts to be learned or as ends
in and of themselves. When codes, or detailed rules, are taught in this manner, students often
conclude that the absence of a rule in a particular area, or the absence of a rule that is exactly on
point allows one to behave in any manner one chooses. The maxim in such a case becomes that
where there is no rule, there can be no crime.
Therefore, concentration on the rules per se often leads to ways of “loopholing” or circumventing
the spirit of the rules. Rather, professional guidance should be studied in such a way that students
learn the underlying principles upon which the rules are based. For example, why are
independence, integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, etc. integral to the role of the profession in
society?(Armstrong, 1993, p. 82)
REFERENCES
Armstrong, M. (1993). Ethics and Professionalism in Accounting Education: A sample course. Journal of
Accounting Education, 11, 77-92.
Meisel, S., & Fearon, D. (2006). "Choose the future wisely": supporting better ethics through critical
thinking. Journal of Management Education, 30(1), 149-176.
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