Medical Ethics and End-of-Life Decisions Morality depends on the cognitive dimension of our behavior or our thought processes – the way we conceptualize right or wrong and make decisions and reason about how we should behave. Moral issues concern both behavior and conduct. They arise when people are faced with such questions as: “What should […]
What are the Moral Considerations in Physician-Assisted Death Read More »
Do all Religions and Cultures Believe in the Same Set of Values? The existence of a common set of values across religions would go far to explain why different cultures and societies believe that the Golden Rule is the basic standard of behavior. Rushworth Kidder, the founder of the Institute for Global Ethics, wrote a
The Search for a Common Set of Moral Values Read More »
How Can We Determine the Right Action to Take? This is the first of a series of blogs on modern ethical philosophies. Ethics deals with standards of behavior that define how a person should act. Ethics does not describe how we act. Ethics deals with questions such as: What sort of person do I want
Ethics According to Immanuel Kant Read More »
The Pathway to Principle-Based Decision Making I recently wrote a blog on my Workplace Ethics Advice site on Principle Centered Leadership. Basic principles of ethics can help us lead a more fulfilling life whether on a personal or professional level. However, our commitment to act in accordance with ethical principles is often challenged because of pressures
Why Do We Need Ethics? Read More »
What is Protected Activity? The National Labor Relations Act protects the rights of employees to act together to address conditions at work, with or without a union. This protection extends to certain work-related conversations conducted on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. Employees who act together on workplace issues – by, for example, meeting
Beware of Posting Critical Comments About Your Employer on Facebook Read More »
Microaggressions Can Be Discriminatory In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory, some colleges are looking to become sanctuary campuses. Wesleyan University, a private liberal arts college in Connecticut, became the first institution of higher learning to designate itself as such. Wesleyan states it will not assist with government efforts to deport undocumented students, faculty, and
Free Speech Rights on College Campuses are Being Stifled Read More »
Strengthening Intuitive-Based Decision Making When faced with an ethical dilemma, how do you respond? Many people simply rely on common sense to reason through the conflict and decide on an appropriate course of action. Many common things are not easy to do and may require effort and skills. This is where ethical reasoning methods come
Common Sense Ethics Read More »
Doing Good by Being a Good Person What makes one person speak out and blow the whistle on wrongdoing while another remains silent? Is it a “moral sense,” as Thomas Jefferson wrote, that instinctively motivates a person’s thoughts and actions? Is it motivated by avoiding harm to others? The other day, a reader sent in
When Are Our Actions Morally Praiseworthy? Read More »
Teaching Ethics to College Students Do you teach ethics to your college students as I do? If so, how do you avoid teaching ethics without students feeling like you are trying to convert them to one set of beliefs or another? These are important issues for us as educators. Personally, I set a goal to
Ethics Without Indoctrination Read More »
Principles of Ethical Behavior It’s not so much that The Golden Rule establishes a moral code for society as it provides guidance on how we should lead our daily lives. The Golden Rule Says to: Treat Others the Way We Want to be Treated. It is a mantra we should say over again as we