Ethics : Approaching Moral Decisions

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Week One Written Responses Ethics: Approaching Moral Decisions Some of the deficiencies in the way cultural relativism addresses moral problems, according to Holmes; are that they remain impractical, they are subject to change depending on where you live, and that people tolerate the different cultures. As a professional business person, I agree with Holmes analysis. Allowing others perceptions or beliefs to get away with our own personal beliefs would be contradicting ourselves. It is important to stand up for our beliefs, and help educate others on ethical issues. Over time we can make a difference in the world by modeling moral beliefs and ethics. A disadvantage to emotivism is that it only argues for what a person’s attitude is towards the subject. However, an advantage to emotivism is a way to stand up for yourself and your beliefs. According to Holmes, "Every individual should seek always and only his or her own good." If people could use egoism in a way to love others, instead of loving themselves so much. The world would be a much better place. The scriptures say we must love others as we love our self. Most egoist are not able to use their beliefs in that way. It is all about them and not about others, which is a huge disadvantage. Holmes offers three criticisms of utilitarianism. How is one going to achieve it so that it does benefit the highest number of people? How do you decide how to distribute the benefits in the best possible way? I agree that it would be very hard to decide the best way to distribute the benefits equally. How would a person decide if you do it over time or all at once? Utilitarianism sounds like a good way to live, as there are times it is necessary to safe the individuals t... ... middle of paper ... ...s of Business Ethics are saying that people typically use three different ways to base their decision. These three ways are the actions, agents, and ends. Some people look at the actions and if that action was a good choice. Others may look at how the decision will affect the person or their character. There are some people look at the how the decision will affect their goals in life, specifically the consequences. I would have to say that depending on the situation, I have used all three of these means at one point or another. In some circumstances I have even used all three to come to an ethical decision. When working with teammates I try to find the people with similar values and ethics as my own. I also see at times that it may be important to work with team members that view things differently than I do to have a different perspective on the situation.

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