E T H I C S

What are ethics?


            A simple definition for ethics is those rules a person sets for himself or herself about what is right and wrong. If something is ethical, it does not always mean that it is legal. This is because ethics are subjective--that means each person’s ethics are unique to that individual. For example, Katie, who works at Quickie Convenience Store, may give a carton of milk to a young mother with a baby who has no money for food. Though Katie feels that this is right (ethical), it is not legal. The owner of the store will see Katie’s action as wrong.

 

Where do ethics come from?

 

People’s individual ethics are formed by:

 

•         Family Influences: People learn about right and wrong from family members based on how their families act, and from punishments they receive for doing “wrong” things.

 

•         Peer influences: Classmates and friends tend to shape what a person believes is right or wrong. For example, a person might think its okay to shoplift because they see there friends do it all the time.

 

•         Past Experiences: People base their beliefs on things that happened to them in the past. For instance, if a salesperson lies to a customer in order to make a sale, and then is punished by his/her manager for lying, he or she might not want to try lying again. On the other hand, if the person the sale by telling a lie, and is rewarded by the manager, the salesperson will think its good to lie.

 

•         Situations: People sometimes change their beliefs depending on the situation they are in. For example, Andrea, who works in an office, thinks stealing is wrong. Sometimes, she takes home boxes of pens, markers, and masking tape to give to her nieces and nephews. She is taking supplies that belong to her employer without asking, which is stealing. She feels okay stealing form her employer in this situation, although she would never steal form a store.

 

•         Religion: Generally, a person’s religious beliefs will shape what he or she thinks of as wright and wrong.

 

What is an ethical framework?

 

            An ethical framework is a system that a person can use to help make a decision when faced with a problem. Two ethical frameworks are: deontology and utilitarianism.

 

            Deontology is when a person makes a decision about an action based on a set of personal rules of right and wrong. Deontology tells us that people should do “right” things (being honest), and not do “wrong” things (stealing) for the sake of following ethical rules. This can cause problems, if doing the right thing has a negative outcome. For example, if you are honest about the whereabouts of someone being sought by the police and wrongly accused of a crime, the effect is that an innocent person will be arrested. Another problem with deontology is that what one person believes is “right” might be “wrong” to another person. There are no clear rules that all people agree with.


            Utilitarianism is when a person chooses a behaviour or action that will result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people affected by the action. It does not matter if the actual behaviour is “right” or wrong”, the amount of good or harm to others helps make the decision. Utilitarian arguments are based on meeting a specific goal, and not on following rules of right and wrong. If a person were faced with the decision of shoplifting, a utilitarian argument would say that the person should not shoplift because it may cause harm to the store owner, the employee, and other customers. Since a large number of people might be harmed, the person should not shoplift.