Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and thinker, wrote this shortly before his death in 1968:
“Man is a creature of ambiguity. His salvation and his sanity depend on his ability to harmonize the deep conflicts of his thought, his emotions, and his personal mythology. – - The conflicts in individuals are not entirely of their own making. On the contrary, many of them are imposed, ready made, by an ambivalent culture. This poses a very special problem, because he who accepts the ambiguities of his culture without protest and without criticism is rewarded with a sense of security and moral justification. – - We are content to think like the others, and in order to protect our common psychic security we readily become blind to the contradictions – or even the lies – that we have all decided to accept as ‘plain truth’.” — Merton, Thomas. Preview of the Asian Journey. “The Wild Places” Edited by Walter Capps. Crossroad Publishing Company, New York (1991).
Any inquiry into ethics is an inquiry into the process of making consistent appropriate decisions amidst ambiguity. It is a critical look at how such decisions are made rather than a passive acceptance of how most people are making them. As Merton suggests, it is uncomfortable because it delves into conflict, emotion, and myth on a very personal level. The temptation is always to accept the cultural or organizational norm without critical examination. It is safe and expedient.
This course emphasizes personal responsibility amidst moral ambiguity in organizational contexts. It addresses two fundamental questions:
- What is the right thing to do in a given situation?
- Why is it right?
This class will require development of a conceptual familiarity with four basic traditional ethics approaches. The four basic approaches and underlying concepts will provide the student analytical tools to understand and discuss ethical dilemmas. Although one of the stated objectives of the class is to facilitate student development of a personal framework for ethical decisions in organizations, the class will emphasize critical thought based on established ethical approaches, not on personal opinion and experience alone.
The approach to the subject matter will be to look first at what we think we “know.” How do we know? Is it relative? We will consider ethical terms, concepts, and skills. We will begin our look at four traditional approaches to ethics by considering religious worldviews and the way they shape ethics. Egoism, utilitarianism, and Kantian duty ethics round out the four traditions. We will use them to think about the process of moral reasoning, applying that reasoning to specific situations. We will look at the concept of justice and try to understand contextual issues that shape decisions, with an emphasis on relating ethics to capitalism and corporations. Several specific business applications will be explored and shared. Finally, the student will be encouraged to examine his or her own ethical approach in an integrated case study. Meets LAC outcomes A1A1, A1C3, and A1C4. 5 crs.