Ethics and responsibility in professional contexts

Sociology: Ethics and Responsibility

The Humane Society is a non-profit organization that was established in 1954; their goal is to develop a world that is kind and sustainable for animals and humans together (humanesociety.org). The mission of the Humane Society is to protect animals from exploitation, brutality and abandonment; according to their official website, "We work to reduce suffering and to create meaningful social change for animals by advocating for sensible public policies, investigating cruelty and working to enforce existing laws, educating the public about animal issues, joining with corporations on behalf of animal-friendly policies, and conducting hands-on programs that make ours a more humane world" (Humanesociety.org) The organization prides itself on the celebration of pets, wildlife and the ecosystems that support them as well as the adoption of shelter animals (Humanesociety.org).

Ethics and responsibility pervade this organization and shape and guide nearly everything they do as the work of the Humane Society focuses on honoring and acknowledging the inherent bond between humans and animals and allowing it flourish through the proper treatment of animals. While some philosophers argue that human beings are inherently selfish, they still have the psychological capacity to extend kindness and benevolence to other people (utm.edu/ethics, 2009). This view of egoism as it relates to metaethics doesn't really have a place in the work of the Humane Society, as if the Humane Society were really acting from a place of self-interest they would allow the continuation of the consumption, exploitation and hurtful treatment of animals, while occasionally extending benevolence to them, as a demonstration that they are merely capable of doing so. Rather, "We can amass all the reasons we want, but that alone will not constitute a moral assessment. We need a distinctly emotional reaction in order to make a moral pronouncement. Reason might be of service in giving us the relevant data, but, in Hume's words, "reason is, and ought to be, the slave of the passions'" (utm.edu/ethics, 2009). Thus, the Humane Society of America operates largely from an emotional place when it comes to crusading for the ethical treatment of animals, as the human-animal connection is place lodged firmly in the heart of people. Rather, when it comes to ethics, Cooper cites the work of Preston who most succinctly describes what ethics means as manifested by the Humane Society: "ethics is concerned about what is right, fair, just or good; about what we ought to do, not just about what is the case or what is most acceptable or expedient" (2012). Clearly all the effort, time, energy and money exerted by the Humane Society are in the name of rightness and justice to animals, as it would be faster and save more money in many respects to just allow the animals to suffer.