Personal Ethics Development a Personal Ethics System

Personal Ethics Development

A personal ethics system is a category of philosophy that stands apart from other ethical systems such as business ethics, legal ethics, value ethics, or any of the other various ethical perspectives. The component that makes a personal ethical system special is that it is uniquely derived from an individual's experiences and beliefs. Although an individual's ethical system may share overlapping material from more formal systems, it also includes personal insights, one's sense of consciousness, and even feelings of guilt. Personal ethical systems may be influenced by factors such as culture, religion, philosophy, or simply everyday experiences. Although some personal ethical systems are certainly more developed than others, there really isn't a correct answer or opinion in the development of these individual systems; rather just different stages in development.

As children we are not born into the world with a set of beliefs nor are these beliefs ever static. Our character is built by a very dynamic process that continues until we leave the earth or lose control over our mental capacities. Some people simply take their personal ethical systems for granted and does little to foster their development while others put in tremendous effort to study and pondering different elements to improve their ethical compass. Yet everyone has some inherent concept of right and wrong or good and bad actions and behaviors in different circumstances. These do not necessarily need development for their existence since they are generally intrinsically derived perspectives however these positions can be strengthened or weakened by outside influence.

Some of the most polarizing ethical questions in the world today can be highlighted better than the research being conducted with human embryonic stem cells. Scientists are rarely immoral and seldom even amoral; the ethical principles that underlie much of their own work are shared with scientists in other countries to a much greater degree than the cultural and religious differences among those countries would lead one to expect (McLaren, 2007). Yet there are a plethora of different perspectives in which such research can viewed from ethically which may include personal ethics, social ethics, and research ethics. Some researchers view this work as necessary to save others (Curzer, 2004). Others feel that science is crossing some religious or sacred line and are hesitant to perform research with embryonic stem cells (Larijani & Zahedi, 2004). Furthermore, these perspectives may ultimately be in disagreement within the same individual as they are conflicted depending on which level they examine the question from.

However, personal ethics is generally considered the ultimate test of whether a person can maintain their personal integrity in their lives and be free of guilt in their decisions. This is usually at the forefront when an individual is making a personal decision of some sort or the other. For example, when I am considering a decision, I may first determine if something is legal or not; then I might wonder what other individuals might do in my situation and finally I will use my own internal ethical system to determine which course I feel is right for me. It is usually the personal ethical system that gets the last say in an individual's decision making process.

My personal ethical development began in my youth and was heavily influenced by my parents. My parents were both believers that honesty was an incredibly desirable and necessary factor within our family. I remember as a child I was dishonest about how something in the house became broken while I was playing. Instead of telling my mother the truth, I tried to hide what I had done by blaming it on the dog. However, my mother was fully aware that they dog could not have caused the damage and caught me in my lie. I can remember feeling so guilty about what I had done and how I had let my mom and my family down. This type of dedication to honest remained in my family through my entire upbringing and to this day I still have very strong feelings towards the necessity towards honesty in personal relationships.

Another personal experience that helped to shape my own personal ethical system was in high school. There was a subject that I was debating with another individual in a class. For whatever reason, I had made my mind up about the subject and there was no way in which I could ever be swayed by another opinion. The topic was not even really that relevant to our daily lives; I think it was something related to cloning or something else that I would never probably even have a personal experience with. However, due to the fact that I was so stubborn in my position, I ended up losing a close friend.

I was only able to regain this friendship after I learned how to communicate better. I had to learn to be empathetic and try to put myself in their shoes to understand their position and I also had to give up my own righteousness on the issue. This still stands out as a memorable experience because from that day on I was determined to be open to other people's opinions. For one, this seems to be a more ethical way to interact with someone. Furthermore, it is actually usually incredibly interesting to try and determine how peoples' experiences have brought them to the positions in which they take stands on.