Personal Ethics and Moral Decision-Making in the Workplace

Introduction to Classical Moral Systems

Human ethical values derive from numerous different perspectives with very different philosophical bases. Character/virtue ethics emphasize the attributes of the underlying motivation of the individual rather than the ultimate result of choices and actions. Deontological ethics in its absolute form requires strict adherence to rules without regard to whether the effect of those rules accomplishes good or causes harm. Utilitarianism focuses exclusively on the effect of human action and on the greatest relative good wherever the outcome of moral choices is ambiguous. Moral relativism conceives of all moral values as subjective rather than objective, treating them as exclusive functions of societal norms and values.

Critiquing Moral Relativism and Deontological Ethics

My personal ethical perspective absolutely rejects moral relativism in principle, precisely because it allows virtually anything that is condoned by society, including actions that violate every other mechanism of moral decision-making. According to moral relativism, the Christians who sheltered Jews in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe to prevent their murder were committing immoral acts, because they violated the social values of the Nazis and the laws then in place in that society.

Similarly, I reject the absolute deontological perspective for the same reason, as well as because even formal rules that ordinarily achieve moral results are sometimes completely inadequate to address moral issues—such as when strict adherence to them actually contradicts objective aspects of morality. For example, an absolute moral rule against lying ordinarily prevents deceptive and dishonest conduct designed to take unfair advantage of others. However, in certain situations, such as shielding someone from heartbreaking knowledge, deception may serve a moral purpose.

Character Ethics and Utilitarian Alignment

Character/virtue ethics are usually consistent with objective moral values, but because they emphasize motivation rather than the effect of human choices and actions, they may sometimes lead to contradictory results where motivation is less meaningful than outcomes. Utilitarianism is closest to my own philosophical moral perspective because it values the ultimate effect of moral decisions and because it offers a logical approach to weighing competing interests where moral choices result in some harm in addition to moral good.

Conclusion

My moral perspective values character ethics in many instances, because the underlying motivation for contemplated action often provides valuable information relevant to moral decisions. However, because character/virtue ethics and deontological rules often fail to account for specific circumstances, I rely more heavily on utilitarian principles, because they emphasize the ultimate effect of my moral decisions and actions.

In my view, the primary purpose of moral decisions is precisely to achieve the greatest moral good, regardless of adherence to rules or even of the underlying morality of the motivation, where neither actually produces an objectively moral result.