A634.9.4.RB - A Reflection of Our Learning

A634.9.4.RB - A Reflection of Our Learning

Reflect on the three key lessons you take away from the course. Reflect on your perceived value of this course.

Three key lessons I’m taking away from this course is that not all morals or ethics are created equal. Everyone comes from a different background and has been shaped by unique experiences in their lives. Relativism is thinking that moral judgements are not objective in any important sense, they are relative to the individual or culture (LaFollette, 2007). Not even a sibling has the exact same moral and ethical idealism which makes it very difficult to understand why people do (and don’t do) the things they do (and don’t do.) The moral motivation for people is as unique as their fingerprints and comes from upbringing, religion, career choices, their relationships with authority, and so on. Most of us continue to hold variations of our initial beliefs with little critical thought. We each assume that of all possible sets of beliefs, ours must be (mostly) right (LaFollette, 2007).

Another lesson I’m taking from this class is the distinction between Consequentialism and Deontology. Consequentialism is based on the idea that we should choose those actions that have the best overall consequence or outcome. Deontology suggests that we should always act in accordance with moral rules of rights which are somewhat independent of the consequences (LaFollette, 2007).  We talked about the consequences of not telling a family member who is in frail health about the death of another family member. We knew that the consequences of telling the person could result in medical setbacks due to stress and their already frail health but also that if they found out we hid the truth, they would be upset with us. We would be making a lot of assumptions about what the person could and could not handle and ultimately, regardless if we told the person now or later, they would find out. A deontologist would know that the moral thing to do, regardless of health consequences, was to tell the family member of frail health the truth about the family member who had died. These are very difficult things to contend with and thinking that we know better than someone else what is good for them places us in a very precarious spot that is godlike and tremendously risky.

The third lesson that I will take from this class is all of the chapters on the ethics and moral dilemmas that surround racism – we are who we are and live the lives we live because of our predecessors…the habits we give our progeny and our peers will likewise shape their worlds, them, and their institutions (LaFollette, 2007), affirmative action, life and death, religion and morality, death, dying, and physician-assisted suicide, punishment, gun control, and every day morality. (To name a few!) All of the chapters have given me a multi-faceted view on many of the issues that we see/hear/read about/experience, every day. I thought that at 43 years old, I was pretty set with what I think to be right and wrong but reading the different and more objective thoughts about these issues showed me that while I do have a strong idea of what I hold to be ethical and moral, the lines that divide those things I find less ethical and moral are actually pretty thin.

This was a great class that made me have to dig deeper into myself than I thought I’d have to. It was mentally exhausting and pushed me to shake the dust off of things I thought were concrete. Those are good things and have added to my critical thinking toolbox! Lastly, I really loved this: Opening oneself to love and caring allows one to enjoy human satisfaction attainable only in concert with others (LaFollette, 2007). I could not agree more.  

 

Reference

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

A634.8.3.RB - Gun Control: What is the Answer?

A634.8.3.RB - Gun Control: What is the Answer?

In Chapter 12, LaFollette (2007) discusses gun control. Do citizens have a right to bear arms? Answer the question in your reflection blog. State your opinion and follow up your position with supporting documentation. Next, present the opposing side to your stance. Use external sources to enhance your claims.

In America, gun control is a huge hot-button issue. People are passionately on one side or the other. I have found that whether you live in the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, the Southwest, or the Southeast, people have the same polarized arguments. The most common anti-gun control argument is that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. This is obvious and indisputable. No one believes that a gun – or any inanimate object – gains some kind of consciousness, decides to load itself and shoot a person in cold blood. However, people do grab a weapon and endanger each other’s lives on a daily basis. Most times, that weapon is a gun. People who are anti-gun control also reach into their knowledge of the Constitution and their right to bear arms. LaFollette talks about the fundamental rights – a non-derivative right protecting a fundamental right. These rights are more specialized and are integrally related to a person’s chance of living a good life, whatever her particular interests, desires, and beliefs happen to be. (LaFollette, 2007) Which brings us to the argument that owning a gun is or is not a fundamental right.  At least in the United States, the very second any type of gun control gets mentioned, someone will inevitably bring up the Second Amendment, which reads as follows: A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. (Sylvia, 2013) When our forefathers were creating the Constitution, owning a gun was the way a person supported their family – they hunted for food and they could protect their family from those who wanted to do them harm. The same could be said for a horse – they used horses for plowing and heavy work on a farm and for riding along (with their rifles) the perimeter of their property to ensure that it was safe. Why is no one arguing the right to own horses? But I digress. Advocates (of guns being a fundamental right) must show that and how granting the right protects individuals’ fundamental interests, and they must be prepared to respond to objections that granting that right type will harm society. (Lafollette, 2007)

Pro-gun control advocates will tell you that they aren’t necessarily against people owning guns, they just want to regulate who can own them and how the guns are obtained. There is also the issue of assault-type guns. Owning an assault-type gun is really not necessary for providing for a family or self-defense. Another step in the right direction would be making it a little bit harder for everyone to own a gun. I’m NOT saying guns should be banned entirely, and I tend to agree that the definition of “assault weapons” is likely more problematic than helpful. But I don’t see the problem with making guns more difficult to obtain. (Sylvia, 2013)

Personally, the only guns I grew up with were the rifles my grandpa and uncles used for hunting which were out at their farm. My parents never had a gun in the house. When I got married, my husband had a couple of rifles that he had in storage but they weren’t in the house. One day he brought home a 9mm hand gun and my initial response was fear and anxiety. But he was retired military, grew up hunting, and thus had experience handling these weapons. So instead of freaking out and banning guns from the house, I asked him to teach me how to use it. I thought that it was my responsibility to become experienced with guns so that I didn’t accidently hurt or kill someone or myself! We went out to Greenwater National Park in WA and I fired my first handgun. It was scary and empowering. I’m pro-gun control but I don’t think there should be a ban on all guns. I think that if we have guns around, we should educate ourselves and be responsible with them. We should also keep them in a safe place away from kids or people who we don’t want using them. The issue of access to these weapons is another hit-button one – there should be a waiting period and I’m not completely adverse to a mental health evaluation as long as the evaluation is objective and educated. I think that with the current administration, American’s don’t need to worry about their right to bear arms being taken from them – besides, we’d all see any announcement as important as that on the President’s Twitter feed before any real decisions have been made. (Ahem.)

Reference

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Sylvia, J. (2013). Rational thoughts on gun control. Philosophymatters.org.                  http://www.philosophymatters.org/2013/01/rational-thoughts-on-gun-control/

A634.7.4.RB - Ethics and Behaviors

A634.7.4.RB - Ethics and Behaviors

Watch the two videos from business ethics speakers and discuss how your organization portrays its values. Share any examples where behaviors were portrayed positively by your leaders or an instance where someone was unethical in your work environment.

Boeing values are posted on its website, external and internal networks. They are:

Enduring Values

·         Integrity

·         Quality

·         Safety

·         Diversity & Inclusion

·         Trust & Respect

·         Corporate Citizenship

·         Stakeholder Success

(Boeing, n.d.)

As employees of Boeing, we are expected to live by these values and represent our organization with pride. We actually sign a “recommitment” pledge every year to this effect. Knowing this, and taking the training every year, do I still see unethical behavior happening at work? Sure. Mostly in that realm that Gallagher talked about where it’s just not good for business (Gallagher, 2013). I’ve printed out the articles we’re asked to read as supplemental to the text book at work, using work resources. I justify this to myself because I don’t ask for reimbursement for the textbooks used in the classes that Boeing is already paying for. I figure 20 pages every three months isn’t going to raise any flag, I’m not proud or self-satisfied that I do this – I’m kind of indifferent about it. I also buy my own pens and graph paper, work more hours than I charge for and I hardly ever take my full lunch – even if I do I eat lunch at my desk which we all know is a bad habit. See? I’m still justifying those 20 pages. It doesn’t make what I’ve done any more or less ethical and it flies in the face of integrity a bit.  I have seen some bigger ethical issues, mostly in the vein of sexism and misogyny and most of these things are not tolerated. Overt sexual harassment is definitely not tolerated but the less obvious things like being called “sweetie” and getting things “man-splained” to me is super unappreciated. I also have to think about building the relationships within the teams and I don’t want to be the reason people can’t banter or feel comfortable in a conversation. Does that make me unethical for not reporting a joke that borders bawdy? Does that mean I’ve just enabled that culture? Yes on both counts.  We also get a weekly “Ethics Report” that is not for public reading but from what I’ve read, the serious offenders are either already being tracked or are already gone. I don’t have much more to add to this. I think that the majority of us at Boeing try to be decent people. We all have to be with each other for at least 8 hours a day and our jobs are linked in ways that we either get along or make things harder than they need to be. I can only speak for myself but I feel like I’d be supported if I needed to report something to ethics. I hope most of the people I work with feel the same way.

               

References

Boeing (n.d.). Our Vision. Enduring Values.  http://www.boeing.com/principles/vision.page

Gallagher, C. (2013). Business Ethics Keynote Speaker - Chuck Gallagher - shares straight talk about         ethics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUJ00vNGCPE

 Weinstein, B. (2012). Keynote speech excerpts from The Ethics Guy       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLxbHBpilJQ