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Ethical Perspectives

Moral ethics form an important part of our actions and our interactions with the community. There are compelling moral standards that govern people in making choices or decisions as to what action should to be taken in dealing with particular problem. Since the community or society does not have similar interests, we tend to judge our choices and those of other people based on a particular point of view. When confronted by an ethical dilemma, we usually apply different ethical perspectives which can have positive ands negative consequences. The guiding principles in answering the fundamental ethical questions in determining the actions to be taken or decisions to be made are based on certain ethical theories or perspectives which have different components and propositions.

One of the major ethical perspectives is utilitarianism which focuses more on the consequences of the action to be taken and not on the ethical standards. In this perspective, one has to explore the alternative means of solving a particular problem and the action that produces the greatest good or benefits to the majority of the people in the most impartial means possible is termed as the most ethical one. It promotes valued ends rather than employing the right means and is sometimes referred to as consequentialism or teleology. Another commonly ethical; perspectives is the Kant’s categorical imperative moral standard. This perspective differs with utilitarian perspective and proposes a universal moral ethic that is available to all and that ethics are based on the moral obligation to do what is right even if the consequences of our actions may not be good. It holds to the principle that aspects of our lives are guided by unbreakable moral values which should never be broken even if doing so would improve an outcome and that our actions unto others should be based on how we expect them to do unto us. This perspective is closely related to Altruism which justifies service for others and proposes that any action taken for the benefit of others is good while any that is taken to benefit one is wrong. It identifies selflessness and self sacrifice for the sake of others as the highest moral virtue, value and duty and that any action taken is ethically right as long as the beneficiary is not oneself.

The Raul’s justice and fairness perspective is another major guiding moral and ethical principle. It critically examines if fairness and justice to all is exercised in our actions or decisions and whether our actions produce benefits or exerts burdens among members of the community. It further proposes that unless there are morally relevant and justifiable differences between people, they should not only be treated well but also equally. There is a relationship between this perspective and that of communitarians. This ethical theory puts emphasis on the need to strike a balance between the rights and interests of the individual with those of the community. In this perspective, the community beliefs and values prevail over those of the individual and decisions on what is ethically right should be based on the common good of the community and the reason that makes sense to the majority within the community. In this case, individuals are assumed to be dependent on the community and therefore have no autonomy in exercising their rights or beliefs.

With the components of the different ethical perspectives in mind, most of my ethical choices rely on the utilitarian perspective. This is because it explores the different alternative means and their consequences and by doing so examines the utility of every action to the majority. However, this perspective can be criticized owing to the fact that the means of achieving what is good for the majority may be harmful to the minority. In this regard, it can be improved by considering the interests of all the members of the community so as to minimize the adverse effects of our actions to the minority since they also form part of the society.