Ethical Theories and Principles Quiz

Ethical Theories and Principles

• Utilitarianism: Focuses on maximizing happiness for the greatest number of people.
• Kantian Ethics: Emphasizes acting according to universal moral laws, treating people as ends, not means.
• Virtue Ethics: Focuses on developing good character traits, such as honesty and courage.
• Ethical Egoism: Suggests that actions are moral if they benefit the individual.
• Rawls' Veil of Ignorance: A thought experiment asking individuals to make decisions without knowing their social position, prioritizing fairness and equality. The Difference Principle allows inequalities only if they benefit the least advantaged.
• Stakeholder Theory: Prioritizes all parties affected by a decision, not just shareholders. This often leads to different decisions than shareholder theory.
• Ethical Relativism: Suggests morality depends on cultural or situational contexts.

Rest's Model of Ethical Decision-Making

• Moral Awareness: Recognizing a situation involves a moral issue.
• Moral Judgment: Evaluating right and wrong.
• Moral Intent: Prioritizing moral values over competing interests.
• Moral Behavior: Acting on an ethical decision.

Key Ethical Concepts

• Categorical Imperative: A moral law that tests actions—can the action be consistently applied to everyone without contradiction?
• Moral intent: Prioritizing moral values over competing interests, a critical component of ethical decision-making.
• Greenwashing: Presenting a false image of ethical or environmental responsibility.

Applications in Cases

• Volkswagen "Dieselgate": Violation of Kantian ethics through misleading emissions tests.
• Tide Pod Challenge: Companies must anticipate potential misuse and create safer products.
• Purdue Pharma: Stakeholders (patients and communities) were harmed by prioritizing shareholder profits.
• Tony's Chocoloney: Focused on ethical sourcing in its supply chain.
• Fair Trade Coffee: Aiming to address the exploitation of farmers.
• Facebook/Cambridge Analytica: Exploitation of user data without consent.
• WireCard: Lack of ethical oversight and transparency led to fraud.
• Starbucks: Labor violations despite CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) efforts.
• Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes experiment: Demonstration of discrimination's ease of learning.
• Unilever's Project Shakti: Empowering rural women entrepreneurs.

Criticisms of Kantian Ethics

• Can be too rigid, failing to consider outcomes or context in business practices.

Ethical Theories Applied

• Utilitarianism conflicts with Kantian duty: Because utilitarianism focuses on outcomes, which Kantian ethics often sidesteps to focus on duties.
• Ethical Egoism's criticism in business: It often leads to decisions that benefit only individual shareholders, potentially harming society or other stakeholders.
• Veil of Ignorance in Business Design: Designing societal rules as if one didn't know one's position in society prioritizes fairness.
• Categorical Imperative's Universal Law Test: Guarantees that an action can be universally applied without contradictions or harm.