Philosophy Module 1: Ethics and Meaning

Ethics and Human Existence

• Human existence is an incomprehensible contradiction, filled with contradictions and paradoxes.
• We experience happiness and sorrow, success and failure, and good and evil simultaneously.
• Ethics helps us find meaning in life despite these contradictions.

The Meaning of Life

• The search for the ultimate meaning of life is a ceaseless human activity.
• We search for the meaning behind why we are alive, despite the contradictions we experience.
• Ethics helps us understand what is right and good for human beings.

What is Ethics?

• Ethics is a search for meaning, what is right and good for human beings.
• It is a practical and normative science that studies human acts and provides norms for their goodness or evilness.
• Ethics deals with human acts performed with intellectual deliberation and freedom.

Features of Ethics

• The study of ethics seeks to understand how people make choices and develop their own moral standards.
• Ethics considers the usefulness, practicality, and application of human knowledge to human experience.
• It establishes norms or standards for the direction and regulation of human actions.

Ethical Approaches

• Normative Ethics: aims to establish norms and guidelines for professionals regarding how they should behave.
• Descriptive Ethics: describes how people actually behave in real-life situations.
• Prescriptive Ethics: aims to help people and organizations make ethical decisions.

Moral Dilemma vs Moral Temptation

• Moral Dilemma: a situation with no clear right answer.
• Moral Temptation: a situation with a clear right and wrong answer.

Everyday Ethics

• Definition of Ethics: moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.
• Ethical Conduct: purposefully acting in an ethical manner, showing moral courage to stand up for what is right.

The Higher Standard

• The CFA Institute's Code of Ethics requires members to act with integrity and ethically, not just legally.
• Members should prioritize their employer's interests and fully disclose conflicts of interest.

Human Act and Act of Man

• Human Act: an act that proceeds from our insight and free will, voluntary and independent.
• Act of Man: a result of physiological or instinctual responses, beyond our decision and judgment.

Forced Act

• A forced act is a result of insight and free will, but beyond our control, due to external pressures or circumstances.### Human Act and Ethical Decision Making

• Human Act refers to an action that is a result of informed judgment and independence.

• It has two constituents: Intellectual and Volitive.

• Intellectual constituent: We have full knowledge of what we are doing and its consequences.

  • We know our action, its goal, and objective.
  • We understand the value of our actions.

• Volitive constituent: Freedom

  • We have our consent to perform the action.
  • We have done the act voluntarily and independently.

Act of Man

• It refers to an action that is performed without the intervention of intellect and will.
• Example: The cases of Martin Siegel and Andrew Fastow.

Martin Siegel

• Former take over specialist in Kidder, Peabody & Company.
• At the age of 42, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to break securities laws and tax evasion.
• He stole financial information entrusted to him by clients and sold it to Ivan F. Boesky.

Andrew Fastow

• Former Chief Finance Officer of Enron.
• Mastermind behind a complex network of off-balance-sheet special purpose entities and shell companies.
• He used accounting loopholes to misrepresent Enron's financial condition.

Ethical Decision Making

• Involves questions about how one ought to behave.
• An ethical issue is an identifiable problem, situation, or opportunity that requires a person to choose from among several actions that may be evaluated as right or wrong.

Five-Step Framework for Ethical Decision Making

• Recognize a moral issue.
• Get the facts.
• Evaluate the alternative actions from various moral perspectives.
• Make a decision.
• Act, then reflect on the decision later.

Examples of Ethical Issues

• Conflict of interest.
• Fairness and honesty.
• Business relationship.
• Plagiarism.
• Communication.

Ethical Dilemma and Moral Contemplation

• Ethical dilemma: Not sure of what is right or wrong.
• Moral contemplation: We know what is right and wrong clearly.

The Process of Ethical Decision Making

• Identify an ethical dilemma.
• Judge what is ethical.
• Decide what should be done to resolve the dilemma.
• Intend to act ethically.
• Act ethically.

Moral Intensity

• Describes the extent to which an issue is perceived as morally important by the decision maker.
• Six aspects that determine moral intensity:
  • Magnitude of consequences.
  • Social consensus.
  • Probability of effect.
  • Temporal immediacy.
  • Proximity.
  • Concentration of effect.

Perception of Ethical Issues

• Moral framing determines the way a situation involving ethical aspects is presented or perceived.
• It depends on our moral frame or angle.

Machiavellianism

• People who display strong self-interest and often act unethically, employing a mentality of "the ends justify the means".### Ethics and Decision Making

• Ethics in decision making involves considering the impact of one's actions on others and achieving goals without compromising values.

• Moral Identity and Empathy are essential in decision making, as they help individuals consider the moral implications of their actions and how they affect others.

Locus of Control

• Internal Locus of Control: Individuals believe they have control over their life and decisions, and they take responsibility for their actions.
  • They perceive a relationship between their behavior and outcomes.
  • Associated with empathy and considering the impact of their actions on others.
• External Locus of Control: Individuals believe their actions have little influence on the course of events, and they are less likely to intervene in unethical situations.

Foundations of Judgment

• Ancient Oughts: Influenced by religious principles, such as the Ten Commandments.
• Organizational Oughts: Influenced by an organization's vision and mission.
• Everyday Oughts: Influenced by personal values and principles.

Moral Development

• Kohlberg's Moral Development:
  • Pre-Conventional Level (Childhood - 12 years old): Ethics based on self-interest, with a focus on rewards and punishments.
  • Conventional Level (Teen years - 19 years old): Ethics based on conformity to social norms and expectations.
  • Postconventional Level (Mature Individual - 20+ years old): Ethics based on principles, with a focus on fairness, justice, and compassion.

Psychological Processes and Mechanisms

• Learning Theory: People tend to seek pleasure and avoid pain, and consequences influence future behavior.
• Self-Interest: Individuals prioritize their own interests and benefits.

Motivation Theories

• Vroom's Expectancy Theory: Three elements influence motivation:
  1. Valence: Desired or undesirable outcomes.
  2. Expectancy: Ability and effort to achieve outcomes.
  3. Instrumentality: Expectations of outcomes based on performance.
• Adams' Equity Theory: Individuals compare their input and outcomes to others, seeking fairness and equity.

Ethical Decision Making in VUCA and BANI World

• Susan Liautaud's The Power of Ethics: Making good choices in a complicated world.
• Banished Binary: Avoid oversimplifying ethical questions into binary choices.
• 4-Step Framework for ethical decision making:
  1. What are my guiding principles?
  2. Do I have the information I need to make this decision?
  3. Who or what stakeholders matter to my decision?
  4. What are the potential consequences of my decision in the short, medium, and long term?

Six Forces that Drive Ethics

• Banished Binary
• Scattered Power
• Contagion
• Crumbling Pillars
• Blurred Boundaries
• Compromised Truth

Scattered Power

• Refers to the indiscriminate distribution of power to do good or inflict harm.
• Hallmarks of Scattered Power:
  1. It is ungovernable.
  2. It is hard to detect who is wielding power.
  3. Technology is often accessible.

Contagion

• Spread of disease, ideas, behaviors, and decision-making.
• Causes of contagion:
  • Unchecked power
  • Weak compliance
  • Ineffective regulation
  • Arrogance
  • Impunity

Crumbling Pillars

• Three pillars of ethical decision making:
  1. Transparency
  2. Informed Consent
  3. Effective Listening

Blurred Boundaries

• Artificial Intelligence has already seeped into our daily lives.
• Examples of blurred boundaries:
  • Social Media
  • 3D Printing
  • Bot caregivers
  • Robots at work
  • E-cigarettes/vaping
  • Facial recognition technology
  • Blockchain
  • Virtual assistants

Explore the concept of ethics and its significance in understanding human existence, contradictions, and the meaning of life. This module delves into the principles and ideas that shape our perspectives.