19617 ethics for ell

What is Ethics?

Ethics is the search for
the good. People try to
decide what is right
and wrong for many
situations. However,
many thinkers believe
that there is no such
thing as one kind of
ethics which is
appropriate for every
situation.

The most basic form of
ethics is the Golden
Rule:
Why do you think that
the Golden Rule is so
universal?
Are there exceptions to
it?


Here are a few examples of an ethical dilemma. A dilemma a hard choice with no easy answer.

1. This situation was proposed by the writer Sartre to demonstrate the problem with ethics.
A young man is the only child of a widowed mother. His mother is elderly and sick, and he must look
after her. Their country has been invaded by another country (Sartre was French as wrote this as the
Nazis had invaded France). He feels a responsibility to his country, but also to his mother. What should
he choose? Can we say that he is wrong if he makes one choice over another?

2. Two sailors are in a shipwreck. There is only one plank floating in the water which they can hold on to,
but it can only support one person. They both see this and swim as hard as they can to reach it. Sailor A
reaches it first, and pushes Sailor B away. Sailor B soon drowns. Is Sailor A guilty of murder?

3. A Cable Car breaks loose on Powell St., and runs out of control. There are 10 people on it. They are
coming down towards a big truck, and they will certainly die if they hit the truck. An operator is
watching, and he can turn a switch which will move the car, but also hit a man who just happens to be
crossing the street. Should he do it?

Ethical dilemmas can also be more personal

4. You see your friend cheating on a test. The exam is graded on a curve, so if he scores too high it will
affect your grade and others in the class. Do you report it to the teacher?
5. Should you give a homeless man money if you have some extra?
6. You are a factory worker and see many unsafe practices at your work. The problems are so bad that if
you tell the authorities (“blow the whistle”) about the problems, the factory will be shut down and a
whole town will lose lots of work and have a bad economy. What should you do?