essay on ethical decision making

• Essay Editor

Essay about Ethical Decision Making

Ethical decision-making is the process of choosing between various options, where the choices are guided by ethical principles and values. This essay explores the foundational rules of ethical decision-making, the possible and ideal ground rules, the implications of such decisions, and the application of a personal ethical framework to a difficult decision in my life. We will delve into the significance of ethics in decision-making processes and speculate on potential improvements for the future.

List of Essays

What are the ground rules, what are the ethical implications of the decision, professional and public perception, legal and environmental consequences, integrity and self-worth, empathy as a guiding principle, the imperative of respect, pursuit of fairness and justice, ethical integrity in practice, applying a different decision-making process in the future, sample of an outline for essay on ethical decision making.

Ground rules in ethical decision-making are the basic principles that guide our actions and judgments. These principles form the moral bedrock upon which we build our choices, and they are essential in establishing a sense of trust and order within society. Honesty demands that we adhere to the truth and present information in a clear and unambiguous manner. Integrity compels us to maintain our moral convictions consistently, even when faced with personal or professional challenges. Fairness requires that we distribute benefits and burdens equitably, recognizing the inherent dignity and rights of all individuals. Respect is about acknowledging the worth of every person and their viewpoints, ensuring that we treat others as we would wish to be treated. Lastly, responsibility involves recognizing the impact of our actions on others and the environment, obliging us to take accountability for the outcomes we create.

Every decision has ethical implications that can significantly impact individuals, communities, and the environment. Ethical decisions can enhance or harm reputations, influence public perception, and either build or erode trust. They can also have legal consequences and affect one's sense of self-worth and integrity.

Every decision has ethical implications that can significantly impact individuals and communities. Ethical decisions have the potential to affirm personal rights and well-being or, conversely, compromise them. They shape not only immediate personal outcomes but also influence the broader social fabric. The ripple effects of these decisions can foster trust and social cohesion or lead to discord and a decline in communal trust.

In the professional sphere, the ethical implications of a decision can enhance or harm reputations. They shape public perception and have the potential to either build a reputation for integrity or erode it. This is particularly critical in an era where information is rapidly disseminated, and public opinion is swiftly formed.

Decisions carry legal consequences and have a direct bearing on one's adherence to societal rules and regulations. Moreover, they can have a profound environmental impact, contributing either to the sustainability of our planet or to ecological challenges.

At the core of the ethical implications is the concept of integrity. Decisions that are made with ethical consideration reinforce one's sense of self-worth and integrity. They contribute to an internal sense of moral alignment, which is integral to personal identity and self-esteem. Conversely, unethical decisions can lead to an internal moral conflict and undermine one's self-regard.

Central to my ethical stance is empathy, a deliberate practice that enables me to comprehend and consider the impact of my actions on others. It transcends emotional reaction, fostering a deeper connection with those around me and ensuring a compassionate approach to decision-making.

Respect is imperative in my code of ethics. Treating individuals with dignity, honoring their autonomy, and valuing their worth are acts of engagement that form the respectful approach I uphold in my interactions.

Fairness and justice are the scales on which I weigh my actions, seeking equity and righteousness beyond the confines of law. They demand personal accountability and a dedication to an equitable application of ethical standards.

In essence, my ethical framework is about integrity. It is a living philosophy, protective and introspective, requiring continuous self-honesty and an open-minded pursuit of knowledge. It shapes not just my decisions, but my aspiration to contribute positively to the world, affirming a commitment to growth and ethical living.

In anticipation of future ethical dilemmas, I'm resolved to augment my decision-making process by weaving in principles of virtue ethics to highlight moral character, alongside the practical wisdom of pragmatism. This enriched approach promises a more comprehensive consideration of the nuances of right action, fostering decisions that not only resolve dilemmas but also contribute to personal and societal moral growth.

A structured outline for an essay on ethical decision-making might include:

• Introduction to ethical decision-making
• Exploration of current and potential ground rules
• Discussion on ideal ethical ground rules
• Examination of the implications of ethical decisions
• Presentation of a personal ethical framework
• Reflection on a difficult ethical decision
• Application and assessment of the personal ethical framework
• Consideration of diverse decision-making processes
• Conclusion summarizing the key points

In conclusion, ethical decision-making is an essential aspect of human interaction and society. Establishing ground rules, understanding their implications, and applying a personal ethical framework are key to navigating complex moral landscapes. As we grow and learn, our ethical decision-making processes must also evolve, adopting a more inclusive and reflective approach to ensure decisions are fair, just, and beneficial for all involved.

Related articles

Why homework is good for students: 20 no-nonsense reasons.

Is homework beneficial in education? It has long been a cornerstone, often sparking debates about its value. Some argue it creates unnecessary stress, while others assert it’s essential for reinforcing in-class learning. Why is homework important? The reality is, that homework is vital for students' personal and academic growth. It not only improves their grasp of the material but also develops crucial skills that extend well beyond the classroom. This review explores 20 reasons why homework is ...

Top 5 Creative Book Report Ideas That Guarantee Success in Class

Assigned reading helps students develop their critical analysis skill, and book reports test their progress. But it is not enough to simply analyze a literary work — you also need to express your creativity while presenting book report ideas. In this article, you will learn the definition of a literary report, its purpose, and five alternative book report ideas to show off your creativity in class. What is a book (literary) report? A book report is an overall summary and personal assessment o ...

Top Proven Tips on How to Make Homework Fun

Everyone agrees that school would be much cooler if there were no homework. Alas, this is an impossible wish. Luckily, no one stops us from making it fun! In this article, you will find some awesome tips on how to make homework fun. 1. Create a comfortable study space Having a separate place where you can study is very important. Sure, you might think sitting on a couch with a laptop in your lap is as fun as it can get, but in reality, it may hinder your progress. Your brain knows that the co ...

Discussion Posts: Definition, Overview, Writing Tips

Discussions are an important part of academic studies. They foster collaboration, raise student engagement, and help to better process new information. A common way to involve students in critical debate is through discussion posts. In this article, you will learn what a discussion post is and how to write it. Discussion post and open forum definition A discussion post is a written reply typically used in online forums – websites that encourage users to engage in a debate over various subject ...

Best Places to Do Homework That Will Create a Perfect Study Heaven for You

Are you wondering, ‘Where can I go to do homework?’ Finding the ideal spot for studying can significantly affect your productivity and overall study experience. Whether you're a student seeking solace or someone looking for a change of scenery, selecting the right environment is key to maximizing your efficiency and focus. In this guide, we’ll discover various places to do homework that can transform your study routine into a more engaging and effective experience. The Importance of Having a C ...

How to Write a Table of Contents for Research Paper: A Complete Guide

After hundreds of hours of non-stop working, the research essay is finished! Unfortunately, it is not the time to celebrate. That’s when you must get down to one of the least pleasant things in professional college or high school writing – a table of contents. The following article will define table of contents, discuss its purpose, and provide guidance on how to make a table of contents for a research paper. What is a research paper table of contents? Academic essays can be from 2–3 to hundr ...

How to Write a History Essay: A Guideline for Non-Historians

History is a difficult discipline, no one can argue with that. It is especially challenging to write a history essay when you have zero historian bone in your body. That’s why today our goal is to teach you how to write a history essay. What is history essay? A historical paper is a classic instance of a scholarly work that seeks to examine and give answers to questions about long-gone factual incidents and their consequences. Unlike a simple narrative or description, a history paper demands ...

Top 10 Excuses for Not Doing Homework: How to Trick Your Teacher in 2024

Whether it’s because you’re buried in other commitments or just had a seriously off day, finding credible excuses for not doing homework can save your day. Here's a brief look at the top 10 homework excuses, with tips on making them sound as true as possible. Just remember, use these wisely and try to stay on top of your assignments! 1. “My computer crashed right before I finished” In today’s digital world, technology problems are a plausible justification. Claiming that your laptop glitched ...

• Aspects of Ethical Decision‐Making Words: 1112
• Ethical Decision-Making Rules at Work Words: 1135
• Barriers to Ethical Managerial Decision-Making Words: 1133
• Ethical Dilemma and Decision-Making Steps Words: 944
• Personal Ethical Framework – Decision-Making Words: 1429
• Effective Strategies for Ethical Decision-Making in Nursing Words: 598
• Ethical Theories for Decision-Making Words: 583
• Decision Traps in Decision Making Words: 2831
• Ethical Decision-Making Framework, Steps for Making Ethical Decisions and Implementation Phase Words: 1627
• The Role of Ethical Decision-Making in Business Words: 600
• Ethical Dilemmas: Key Aspects of Decision Making Words: 2303
• Decision-Making Process and Flaws in Management Words: 2412
• Decision-Making Process and Different Views on It Words: 1560
• Enabling Harm and Ethical Decision-Making Words: 826
• Business Behavior. Rational Decision-Making Words: 1920
• Framework for Ethical Decision-Making Words: 1194
• Groupthink and Decision-Making Process Words: 2091
• Individual Decision-Making and Argument Words: 1649
• Ethics and Nursing: Ethical Decision-Making Words: 893
• An Effective Economic Decision-Making Words: 807
• Decision-Making Support Tools in Nursing Words: 893
• Ethical Issues: Decision-Making Process in Medical Setting Words: 269
• Ethical-Legal Controversy in Decision-Making Words: 1154
• Ethical Loyalty Dilemma in Decision Making Words: 1211
• Ethical Decision-Making: Case Studies Words: 832

Ethical Decision-Making Process

This importance of ethical decision-making essay focuses on the meaning and reflection of decision-making. Check out our sample to get some ideas for your ethical decision-making essay!

My Personal Ethical Framework

A difficult ethical decision related to my personal/work life, application of my ethical framework, applying a different decision-making process in the future, ethical decision-making essay: references.

Ethical decision-making is a major obligation for every human being. This is the case because whatever people do will definitely influence or affect the lives of their neighbors and friends. Three frameworks have been developed to guide people whenever engaging in ethical decision-making processes. The first approach is known as the consequentialist framework. The framework begins by outlining the outcomes that an individual should produce or strive to deliver (Ajunwa, Crawford, & Ford, 2016). This is the deliberative process that guides a person to focus on the best outcomes. The issue of focus goes further to identify the manner in which an action will affect other people. The ultimate goal of the framework is to engage in actions that can deliver desirable consequences.

The second model is the duty framework. The deliberative process of the model focuses on the obligations of an individual and actions that should be avoided. The framework is used to identify the obligations of the individual. The framework defines ethical conduct as the ability to do whatever is right. The individual is also encouraged to complete the duty in a timely manner. The third approach is the virtue framework that guides people to become ethical in nature. The deliberative process examines what an individual’s action will say about his or her character (Ajunwa et al., 2016). The ultimate focus is to discern specific values and traits that motivate other people. Ethical conduct, according to the framework, is doing the most agreeable thing depending on the targeted situation.

My ethical framework is informed by the virtue model. This is the case because my obligation has always been to become a good person. I have always wanted my actions to say more about my moral values and character. The framework guides me to embrace the best virtues that are admirable to every person (Pollard, 2015). Vices that might affect the welfare of other people are ignored. My main obligation is to empower and promote the experiences of my friends. That being the case, my ethical conduct is defined by the best actions and practices that are acceptable depending on the nature of the situation.

I have included a number of principles in my ethical framework in order to emerge successful. For instance, I always embrace the power of utilitarianism and the concept of common good. These principles guide me to make adequate decisions that can support my goals and empower others. The principle of beneficence guides me to do what is right always. The principle of non-maleficence is also included in my framework in order to ensure my actions are acceptable (Ajunwa et al., 2016). The principle of respect is also evident in my ethical model. The principles of ethics can therefore be embraced in order to guide a person’s actions.

My ethical framework features the best values that define my obligation as a human being. Some of them include integrity, trustworthiness, duty, responsibility, love, and empathy. Whenever focusing on specific decisions or actions, I always embrace these values in order to ensure the greatest form of happiness is realized (Johnson, 2016).

The other important thing is that my ethical framework has been informed by different personal and academic experiences. To begin with, the values of love and integrity gained from my religious faith have always guided my philosophy. The virtue framework studied in class has also made it easier for me to come up with a model that meets my ethical goals and obligations (Mort, Roberts, Pols, Domenech, & Moser, 2013).

My experiences at the place of work and in school have also encouraged me to act diligently depending on the existing situation (Pollard, 2015). The important thing is that I will always embrace new values, concepts, and ideas that have the potential to make me an ethical thinker who supports the welfare of the greatest number of people.

Human beings will always encounter numerous challenges whenever interacting with their friends and workmates. Individuals who have appropriate ethical decision-making frameworks will find it easier to come up with adequate decisions and support the welfare of their workmates. The ethical dilemma that encouraged me to come up with the most appropriate moral decision was experienced at my place of work (Mort et al., 2013). This dilemma emerged when one of my workmates informed me that he had stolen a laptop from the office. The manager in the department was unhappy with the malpractice and indicated clearly that the company was at risk of recording losses.

The company’s policy outlined clearly that every employee should act responsibility, handle office equipment appropriately, and avoid any misbehavior. Some of the malpractices outlined by the company include theft, vandalism, telling lies, sexual misconduct, and harassment (Pollard, 2015). Such measures have been implemented in order to ensure every employee acts ethically and focuses on the targeted goals.

The misbehavior recorded in my workplace was questionable because it was wrong to steal anything from the firm. This scenario presented an ethical dilemma because the employee had acted inappropriately (Mort et al., 2013). At the same time, it was my obligation to ensure the right procedures and practices were implemented in the office in order to support the company’s goals. I clearly understood that failing to report the matter to the head of the department could affect the performance and effectiveness of the company (Johnson, 2016). The decision to report the matter would have resulted in a disciplinary action against the employee. The worker would definitely be unhappy with me after reporting the malpractice to the relevant authorities in the company.

From this analysis, it is quite clear that my ethical values and principles could not allow me to do the wrong thing. At the same, I was expected by most of my workmates to disregard the whole issue in order to safeguard the employee’s job. Any form of theft at the place of work was also wrong and unacceptable (Dondorp & Lith, 2015). It is therefore agreeable that these pressures were influencing my decision-making process.

Several cultural influences would dictate my final decision. For instance, our cultural and religious values were against any form of theft or dishonesty (Mort et al., 2013). Most of the workers in the office also believed strongly that every individual was supposed to act in a diligent manner and embrace the most appropriate behaviors. It should also be observed that changing circumstances do not impact most of the decisions made in the working environment (Spector, 2016). This is the case because there is a clear policy that dictates the behaviors and actions undertaken by every worker.

Throughout the decision-making process, I came up with various assumptions in order to act in an ethical manner. For instance, I assumed that most of the individuals in the company would be against various malpractices such as stealing. I also assumed that it was my obligation to speak the truth and prevent similar misbehaviors from taking place in the company (Mort et al., 2013). Unfortunately, one of our workmates indicated clearly that it was inappropriate for us to disclose the issue to other manager. According to the individual, the move would have consequences such as punishment or dismissal (Dondorp & Lith, 2015).

This analysis shows conclusively that the ethical dilemma experienced in the working environment was complex or difficult in nature. This is the case because different stakeholders in the office presented diverse views about the issue. I was also expected to act diligently and uphold the policy of the company. The employee who had committed the offense would also be unhappy with my decision (Spector, 2016). Coming up with a final decision was something difficult because there was conflict of interest in the office.

The ethical dilemma also presents various values and principles that appear to be in conflict. For example, the principle of beneficence indicates clearly that human beings should do good always. The individuals in the working environment appeared to present diverse views and opinions. Several values were also evident in this ethical dilemma (Spector, 2016). For example, specific values such as duty, integrity, and honesty appeared to be challenged. That being the case, the issue should have been addressed using a powerful ethical framework in order to ensure the right thing was done.

Ethical dilemmas should be addressed using the most appropriate frameworks in order to maximize the outcomes of the affected individuals. The ethical framework described above can be used to deal with this dilemma. The important thing is outlining the primary issues or dilemmas presented in the case. To begin with, the case shows conclusively that an employee has ignored the policies implemented by the company.

This is the case because every employee in the organization is expected to act in a professional manner and take good care of its property and equipment (Dondorp & Lith, 2015). The second dilemma arises from the duty of every employee in the company. The workers should be on the frontline to support the missions and goals of the firm. They can do so by reporting every form of theft or vandalism.

The theft presented in the case is against specific principles and values such as beneficence, integrity, and duty. It is therefore necessary for the involved parties to focus on the best decision-making process that can address the issue (Mort et al., 2013). A proper understanding of the ethical issues and dilemmas can make it easier for the firm to deal with the case.

Several questions can therefore be used to guide my ethical framework and deal with this case. The first step is to answer this question: what actions should be taken in order to portray the best character? This approach will ensure the deliberative process or step of the ethical decision-making framework is completed successfully. The second issue is “the focus” (Spector, 2016, p. 1008). This means that the character traits and vices that motivate the workers in the organization are clearly analyzed. This knowledge will ensure the right decisions are made in order to deal with the issue.

The final step of the framework will be to identify and define the best ethical conduct. The most important thing will be to come up with the best ethical decision based on the nature of the dilemma or circumstance. This decision-making criterion was supported by some of the best principles and values. For instance, the beneficence principle will ensure the most appropriate action is taken (Dondorp & Lith, 2015). After experiencing the ethical dilemma, I chose to report the matter to the department leader or manager. This decision was taken seriously because it was in accordance with my ethical framework. The framework made it easier for me to deal with a major issue that was affecting the company.

It should also be indicated that my ethical framework would have been used to deliver a similar decision. With the use of the virtue framework, I would have focused on the best action or decision that defines my character (Dondorp & Lith, 2015).

My character is usually defined by moral actions and decisions that are guided by the utilitarian theory. That being the case, I would have reported the matter to the relevant authorities because theft was an unethical practice in the company. The approach would have discouraged more people in the working environment from committing similar offenses. The practice would have led to better practices and ensure the firm’s equipment and resources were safeguarded from theft.

This is the case because an “ethical decision and action should be in accordance with the philosophy of a person who is fully virtuous” (Dondorp & Lith, 2015, p. 5). This ethical decision-making process would have addressed the ethical dilemma and encouraged more people in the company to embrace the best practices.

This reflection has proved that the use of a powerful ethical decision-making framework can guide many people to deal with a wide range of dilemmas or conflicts. The ethical dilemma experienced in the workplace showed conclusively that an effective decision-making approach could deliver sustainable results (Dondorp & Lith, 2015). However, the framework used to deal with the dilemma revealed a number of diverse interests. Such challenges emerged because some of the individuals in the company were against the decision to report the matter to the relevant authorities (Johnson, 2016). Individuals can therefore embrace the use of different ethical decision-making methods to address specific dilemmas.

I strongly believe clearly that a different decision-making process can be used in the future to deliver positive results. The duty framework is a powerful model that can address various ethical dilemmas (Mort et al., 2013). The duty framework begins by identifying the deliberative process. The individual begins by highlighting the major obligations in the targeted situation or circumstance. The decision-maker will identify the things or activities that should be done or not (Dondorp & Lith, 2015). The individual will then go further to determine the facts of the case or scenario.

According to this framework, the ethical conduct entails “doing the right thing always” (Ajunwa et al., 2016, p. 478). The individual should also make sure every intended duty is completed in a timely manner. The guiding principle or motivation is performing the most appropriate or right action (Johnson, 2016). I can therefore embrace the use of the duty framework to deal with the presented ethical dilemma. By so doing, it would be easier for me to do what is right and ensure the needs of the greatest number of people are addressed. It would therefore be necessary for people to embrace “the use of different ethical decision-making frameworks in order to produce the most good and support the wellbeing of every citizen” (Mort et al., 2013, p. 441).

This case study has equipped me with useful insights and ideas that can support my ethical decision-making philosophy. I have understood that the first step towards making an ethical decision is to be aware of the deliberative process. The experience has encouraged me to embrace the role and importance of various moral principles. When such principles are followed during the decision-making process, the individual will find it easier to come up with the best ideas and actions that produce happiness (Mort et al., 2013).

The case study has also indicated clearly that every ethical dilemma will attract diverse views from different individuals or stakeholders. It is therefore necessary for every decision-maker to be aware of such conflicts. This knowledge will make it possible for the person to make the most appropriate decision that is in accordance with every ethical principle.

If I was required to address the presented ethical dilemma again, the agreeable fact is that I would come up with the same decision. This is the case because the decision made was guided by my ethical framework. The decision was also informed by a wide range of values and principles that can result in ethical actions (Johnson, 2016). The decision was embraced because it had the potential to address a vice that could threaten the performance of the company or make it impossible to achieve the targeted business goals.

I would follow the same procedure whenever making ethical decisions in the future. My ethical framework has been influenced by numerous experiences, principles, theoretical concepts, and values. The model also focuses on the best outcomes and actions that support my moral character. However, I will go further to identify new decision-making frameworks and theories in order to develop my model much further (Johnson, 2016). This initiative will make it easier for me to address a wide range of ethical problems. The strategy can be used to come up with evidence-based solutions that can fulfill the expectations of the greatest majority.

My thinking about ethical decision-making has developed significantly. The class materials have educated me about the best practices and theoretical approaches that can make it easier for me to make ethical decisions (Mort et al., 2013). I have understood why it is necessary for individuals to have a unique source of motivation or goal. This kind of motivation will always guide me whenever making ethical decisions.

My virtue decision-making framework will definitely make it easier for me to approach complex ethical dilemmas and situations as a professional manner. The framework has made it easier for me to understand that all ethical dilemmas (both simple and complex) should be approached based on the source of motivation (Johnson, 2016). Since my motivation is to do the right thing and develop my personal character, I will always be focusing on the most appropriate outcomes that can meet the needs of the greatest majority. This strategy will guide me to make complex ethical decisions in my future life.

Ajunwa, I., Crawford, K., & Ford, J. (2016). Health and big data: An ethical framework for health information collection by corporate wellness programs. Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, 44 (1), 474-480. Web.

Dondorp, W., & Lith, J. (2015). Dynamics of prenatal screening: New developments challenging the ethical framework. Bioethics, 29 (1), 2-6. Web.

Johnson, C. (2016). Organizational ethics: A practical approach (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Mort, M., Roberts, C., Pols, J., Domenech, M., & Moser, I. (2013). Ethical implications of home telecare for older people: A framework derived from a multisited participative study. Health Expectations, 18 (1), 438-449. Web.

Pollard, C. (2015). What is the right thing to do: Use of a relational ethic framework to guide clinical decision-making . International Journal of Caring Sciences, 8 (2), 362-368. Web.

Spector, J. (2016). Ethics in educational technology: Towards a framework for ethical decision making in and for the discipline. Education Technology Research and Development, 64 (1), 1003-1011. Web.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2020, December 7). Ethical Decision-Making Process. https://studycorgi.com/ethical-decision-making-process/

"Ethical Decision-Making Process." StudyCorgi , 7 Dec. 2020, studycorgi.com/ethical-decision-making-process/.

StudyCorgi . (2020) 'Ethical Decision-Making Process'. 7 December.

1. StudyCorgi . "Ethical Decision-Making Process." December 7, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/ethical-decision-making-process/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Ethical Decision-Making Process." December 7, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/ethical-decision-making-process/.

StudyCorgi . 2020. "Ethical Decision-Making Process." December 7, 2020. https://studycorgi.com/ethical-decision-making-process/.

This paper, “Ethical Decision-Making Process”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: June 12, 2022 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

Home — Essay Samples — Philosophy — Ethics and Moral Philosophy — Ethical Dilemma

Ethical Dilemma Essays

Understanding how to write an ethical dilemma essay.

If you're tasked with writing an ethical dilemma essay, it's essential to start with a clear understanding of the topic. Here are some prompt samples to help you grasp the key aspects:

• Prompt 1: Analyze a personal ethical dilemma you have faced and the decision-making process involved.
• Prompt 2: Discuss an ethical dilemma in a real-world professional setting and propose a solution.
• Prompt 3: Explore the ethical dilemmas surrounding advancements in technology and their impact on society.
• Prompt 4: Investigate the moral conflicts arising from environmental conservation efforts and economic development.

Brainstorming and Choosing a Compelling Essay Topic

Now that you have some prompts to work with, it's time to brainstorm and select a captivating essay topic. Consider the following points:

• Personal Experience: Reflect on personal ethical dilemmas you've encountered, as they can provide unique insights.
• Relevance: Ensure your topic is relevant to the prompt and highlights the complexity of ethical decision-making.
• Moral Ambiguity: Choose a topic that involves conflicting values or principles, making the dilemma truly ethical.
• Contemporary Issues: Explore current events or situations where ethical choices play a crucial role.

Unique Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics

Here's a list of unique essay topics that go beyond the ordinary:

• The Ethical Dilemma of Artificial Intelligence in Autonomous Vehicles
• Ethical Decision-Making in Healthcare: The Case of Allocating Limited Resources During a Pandemic
• The Moral Implications of Genetic Editing and Designer Babies
• Corporate Responsibility: Balancing Profit and Ethical Practices in the Pharmaceutical Industry
• Environmental Ethics: The Conflict Between Conservation and Indigenous Rights
• The Ethical Challenges of Privacy and Surveillance in the Digital Age
• The Use of Torture in Interrogation: An Examination of the Ticking Time Bomb Scenario
• Ethical Dilemmas in Journalism: Reporting on Sensitive Subjects and the Public's Right to Know
• Animal Testing in Scientific Research: Balancing Scientific Advancement and Animal Welfare
• The Ethical Considerations of Assisted Suicide and End-of-Life Care
• Police Use of Force: Balancing Public Safety and Individual Rights
• Environmental Conservation vs. Economic Development: The Case of Deforestation
• AI and Employment: The Ethical Dilemma of Automation and Job Displacement
• The Ethics of Human Cloning and Its Potential Consequences
• Refugee Crisis: Ethical Obligations and National Sovereignty
• Ethical Challenges in Artificial Intelligence Research: Bias and Fairness
• Food Industry Ethics: The Dilemma of Factory Farming and Sustainable Alternatives
• Medical Trials in Developing Countries: Balancing Scientific Progress and Informed Consent
• The Ethical Implications of Space Exploration and Colonization
• Ethics of AI-Powered Deepfake Technology: Implications for Privacy and Misinformation

Paragraph and Phrase Inspiration

When crafting your essay, here are some sample paragraphs and phrases that can inspire your writing:

• Introduction: "Ethical dilemmas are the moral crossroads where our values and principles clash with real-life decisions."
• Main Body: "In the case of AI in autonomous vehicles, the ethical dilemma centers around the choice between prioritizing passenger safety or minimizing harm to pedestrians."
• Counterargument: "While some argue that sacrificing individual privacy for national security is justified, it's crucial to consider the potential abuses and erosion of civil liberties."
• Conclusion: "In conclusion, ethical dilemmas are not mere theoretical exercises; they shape our society and define our values. By examining these complex issues, we can strive for a more ethical and compassionate world."

Now that you have these tips and unique ideas in mind, go ahead and write an engaging ethical dilemma essay that leaves a lasting impact. Dive deep into the complexities of moral choices and spark thoughtful discussions.

My Personal Ethical Dilemmas

The ethical dilemma of performance enhancing drugs in sports, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

The Criticisms of Kohlberg's Moral Development Stages

Ethical dilemmas one faces when dealing with life and death, an overview of the ethical dilemma in a personal case, ethical dilemma analysis: consequentialist, deontological, and virtue ethics approach, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Ethical Dilemma in The Use of Information Technology

The ethical dilemma of abortion, overview of what an ethical dilemma is, the dilemma of to live or not to live, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

A Case Study on The Ethical Dilemma Surrounding The Hospital Reimbursement after The Treatment of Illegal Immigrants

Ethical issues in digital immortality, ethical issues of using social media at workplace, ethical dilemmas in social work: solution to address the situation, ethical dilemma in nursing: abortion and euthanasia, the ethical dilemma of water privatization, the ethical dilemma of therapeutic cloning, medical and ethical dilemma: euthanasia or right to die, ethical structure in business decision making, ethical theories: deontology and utilitarianism, history and ethics: conflicting theories in areas of knowledge, the moral dilemma of euthanasia, applying ethical principles to reduce hospital readmission, moral permissibility of voluntary and non-voluntary active euthanasia, discussion of whether assisted suicide is morally acceptable, the moral and ethical views on the goal of euthanasia, research paper on the ethical issue of publishing the pentagon papers, discussion of whether it is ethical for parents to create saviour siblings, ethical controversies in mcdonalds dead dad advertisement, how being an authentic man is subject to moral evaluation.

An ethical dilemma refers to a situation or scenario in which an individual or group is faced with a complex decision that involves conflicting moral principles or values. It is a challenging predicament where there is no clear-cut right or wrong choice, and the decision-maker must carefully navigate the moral and ethical implications of their actions.

Personal Ethical Dilemmas: These arise when an individual faces conflicting moral values or principles in their personal life. For example, choosing between honesty and protecting a loved one's reputation. Professional Ethical Dilemmas: These occur in the workplace and involve conflicts between ethical responsibilities and professional obligations. For instance, deciding whether to blow the whistle on unethical practices that may harm others but jeopardize one's career. Societal Ethical Dilemmas: These pertain to broader societal issues and involve conflicting values or interests. Examples include debates on topics like euthanasia, abortion, or genetic engineering, where different ethical perspectives clash. Organizational Ethical Dilemmas: These dilemmas arise within organizations when employees face conflicting values or ethical standards. For instance, deciding between loyalty to the company and reporting unethical behavior by a colleague. Technological Ethical Dilemmas: With advancements in technology, ethical dilemmas have emerged, such as privacy concerns, AI ethics, or the impact of automation on employment.

Conflict of Values: Ethical dilemmas arise when individuals encounter conflicting values or principles, where there is no clear right or wrong answer. These conflicting values create a sense of moral uncertainty. Difficult Decision-Making: Ethical dilemmas require individuals to make difficult choices between competing options, each with their own ethical implications. The decision-making process involves weighing the potential consequences and considering the moral implications of each choice. No Perfect Solution: Ethical dilemmas often lack a perfect or ideal solution that satisfies all ethical considerations. Regardless of the decision made, there may be negative consequences or ethical trade-offs involved. Personal and Moral Significance: Ethical dilemmas are deeply personal and have significant moral implications for the individuals involved. They often challenge personal integrity and moral values, making the decision emotionally and morally burdensome. Ethical Reasoning: Resolving ethical dilemmas requires careful ethical reasoning, analysis, and consideration of different ethical theories or frameworks. It involves examining the principles, values, and potential consequences involved in order to make an informed and morally justifiable decision. Contextual Nature: Ethical dilemmas are influenced by the specific context in which they occur. Factors such as cultural norms, social expectations, legal considerations, and professional codes of conduct can further complicate the decision-making process.

Utilitarianism: Utilitarianism asserts that the ethical choice is the one that maximizes overall happiness or utility for the greatest number of people. When faced with an ethical dilemma, individuals utilizing this theory would weigh the potential consequences of each option and choose the one that leads to the greatest net benefit. Deontological Ethics: Deontological ethics focuses on adhering to moral duties and principles regardless of the outcomes. This approach emphasizes the inherent rightness or wrongness of actions rather than the consequences. Individuals using deontological reasoning would consider universal moral principles, such as honesty or respect for autonomy, when making ethical decisions. Virtue Ethics: Virtue ethics centers on the development of moral character and emphasizes the importance of virtuous traits and intentions in ethical decision-making. When faced with an ethical dilemma, individuals using this theory would consider which action aligns with virtuous qualities, such as honesty, compassion, or justice.

Film: In the movie "12 Angry Men," a jury must decide the fate of a young man accused of murder. Jurors face an ethical dilemma as they confront their biases, prejudices, and the weight of the evidence, ultimately questioning their responsibility to deliver a just verdict. Literature: In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, the character Atticus Finch faces an ethical dilemma when defending an innocent black man accused of rape in a racially divided society. He confronts the moral choice between upholding justice and challenging deeply ingrained prejudices. Television: The series "The Good Place" revolves around ethical dilemmas and moral philosophy. Characters navigate complex ethical situations as they question the nature of good and bad, exploring themes such as utilitarianism, deontology, and moral relativism.

The topic of ethical dilemmas is crucial to explore and discuss in essays due to its profound impact on individuals, societies, and decision-making processes. Ethical dilemmas present complex situations where individuals face conflicting moral choices, and examining them allows for a deeper understanding of ethical principles, values, and the complexities of human behavior. Writing an essay on ethical dilemmas offers several benefits. Firstly, it encourages critical thinking and ethical reasoning by presenting real or hypothetical scenarios that challenge one's moral compass. It prompts individuals to analyze different perspectives, weigh the consequences of actions, and navigate moral gray areas. Secondly, exploring ethical dilemmas fosters ethical awareness and character development. By examining these dilemmas, individuals gain insights into their own values, biases, and decision-making processes. It promotes self-reflection and the cultivation of moral virtues such as empathy, integrity, and responsibility. Lastly, the topic of ethical dilemmas is relevant to various fields, including medicine, business, law, and technology. Essays on this subject provide an opportunity to explore how ethical frameworks and principles can guide professionals in making ethically sound decisions within their respective domains.

1. Beauchamp, T. L., & Bowie, N. E. (2020). Ethical theory and business (10th ed.). Pearson. 2. Bredeson, D. (2017). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice (10th ed.). Cengage Learning. 3. Davis, M. (2016). Ethics and the university. Routledge. 4. Kidder, R. M. (2005). How good people make tough choices: Resolving the dilemmas of ethical living. Harper Perennial. 5. Lo, B., & Field, M. J. (Eds.). (2009). Conflict of interest in medical research, education, and practice. National Academies Press. 6. May, L., & Vandekerckhove, W. (Eds.). (2019). Routledge handbook of whistleblowing studies. Routledge. 7. Resnik, D. B. (2015). Playing politics with science: Balancing scientific independence and government oversight. Oxford University Press. 8. Singer, P. (2015). Ethics in the real world: 82 brief essays on things that matter. Princeton University Press. 9. Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2020). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (8th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. 10. Velasquez, M. (2018). Business ethics: Concepts and cases. Pearson.

Relevant topics

• Values of Life
• Individualism
• Personal Philosophy
• Enlightenment

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Bibliography

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Essay Guides
• Other Essays
• How to Write an Ethics Paper: Guide & Ethical Essay Examples
• Speech Topics
• Basics of Essay Writing
• Essay Topics
• Main Academic Essays
• Research Paper Topics
• Basics of Research Paper Writing
• Miscellaneous
• Chicago/ Turabian
• Data & Statistics
• Methodology
• Admission Writing Tips
• Admission Advice
• Other Guides
• Student Life
• Studying Tips
• Understanding Plagiarism
• Academic Writing Tips
• Basics of Dissertation & Thesis Writing

• Research Paper Guides
• Formatting Guides
• Basics of Research Process
• Admission Guides
• Dissertation & Thesis Guides

How to Write an Ethics Paper: Guide & Ethical Essay Examples

Table of contents

Use our free Readability checker

An ethics essay is a type of academic writing that explores ethical issues and dilemmas. Students should evaluates them in terms of moral principles and values. The purpose of an ethics essay is to examine the moral implications of a particular issue, and provide a reasoned argument in support of an ethical perspective.

Writing an essay about ethics is a tough task for most students. The process involves creating an outline to guide your arguments about a topic and planning your ideas to convince the reader of your feelings about a difficult issue. If you still need assistance putting together your thoughts in composing a good paper, you have come to the right place. We have provided a series of steps and tips to show how you can achieve success in writing. This guide will tell you how to write an ethics paper using ethical essay examples to understand every step it takes to be proficient. In case you don’t have time for writing, get in touch with our professional essay writers for hire . Our experts work hard to supply students with excellent essays.

What Is an Ethics Essay?

An ethics essay uses moral theories to build arguments on an issue. You describe a controversial problem and examine it to determine how it affects individuals or society. Ethics papers analyze arguments on both sides of a possible dilemma, focusing on right and wrong. The analysis gained can be used to solve real-life cases. Before embarking on writing an ethical essay, keep in mind that most individuals follow moral principles. From a social context perspective, these rules define how a human behaves or acts towards another. Therefore, your theme essay on ethics needs to demonstrate how a person feels about these moral principles. More specifically, your task is to show how significant that issue is and discuss if you value or discredit it.

Purpose of an Essay on Ethics

The primary purpose of an ethics essay is to initiate an argument on a moral issue using reasoning and critical evidence. Instead of providing general information about a problem, you present solid arguments about how you view the moral concern and how it affects you or society. When writing an ethical paper, you demonstrate philosophical competence, using appropriate moral perspectives and principles.

Things to Write an Essay About Ethics On

Before you start to write ethics essays, consider a topic you can easily address. In most cases, an ethical issues essay analyzes right and wrong. This includes discussing ethics and morals and how they contribute to the right behaviors. You can also talk about work ethic, code of conduct, and how employees promote or disregard the need for change. However, you can explore other areas by asking yourself what ethics mean to you. Think about how a recent game you watched with friends started a controversial argument. Or maybe a newspaper that highlighted a story you felt was misunderstood or blown out of proportion. This way, you can come up with an excellent topic that resonates with your personal ethics and beliefs.

Ethics Paper Outline

Sometimes, you will be asked to submit an outline before writing an ethics paper. Creating an outline for an ethics paper is an essential step in creating a good essay. You can use it to arrange your points and supporting evidence before writing. It also helps organize your thoughts, enabling you to fill any gaps in your ideas. The outline for an essay should contain short and numbered sentences to cover the format and outline. Each section is structured to enable you to plan your work and include all sources in writing an ethics paper. An ethics essay outline is as follows:

• Background information
• Thesis statement
• Restate thesis statement
• Summarize key points
• Final thoughts on the topic

Using this outline will improve clarity and focus throughout your writing process.

Ethical Essay Structure

Ethics essays are similar to other essays based on their format, outline, and structure. An ethical essay should have a well-defined introduction, body, and conclusion section as its structure. When planning your ideas, make sure that the introduction and conclusion are around 20 percent of the paper, leaving the rest to the body. We will take a detailed look at what each part entails and give examples that are going to help you understand them better.  Refer to our essay structure examples to find a fitting way of organizing your writing.

Ethics Paper Introduction

An ethics essay introduction gives a synopsis of your main argument. One step on how to write an introduction for an ethics paper is telling about the topic and describing its background information. This paragraph should be brief and straight to the point. It informs readers what your position is on that issue. Start with an essay hook to generate interest from your audience. It can be a question you will address or a misunderstanding that leads up to your main argument. You can also add more perspectives to be discussed; this will inform readers on what to expect in the paper.

Ethics Essay Introduction Example

You can find many ethics essay introduction examples on the internet. In this guide, we have written an excellent extract to demonstrate how it should be structured. As you read, examine how it begins with a hook and then provides background information on an issue. 

Imagine living in a world where people only lie, and honesty is becoming a scarce commodity. Indeed, modern society is facing this reality as truth and deception can no longer be separated. Technology has facilitated a quick transmission of voluminous information, whereas it's hard separating facts from opinions.

In this example, the first sentence of the introduction makes a claim or uses a question to hook the reader.

Ethics Essay Thesis Statement

An ethics paper must contain a thesis statement in the first paragraph. Learning how to write a thesis statement for an ethics paper is necessary as readers often look at it to gauge whether the essay is worth their time.

When you deviate away from the thesis, your whole paper loses meaning. In ethics essays, your thesis statement is a roadmap in writing, stressing your position on the problem and giving reasons for taking that stance. It should focus on a specific element of the issue being discussed. When writing a thesis statement, ensure that you can easily make arguments for or against its stance.

Ethical Paper Thesis Example

Look at this example of an ethics paper thesis statement and examine how well it has been written to state a position and provide reasons for doing so:

The moral implications of dishonesty are far-reaching as they undermine trust, integrity, and other foundations of society, damaging personal and professional relationships. 

The above thesis statement example is clear and concise, indicating that this paper will highlight the effects of dishonesty in society. Moreover, it focuses on aspects of personal and professional relationships.

Ethics Essay Body

The body section is the heart of an ethics paper as it presents the author's main points. In an ethical essay, each body paragraph has several elements that should explain your main idea. These include:

• A topic sentence that is precise and reiterates your stance on the issue.
• Evidence supporting it.
• Examples that illustrate your argument.
• A thorough analysis showing how the evidence and examples relate to that issue.
• A transition sentence that connects one paragraph to another with the help of essay transitions .

When you write an ethics essay, adding relevant examples strengthens your main point and makes it easy for others to understand and comprehend your argument. 

Body Paragraph for Ethics Paper Example

A good body paragraph must have a well-defined topic sentence that makes a claim and includes evidence and examples to support it. Look at part of an example of ethics essay body paragraph below and see how its idea has been developed:

Honesty is an essential component of professional integrity. In many fields, trust and credibility are crucial for professionals to build relationships and success. For example, a doctor who is dishonest about a potential side effect of a medication is not only acting unethically but also putting the health and well-being of their patients at risk. Similarly, a dishonest businessman could achieve short-term benefits but will lose their client’s trust.

Ethics Essay Conclusion

A concluding paragraph shares the summary and overview of the author's main arguments. Many students need clarification on what should be included in the essay conclusion and how best to get a reader's attention. When writing an ethics paper conclusion, consider the following:

• Restate the thesis statement to emphasize your position.
• Summarize its main points and evidence.
• Final thoughts on the issue and any other considerations.

You can also reflect on the topic or acknowledge any possible challenges or questions that have not been answered. A closing statement should present a call to action on the problem based on your position.

Sample Ethics Paper Conclusion

The conclusion paragraph restates the thesis statement and summarizes the arguments presented in that paper. The sample conclusion for an ethical essay example below demonstrates how you should write a concluding statement.  

In conclusion, the implications of dishonesty and the importance of honesty in our lives cannot be overstated. Honesty builds solid relationships, effective communication, and better decision-making. This essay has explored how dishonesty impacts people and that we should value honesty. We hope this essay will help readers assess their behavior and work towards being more honest in their lives.

In the above extract, the writer gives final thoughts on the topic, urging readers to adopt honest behavior.

How to Write an Ethics Paper?

As you learn how to write an ethics essay, it is not advised to immediately choose a topic and begin writing. When you follow this method, you will get stuck or fail to present concrete ideas. A good writer understands the importance of planning. As a fact, you should organize your work and ensure it captures key elements that shed more light on your arguments. Hence, following the essay structure and creating an outline to guide your writing process is the best approach. In the following segment, we have highlighted step-by-step techniques on how to write a good ethics paper.

1. Pick a Topic

Before writing ethical papers, brainstorm to find ideal topics that can be easily debated. For starters, make a list, then select a title that presents a moral issue that may be explained and addressed from opposing sides. Make sure you choose one that interests you. Here are a few ideas to help you search for topics:

• Review current trends affecting people.
• Think about your personal experiences.
• Study different moral theories and principles.
• Examine classical moral dilemmas.

Once you find a suitable topic and are ready, start to write your ethics essay, conduct preliminary research, and ascertain that there are enough sources to support it.

2. Conduct In-Depth Research

Once you choose a topic for your essay, the next step is gathering sufficient information about it. Conducting in-depth research entails looking through scholarly journals to find credible material. Ensure you note down all sources you found helpful to assist you on how to write your ethics paper. Use the following steps to help you conduct your research:

• Clearly state and define a problem you want to discuss.
• This will guide your research process.
• Develop keywords that match the topic.
• Begin searching from a wide perspective. This will allow you to collect more information, then narrow it down by using the identified words above.

3. Develop an Ethics Essay Outline

An outline will ease up your writing process when developing an ethic essay. As you develop a paper on ethics, jot down factual ideas that will build your paragraphs for each section. Include the following steps in your process:

• Review the topic and information gathered to write a thesis statement.
• Identify the main arguments you want to discuss and include their evidence.
• Group them into sections, each presenting a new idea that supports the thesis.
• Write an outline.
• Review and refine it.

Examples can also be included to support your main arguments. The structure should be sequential, coherent, and with a good flow from beginning to end. When you follow all steps, you can create an engaging and organized outline that will help you write a good essay.

4. Write an Ethics Essay

Once you have selected a topic, conducted research, and outlined your main points, you can begin writing an essay . Ensure you adhere to the ethics paper format you have chosen. Start an ethics paper with an overview of your topic to capture the readers' attention. Build upon your paper by avoiding ambiguous arguments and using the outline to help you write your essay on ethics. Finish the introduction paragraph with a thesis statement that explains your main position.  Expand on your thesis statement in all essay paragraphs. Each paragraph should start with a topic sentence and provide evidence plus an example to solidify your argument, strengthen the main point, and let readers see the reasoning behind your stance. Finally, conclude the essay by restating your thesis statement and summarizing all key ideas. Your conclusion should engage the reader, posing questions or urging them to reflect on the issue and how it will impact them.

5. Proofread Your Ethics Essay

Proofreading your essay is the last step as you countercheck any grammatical or structural errors in your essay. When writing your ethic paper, typical mistakes you could encounter include the following:

• Spelling errors: e.g., there, they’re, their.
• Homophone words: such as new vs. knew.
• Inconsistencies: like mixing British and American words, e.g., color vs. color.
• Formatting issues: e.g., double spacing, different font types.

While proofreading your ethical issue essay, read it aloud to detect lexical errors or ambiguous phrases that distort its meaning. Verify your information and ensure it is relevant and up-to-date. You can ask your fellow student to read the essay and give feedback on its structure and quality.

Ethics Essay Examples

Writing an essay is challenging without the right steps. There are so many ethics paper examples on the internet, however, we have provided a list of free ethics essay examples below that are well-structured and have a solid argument to help you write your paper. Click on them and see how each writing step has been integrated. Ethics essay example 1

Ethics essay example 2

Ethics essay example 3

Ethics essay example 4

College ethics essay example 5

Ethics Essay Writing Tips

When writing papers on ethics, here are several tips to help you complete an excellent essay:

• Choose a narrow topic and avoid broad subjects, as it is easy to cover the topic in detail.
• Ensure you have background information. A good understanding of a topic can make it easy to apply all necessary moral theories and principles in writing your paper.
• State your position clearly. It is important to be sure about your stance as it will allow you to draft your arguments accordingly.
• When writing ethics essays, be mindful of your audience. Provide arguments that they can understand.
• Integrate solid examples into your essay. Morality can be hard to understand; therefore, using them will help a reader grasp these concepts.

Bottom Line on Writing an Ethics Paper

Creating this essay is a common exercise in academics that allows students to build critical skills. When you begin writing, state your stance on an issue and provide arguments to support your position. This guide gives information on how to write an ethics essay as well as examples of ethics papers. Remember to follow these points in your writing:

• Create an outline highlighting your main points.
• Write an effective introduction and provide background information on an issue.
• Include a thesis statement.
• Develop concrete arguments and their counterarguments, and use examples.
• Sum up all your key points in your conclusion and restate your thesis statement.

Contact our academic writing platform and have your challenge solved. Here, you can order essays and papers on any topic and enjoy top quality. 

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

You may also like

Ethical Decision-Making

Introduction.

Decision-making is an essential aspect of people’s daily lives because it helps them to confront situations and get the best solutions to problems. When people encounter the term decision-making, their minds immediately go to the decision-making process in the workplace. However, they fail to realize that they make decisions such as which route to take to work or which type of food to eat every day, even without noticing. Every decision has consequences, although the severity varies. For example, if a person decides to quit their work without an alternative, they may experience severe consequences such as losing their home and not being able to take care of their families. It is also essential for people to make ethical decisions. According to Bauer & Erdogan (2009), just because a decision is legal does not make it ethical. This paper will describe my model of making decisions ethically.

My Model of Making Decisions Ethically

My decision-making model depends on the situation at hand. The first way I make decisions is by doing what is right according to my understanding of what is right and wrong. For example, I had a friend in high school who betrayed me and disclosed a secret that I had told them in private, and that news made me the topic of discussion for several days. In return for spreading my secret, my friend became friends with some popular students. I was so angry, and I wanted to reveal some of my friend’s secrets that would destroy him more than he did to me. However, after some thinking, I decided not to reveal his secrets but instead do the right thing because revealing the secrets would have had severe consequences on my friend. Making that decision made me feel good about myself more than I could have felt if I had revealed the secret and destroyed my friend’s life. According to Bauer & Erdogan (2009), asking oneself how one will feel after making the decision is one way to determine whether the decision is ethical. I knew I would not feel good about myself if I destroyed my friend’s life or led him to hurt himself. In situations of crisis or conflict, I tend to make my decision according to what I believe is right based on my understanding of right and wrong from my religion and my knowledge of the concept over the years. I have boundaries I cannot cross, and no matter how angry I feel, I try to restrain myself and lean toward the good even if my alternative does not mean me breaking the law.

The next way I make my decisions is by determining my alternative solutions and analyzing their pros and cons. I use this decision model when making major decisions regarding my life. For example, when I was choosing the college I wanted to attend and what I wanted to study. I looked at different colleges and courses, analyzed them, and chose the course that I was most passionate about. Making significant decisions in my life can be challenging in some instances. In some situations, I take so much time comparing the alternatives’ pros and cons, and sometimes there is no clear picture of the solution that will provide the best results, and one needs to risk. However, my greatest weakness in decision-making is risk-taking because I always want to ensure that the decision I make does not lead to failure. For example, years back, I wanted to start a business, and I put my alternatives on the table. However, it took me so much time to compare the alternatives that it scared me, and I had to abort the plan to open a business. I am working on this weakness, and I have made progress. While using this model, I make sure that I look at the ethical dimension when analyzing the alternative to ensure that the decision I make is ethical.

Decision-making is an essential aspect of people’s everyday lives. People need to strive to make ethical decisions, and avoid only doing things because of their legality. Ignoring ethics can have severe consequences on a person. My decision-making model depends on the situation. In situations of crisis or conflict, I make decisions that are right based on my understanding of right and wrong. When making important decisions regarding my life, I identify my alternatives and analyze their pros and cons. I make sure that I consider the ethical dimension when exploring my options.

Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2009). Organizational behavior (1st ed.). New York: Flat World Knowledge.

Cite This Work

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:

Related Essays

Streaming services using advertisements, a medicine dispensing system capital budgeting, mis and hr data in business, basic forms of organization design, type of leadership styles that should be adopted in hospitality management, unique aspects of international procurement relation to project management, popular essay topics.

• American Dream
• Artificial Intelligence
• Black Lives Matter
• Bullying Essay
• Career Goals Essay
• Causes of the Civil War
• Child Abusing
• Civil Rights Movement
• Community Service
• Cultural Identity
• Cyber Bullying
• Death Penalty
• Depression Essay
• Domestic Violence
• Freedom of Speech
• Global Warming
• Gun Control
• Human Trafficking
• I Believe Essay
• Immigration
• Importance of Education
• Israel and Palestine Conflict
• Leadership Essay
• Legalizing Marijuanas
• Mental Health
• National Honor Society
• Police Brutality
• Pollution Essay
• Racism Essay
• Romeo and Juliet
• Same Sex Marriages
• Social Media
• The Great Gatsby
• The Yellow Wallpaper
• Time Management
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Violent Video Games
• What Makes You Unique
• Why I Want to Be a Nurse
• Send us an e-mail

• Undergraduate
• High School
• Architecture
• American History
• Asian History
• Antique Literature
• American Literature
• Asian Literature
• Classic English Literature
• World Literature
• Creative Writing
• Linguistics
• Criminal Justice
• Legal Issues
• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Political Science
• World Affairs
• African-American Studies
• East European Studies
• Latin-American Studies
• Native-American Studies
• West European Studies
• Family and Consumer Science
• Social Issues
• Women and Gender Studies
• Social Work
• Natural Sciences
• Pharmacology
• Earth science
• Agriculture
• Agricultural Studies
• Computer Science
• IT Management
• Mathematics
• Investments
• Engineering and Technology
• Engineering
• Aeronautics
• Medicine and Health
• Alternative Medicine
• Communications and Media
• Advertising
• Communication Strategies
• Public Relations
• Educational Theories
• Teacher's Career
• Chicago/Turabian
• Company Analysis
• Education Theories
• Shakespeare
• Canadian Studies
• Food Safety
• Relation of Global Warming and Extreme Weather Condition
• Movie Review
• Admission Essay
• Annotated Bibliography
• Application Essay

Article Critique

• Article Review
• Article Writing
• Book Review
• Business Plan
• Business Proposal
• Capstone Project
• Cover Letter
• Creative Essay
• Dissertation
• Dissertation - Abstract
• Dissertation - Conclusion
• Dissertation - Discussion
• Dissertation - Hypothesis
• Dissertation - Introduction
• Dissertation - Literature
• Dissertation - Methodology
• Dissertation - Results
• GCSE Coursework
• Grant Proposal
• Marketing Plan
• Multiple Choice Quiz
• Personal Statement
• Power Point Presentation
• Power Point Presentation With Speaker Notes
• Questionnaire
• Reaction Paper
• Research Paper
• Research Proposal
• SWOT analysis
• Thesis Paper
• Online Quiz
• Literature Review
• Movie Analysis
• Statistics problem
• Math Problem
• All papers examples
• How It Works
• Money Back Policy
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• We Are Hiring

Ethical Decision-Making, Essay Example

Pages: 1

Words: 397

Hire a Writer for Custom Essay

Use 10% Off Discount: "custom10" in 1 Click 👇

You are free to use it as an inspiration or a source for your own work.

Within this article, the same ethical issues surround the research problem, purpose and questions, data collection and analysis or interpretation of the final study results. Ultimately, the ethical issues surround determining the appropriate relationship that individual, social and cultural determinants have on ethical decision-making within a person and, furthermore, within an organizational environment structure. From an individual perspective, the authors attempted to use Machiavellianism, locus of control and codes of ethics to determine appropriate relationships in the individual decision-making. However, the authors also examine the social (peer) aspects that influence individual ethics as a bi-product of spending time with and sharing beliefs with other individuals. As opposed to examining these determinants individually, the main purpose of this study was to prove that the social determinants have greater force on manipulating individual behavior and ethical decision-making. The design of the study and the overall analysis swayed readers to believe that, when addressing this issue, the social determinants are highest manipulating factors. Overall application of this research in the real world would propose that managers and organizations seek to develop a social code of conduct in practice that would extend past management and perhaps be less formal in structure.

My own personal experience with scholarly writing and research is that many authors attempt to concentrate on specifically proving that a hypothesis is accurate as opposed to remaining unbiased and concentrate on the overall quality of the study. This is an easy flaw in the research design as the individual(s) conducting the study have spent hundreds of hours working on the design of the study, finding an appropriate sample size, conducting the study and then evaluating the results. Typically, a key flaw in most scholarly research involves the design of the study (Creswell, 2009). Most studies are geared towards delivering specific results as opposed to leaving the area of “unknown” available. The goal of any scholarly research study should not be to prove that the author’s hypothesis is accurate, but to examine how the results of the study directly and indirectly propose a conclusion to a problem – or propose more unanswered questions to the problem for future research. Remaining unbiased and professional during the process of scholarly writing and research is a key concept that has been insightful to me during this course.

Bibliography

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches . New York, NY: Sage Publications, Inc.

Stuck with your Essay?

Get in touch with one of our experts for instant help!

Labour Skills, Essay Example

Military Downsizing Effects on Marriage, Article Critique Example

Time is precious

don’t waste it!

Plagiarism-free guarantee

Privacy guarantee

Secure checkout

Money back guarantee

Related Essay Samples & Examples

Relatives, essay example.

Words: 364

Voting as a Civic Responsibility, Essay Example

Words: 287

Utilitarianism and Its Applications, Essay Example

Words: 356

The Age-Related Changes of the Older Person, Essay Example

Pages: 2

Words: 448

The Problems ESOL Teachers Face, Essay Example

Pages: 8

Words: 2293

Should English Be the Primary Language? Essay Example

Pages: 4

Words: 999

208 Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics & Examples

An ethical dilemma essay has become an essential part of education for many professions that involve working with people. Below, we’ve collected topics for writing a paper on this subject.

🔝 Top-10 Ethical Dilemmas Essay Topics

🏆 best ethical dilemma essay examples & topics, 📌 simple & easy ethical dilemma essay topics, 🔥 hottest ethical argument topics, 💡 most interesting ethical dilemma topics to write about, 🎓 good research topics about ethical dilemma, ✍️ ethical dilemma essay topics for college, ❓ questions for ethical dilemmas, ✅ ethical dilemmas essay: helpful tips.

• BP Oil Company Ethical Dilemma
• An Ethical Dilemma Faced by Nestle: Case Analysis
• Ethical Dilemmas in Criminal Justice
• Family Therapy: Ethical Dilemmas
• The Ford Pinto Case and Ethical Dilemma
• Samsung’s Ethical Dilemma of Child Labor
• Ethical Dilemma of Child Abuse
• Early Childhood Education Center’s Ethical Dilemma
• Cultural Clash in the Board Room: An Ethical Dilemma Among Top Management in Almond China
• Ethical Dilemma: Example, Problem, and Solution
• Public Administration Ethical Dilemma and Theories Smith should take the responsibility of ensuring that the needs of the majority are upheld since the welfare of the community, and the organization is of importance.
• The Ethical Dilemma: Siemens In relation to the above dilemmas, the bounded bribery applies to the psychological tendency of the conspirators to fulfill selfish interests of self enrichment at the expense of the shareholders’ goals and objectives.
• Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Case Study Today, being a nurse is associated with a number of complexities due to the need to comply with diverse obligations in social, political, and healthcare segments.
• Ethical Dilemmas in Social Workers’ Practice In order to resolve the emerging dilemma, it is necessary to identify the involved stakeholders, model two possible courses of events, evaluate the implications of each and come to a conclusion regarding the preferential option […]
• Ethical Dilemmas in Counselling and Treatment Methods The case of Brett has become an ethical issue based on the following; questions are revolving around what information can be released to the parents and parents request to review the diagnosis since no procedure […]
• “Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice” by Pollock If hunting is the primary means of survival of a particular society, the euthanasia of the elderly and the sick can be deemed acceptable.
• Ethical Dilemma: Counselors Engaging in Relations with Clients They should keep a boundary in the way they relate to the clients to ensure that their relationship with the client does no harm or pose potential harm to the clients.
• Richard Angelo: A Serial Killer and His Ethical Dilemma The convicted claimed he made the injections to cause crises to be able to revive patients and become a hero in front of his colleagues.
• Ethical Dilemmas Facing Teachers The proponents of this system claim that it is authentic and offers a first hand experience to the learners. The needs in this system include having a strong foundation in the areas that the knowledge […]
• Domestic Violence Ethical Dilemmas in Criminal Justice Various ethical issues such as the code of silence, the mental status of the offender, and limited evidence play a vital role in challenging the discretion of police officers in arresting the DV perpetrators.
• Joe Smith and Bill Bateman: Ethical Dilemma Analysis Indeed, their cooperation is attributed with the features of gray zone business conduct where the boundaries between the personal and the business issues are blurred.
• The Ethical Dilemma in Nursing One of the most common ethical dilemmas that advanced practice nurses face is the lack of consent on the part of the patient.
• Ethical Dilemma With the Bank Teller On the other hand, the bank calls for honesty in service and client protection, and given that the teller took the money without permission from an inactive account belonging to a customer it is professionally […]
• Hyundai Dispatch Workers and Ethical Dilemma According to the workers, the leadership of Hyundai was responsible for the safety of the employees at the workplace. The representatives of the temporary employees occupied the company requiring changes in the employment terms.
• California Micro Devices Company: Ethical Dilemma In 1989, Price Waterhouse, the firm’s chief auditor, observed that the company was engaging in questionable accounting practices and business dealings.
• Solving Ethical Dilemmas in Public Relations In the case study, the main problem arises from the client’s deceit concerning the independent nature of the scientist testing the products in a bid to ensure a favorable public image of the products to […]
• Ethical Dilemmas Surrounding Self-Driving Cars The video taken showed that the driver in the car was shocked and could not do anything to save the woman.
• Ethical Dilemma of Abortion Triumphalism In this issue and other matters, the affected person’s experience may not be a determining factor for the expression of opinion but is unique.
• Ethical Dilemma at Abura Petrol Station He felt grateful to his friend for offering a job and wanted to meet the hopes of the petrol network’s owner.
• The Unocal Firm’s Ethical Dilemma in Burma The oil corporation was eager to investigate oil potential in Burma, a place that the rest of the world had abandoned due to several problems.
• An Ethical Dilemma and Lapse in Business An ethical dilemma and lapse differ in the people’s motivation driving decisions. Meanwhile, an ethical lapse occurs due to an unethical conversation involving selective quoting and misleading audiences.
• Ethical Dilemma in Mental Health Patient Care My ethical response to the situation was that Catherine should only be attended to by the female staff especially when she was naked and that only the female staff needed to have access to the […]
• Workplace Health & Safety: The Ethical Dilemmas In addition, this paper focuses on the theoretical framework of the ethical dilemmas of the employers about workplace environment, and the activities of Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• Ethical Dilemmas Regarding Rape and Abortion Therefore, this paper discusses the module 8 case study and related cases regarding rape and abortion, applying dialectical thinking to the module 8 case and why Mary in the case study should not undergo abortion […]
• Ethical Dilemma of Patient Care Delivery However, the administration of more pain depressants is likely to escalate the addiction problem while the denial of the medication will aggravate the patient’s suffering.
• Truth vs. Loyalty: Tinkov’s Ethical Dilemma Moreover, his pacifist text and critique of the Russian aggression and dictatorship made Tinkov’s life unsafe. He chose truthfulness and freedom from greed over political loyalty and the well-being of his business.
• Nurses’ Ethical Dilemmas in the Work Environment According to the scenario of Mr. According to the scenario of Mr.
• Ethical Dilemmas: An Analysis of Two Cases In the case of IVF, such a procedure is prohibited according to Joe and Mary’s religion which means that they must not engage in it.
• Ethical Dilemmas in Workplace Analysis Therefore, the main purpose of this project is to explore the types of dilemmas and the factors that affect the workers response to the dilemmas in a workplace.
• Ethical Dilemmas Overview and Analysis This student should be advised to report the matter to a teacher so that the owner of the iPod can be traced.
• Ethical Dilemma in the Psychologists Career Therefore, the dilemma that I faced as a school psychologist dealing with the psychological issues of Ayesha has been the ethical choice needed to be taken between what is good and what is wrong that […]
• Ethical Dilemmas in the Nursing Field As a human, I felt that the safety of the lady took precedence; hence I could not allow her to walk alone. As a nurse leader, I would encourage my staff to always put the […]
• Flight 93 Incident and Ethical Dilemma This paper evaluates the ethical standing of this question from a utilitarian point of view to establish the rightness or wrongness of the decision to shoot down the plane before it crashed.
• Arranged Marriage and Its Ethical Dilemma His family would be happy to see him married to the person they chose, and his father would save his reputation.
• Ethical Dilemma of Law Enforcement Code of Ethics Police officers are the example for citizens of the country which they serve, and they should correspond to the position which is occupied.
• Ethical Dilemmas in Healthcare Institutions The interviewee outlined the major strategies used to handle ethical dilemmas in the healthcare facility. The supervisor will be required to assess the impact of the ethical or legal dilemma.
• Ethical Dilemma in Law Enforcement: Confidentiality and Misuse of Information Additionally, Badpenny’s choice to reveal private information was affected by the organizational structure of the University City Police Department and the Grantham County Sheriff’s Office.
• Ethical Dilemma of Stopping City Authority In this scenario, the ethical dilemma is balancing the duty to enforce the law with the potential harm that could be caused by a public arrest of a fellow officer.
• Ethical Dilemma Analysis: Criminal Justice Case The publicity of the case added another layer of complexity to the decision, as either verdict would alienate a part of the population.
• The Ethical Dilemma of Navigating Disagreements in Nursing Care Disputes arise when nurses have different opinions on the type, frequency, and effectiveness of specific care options for a patient due to the differences in their scope of practice and focus.
• Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare: Privacy and the Right to Know Moreover, the staff cannot ignore the fact that Tina is likely to be wrong in her decision not to reveal the diagnosis to Victoria.
• Hiring the Previously Convicted Cybercriminals: Ethical Dilemma The deontological theory focuses not on the consequences of an act but on the intentions and desire of a person to act for the benefit of others.
• Ethical Dilemmas Hindering Provision of Health Services in Tanzania The strikes have always been linked to two issues: 1) the working conditions of doctors, including infrastructure, the availability of medicines, equipment, and other medical supplies, and 2) the underpayment of wages and benefits.
• Analysis of Ethical Dilemma: Euthanasia One of these is the right to live, which includes much more than the ability to simply exist, and suggests an adherence to a minimum of quality and self-determination.
• Researching of IT Ethical Dilemmas In addition, there are Notified Data Breach Laws that oblige businesses and CSPs to report the incident to the government and all users of the service and customers in the event of a data breach.
• The Legal and Ethical Dilemma in Dental Health The objective side of the crime in the case of silencing the incompetence of a colleague in dentistry is expressed in the failure to fulfill the duties of the statement to the appropriate authorities.
• Ethical Dilemmas: Cases Analysis In the case of Joe and Marie, natural law theory also demonstrates that ethically the IVF procedure is morally justified for several reasons.
• Ethical Dilemma of Parental Refusal From Children’s Vaccination Kerry attempts to convince the Smiths of the relevance of vaccination in preventing infection by chronic diseases. Autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice are ethical principles applicable in resolving the moral issue of whether or not […]
• Ethical Dilemma of Saving Customers’ Personal Information The key point of the action was to be in line with the company’s code of ethics and, at the same time, show the wrongdoing of the colleague’s action to himself.
• Ethical Dilemma: Gun Violence Discussion The teaching of access or locked on the presence of weapons in people for a long time is a reason for discussion.
• Legal-Ethical Dilemma in Nursing An example of an urgent legal-ethical dilemma is the one reported and described by a practicing nurse and a patient, Marylyn.
• Global Poverty: The Ethical Dilemma Unfortunately, a significant obstacle to such global reforms is that many economic systems are based on the concept of inequality and exploitation.
• Ethical Dilemma of a 2016 TV Commercial for Milk by Juhayna At the end of the ad, the creators claim that Juhayna’s milk is the best in Egypt after Dondou. The message presented in the advertisement can influence the decision of mothers to stop breastfeeding, which […]
• Ethical Dilemma: The Missing Needle Protector Health care professionals and patients have to develop a level of trust to support the recovery process for patients and the status of the hospital.
• The Concept of Ethical Dilemmas To evaluate this, such professionals should be subject to constant psychological and physical monitoring, observing the degree of their suitability for work.
• Self-Determination and Ethical Dilemma of Assisted Suicide The reason for both euthanasia and assisted suicide, the difference between which is in who actively ends the life, the doctor or the patient, is ending unbearable pain.
• Ethical Dilemma Regarding Forced Vaccination It seems that people are already used to restrictive measures from the government and have accepted the need to use masks in public places, but the introduction of compulsory vaccination and the resulting bans proved […]
• Ethical Dilemma: The Case Study Thus, a difficult dilemma emerged for Ali, who by eating the meal would violate his religious obligations and by refusing it would show disrespect to the hosts, and especially the mother of the colleague.
• Ethical Dilemmas in Public Health Such an action could be unwelcomed by the health agencies, and their employees, but, at the same time, the research needs to depict an accurate analysis of the performance of the health programs.
• The Ethical Dilemma in Guantanamo Bay Prison in the USA In Guantanamo Bay, it is the role of soldiers to ensure justice and protection of human rights. However, the housing of these prisoners and the condition of the Guantanamo Bay detainee camp is ethical.
• Ethical Dilemma and Ethics and Honest Reporting And adhering to the principle of rights, professions have an ethical duty to evaluate the consequences of a particular decision they make in relation to the rights of other people.
• The Ethical Dilemma on Abortion From the perspective of the Christian philosophy, a person is a product and manifestation of the love of God, hence the sanctity of any human life.
• Civil-Military Tension as Ethical Dilemma The first is to accept the situation as it is without questions, strictly following the orders and observing the limitations of their inferior position as consultants to the government.
• Aspects of Media Ethical Dilemmas While all three sources have a goal of informing the audience of Burrous’s passing, the extent to which they unveil the details differs depending on the context, the source’s relation to the anchor, and the […]
• Ethical Dilemma: Benefiting from High-Conflicting Personality The primary reason for the potential ignorance of one’s wrongdoing is the positive consequences of their actions that outweigh the total harm they bring.
• Ethical Dilemma. Legal Protection for Employee On the other hand, the leaving colleague might have a change of heart and remain with the original company, so revealing the plans to the boss will affect his opportunities.
• Abortion as Moral and Ethical Dilemma Despite the conflicting approaches to solving the moral and ethical dilemma of abortion, experts agree that it is possible to reduce the severity of the problem with the help of more excellent sexual education of […]
• “Ethical Dilemmas in MNCs’ International Staffing Policies” by Banai and Sama The paper assumes that in the age of the rise of global international corporations international staffing policies acquire the top priority because of their impact on outcomes.
• Ethical Dilemma Analysis: Easyriders v. Hannigan Hunnigan represents the case of California motorcyclists filing a suit against the Commissioner of California Highway Patrol for the purpose of permanent injunction against stopping motorcyclists on the ground of officer’s subjective opinion that helmets […]
• Contemporary Ethical Reflection: Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Health Care The counties also blamed the state for being ignorant of the problem of adequate financing of the Medicaid program on supporting the poor and disables.

Ethical Implications of Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering is notorious for its ethical issues. For example, changing the genetic code of any living organism can have unpredicted consequences. It also violates animal rights since the procedures are invasive. Many other arguments prove that genetic engineering is unethical, and they can be included in your essay.

Is Selfishness Ethical?

In philosophy, there’s a special term describing the necessity of selfishness—ethical egoism. Most of the time, people need to do what’s best for them, even though it’s seen as selfish and morally wrong. “Put your oxygen mask first” is a good example. Being selfish is a part of human nature that is necessary for survival and prosperity.

Ethical Hacking: Pros and Cons

There are advantages and disadvantages to ethical hacking that can be put under discussion. One of the main benefits of hacking is that it’s used by companies to develop a strong defense against harmful hacking attempts. At the same time, the process may interrupt the network’s functioning.

Discuss the Ethical Issues Surrounding Surrogacy

Surrogacy is an excellent opportunity for couples who have infertility to have children. However, it poses some moral issues. Surrogacy creates a barrier between parenthood’s social, physical, and emotional parts. It may cause disassociation for both parents and children. Claiming surrogacy requires solid arguments, regardless of whether they’re moral or not.

Abortion: Ethical Arguments

The arguments about the ethics of abortion are strong on both sides. It’s a very personal issue. At the same time, any opinion should be supported by solid ethical arguments. The issues to be mentioned are women’s rights, human rights, justice, healthcare, and so on.

• Ethical Dilemmas in the Hiibel Legal Case in Nevada The search had a reasonable suspicion since, during the investigation of the assault, Hiibel was within the area of search, and when he was asked his name, he failed to answer the police officer.
• Baby and Mother: End of Life Ethical Dilemma To sum the above mentioned, it should be mentioned that patients, physicians, and caregivers face a lot of dilemmas in regards to life situations.
• Unethical Practices: Michael Jackson, Ethical Dilemma The case between the people and the king of pop, Michael Jackson, elicited two main ethical concerns: the passion of the prosecutor to convict the defendant and the possibility of the prosecutor to be an […]
• Noting the Error in Projections: Scott Bestor’s Ethical Dilemma The second ethical issue is balancing the expectations of the management and the consequences of reporting the error in projections. Scott is aware that reporting the error to the management might result in disciplinary action […]
• Behavior of a Police Officer Within an Ethical Dilemma First and foremost, one should note that one of the most typical ethical concerns in the relevant field is the cases of discrimination on the ground of the national origin.
• Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Practice The psychologist can help the patient deal with the emotional aspect of pain. These skills empower the patient to cope with the pain and the side effects of treatment.
• Accounting: Ethical Dilemmas Equally, I will consider the repercussions of agreeing to the command. I will also consider being a whistleblower and report the matter to the relevant authorities.
• Abortion: An Ethical Dilemma and Legal Position The core concerns in the controversy are whether women should have the right to decide to terminate a pregnancy or whether the unborn child has the right to life.
• Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Finding a solution to the ethical issues in Max’s case was important because failure to do so would have different consequences for the patient, the parents, and the caregivers.
• Moral, Ethical and Legal Dilemmas of Suicide Since it is a duty of medical practitioners to treat and care for patients, it would be immoral to allow a patient to commit suicide.
• Asthma and Medications: The Ethical Dilemma in Treating Children One of the major causes of dilemma, however, is the inability to manage and treat the condition in children under the age of 7 years due to ethical dilemma.
• Ethical and Moral Dilemmas in Accounting and Business Entities This may paint a wrong picture of the actual position of the company and may lead to collapsing if irregularities are not addressed as in the case of Enron.
• An Ethical Dilemma – Religious Belief Versus Medical Practice In the first step, the ethical dilemma is between the principle of beneficence in the treatment of meningitis and the principle of autonomy with respect to the decision of the parents.
• Ethical Dilemma for Sam Torres In this case, it is possible to distinguish several ethical issues: 1) the conflict between Sam’s professional principles and his private interest such as desire to retain his job; 2) the interests of Bull & […]
• Ethical Dilemmas That Practitioners Face in the Company According to the findings of the commission, it was discovered that ethical issues affecting the police body has to do with process corruption, issue of gratuities and improper associations, substance abuse, fraudulent practices, assaults and […]
• Ethical Dilemmas in Business Processes Henry on the other hand is a manager and we are not told whether his organization is prepared to allow all staff to make use of such offers as that which Claire has provided in […]
• Virtue Ethics: One Way to Resolve an Ethical Dilemma Other members of the usability team argue that although there was a clear loophole that the external members can choose to exploit so that they can be released from the work that they need to […]
• Ethical Dilemmas Within Organisations During the COVID-19 The moral analysis of the acts of the management of Britannia Hotel can also be analyzed based on the ethics of duties with an emphasis on the individual.
• Ethical Dilemma: Parental Notification The main issue that is to be addressed is that the boy asks the counselor not to notify his parents about the drug problem, but is it ethical to keep this information confidential?
• Abortion: Ethical Dilemma in Pope John Paul II’s View This paper tries to examine the abortion ethical dilemma from the lens of the Pope’s thoughts and proposals. Towards the end of the 20th century, new ideas and thoughts began to emerge in different parts […]
• LinkedIn Ethical Dilemma The candidates most likely to be recruited by the employers using the LinkedIn website are the premium account holders whose applications appear at the top of the applications pile.
• The Ethical Dilemma: Aborting Babies With Handicaps The standard for such a condition is the elimination of the fetus and the doctor prescribed it as the only solution that would save the other of the twins.
• NASW Code of Ethics: Social Workers and Ethical Dilemmas As part of my action, I accessed her files and changed the date that she was to leave the facility by adding a month to it. However, I had acted professionally because it was in […]
• Resolving Ethical Dilemmas Considering that this may be an argument between younger and older generations, one can argue that there is a significant difference between the way that both house owners and the person that wants to buy […]
• Ethical Dilemmas in Mental Health Treatment Treatment of inmates with psychological problems is a delicate and sensitive process because such inmates are not in the normal state to reason.
• Empress Luxury Lines: Ethical Dilemma The dilemma infringes on Antonio’s principles and values because he thinks that the conduct of the company is not by the insurance company’s policies and principles and that, the management team should face the law.
• The Ethical Dilemma by Pureco Corporation As the Pureco manager, I have the obligation of maximizing the stakeholders’ welfare, and considering that the company had already invested quite a huge sum of money in the establishment and marketing of the Newpen […]
• Ethical Dilemma in Journalism A good example is the clause in the code of ethics that states that reporters are supposed to show reverence to the privacy and dignity of the public.
• Ethical Dilemma Concepts on Example Phoebe’s Case In order to protect her rights, the council should not interfere with her applications on the basis of what Phoebe did. In addition to punishment, she should be made to repeat the assignment and submit […]
• Ethical Dilemmas: Morgan Brown Real Estate Company In the case of the latter ethical dilemma, it would be more effective and honest for this particular company to accept the fact that favouring one client over the other could lead to a tarnished […]
• Possible Solutions to the Ethical Dilemmas This varied, different group of the workforce is being required to work harmoniously jointly in the strength of teamwork and respect for the advantage of the company and the public they deal with.
• The Tobacco Marketing Ethical Dilemma The epidemiological evidence of the deadly tobacco effect in 1964 set the precedence for the mistrust between the tobacco production stakeholders and the public interest groups, that has led to long battle between the two […]
• Organ Donation: Ethical Dilemmas An example of an ethical dilemma surrounding the procedure is the case of rich man vs.poor man, or rather, the case of a person who can afford to buy an organ on the black market […]
• Dementia: Ethical Dilemmas Opting to withdraw the tube may lead to the physiological deprivation of the patient and as a result, the worst-case scenario is the death of the patient.
• Ethical Dilemma: Solving a Situation, Decision Theory Under business ethics, this is a form of art which is said to examine the ethical principles or even the moral problems which might tend to occur as a result of running the business and […]
• The Acme Title Pawn Employee’s Ethical Dilemma While the situation is controversial, it can be stated that Joe should change the workplace and explain to his family the reasons for such a decision.
• Google Inc.’s Historical Ethical Dilemmas It is sad to say that various forms of unethical behavior are common in the workforce, and specific analysis is required to determine the impact of this phenomenon on the business industry.
• Ethical Dilemma in “The Reader” Film by S. Daldry She is surprised and confused by the hypocrisy of the judges and her co-defendants, who act as if they do not remember that period and as if they were not part of that society.
• Performance-Enhancing Drugs Use as Ethical Dilemma According to Christian beliefs, Paul should refuse to partake in the team’s abuse of PEDs because it offers him and his teammates an unfair advantage over other athletes.
• Medical Ethical Dilemmas: Taking a Stand Morality is the idea of correctness and rightness that is constructed on people’s experiences and applied to the life of society.
• Ethical Advertising: Dilemmas and Resolutions One of the core aspects that should not be overlooked is that the number of competitors is going to increase significantly, and it is entirely possible that the company will suffer because of such policies.
• Post-Dated Cheque Ethical Dilemma in Accounting First, the recipients of the delayed check will lose interest corresponding to the duration of the delay. In this scenario, Tabitha will be held responsible for the unethical actions and the incurrence of losses by […]
• Wasta (Nepotism) Ethical Dilemma at the Workplace Moreover, with the present social costs in our society that have arisen through the use of wasta, it is impossible to justify the use of wasta in hiring and performing business transactions.
• Ethical Dilemma on the Company Valuation Mistake I could inform my team and the company boards of the said mistake; I could inform the team but keep the company in the dark, or I could ignore the mistake altogether.
• Police Corruption and Citizen’s Ethical Dilemma There are three key stakeholders in the given situation, which are the policemen, who set the terms; the father, who is to take the pivoting decision; and the family, who depends on the decision which […]
• Poverty in America: An Ethical Dilemma In contrast, a considerable percentage of the populations believe the society has the moral obligation to eradicate poverty, and thus, they hold the view that the solution to poverty reduction lies in the socioeconomic policies.
• Ethical Dilemma Involving a Social Worker As a social worker, I have to decide whether to support the community group, which is unanimously opposed to the decision of the housing authorities to rent to the local mental health department to establish […]
• Ethical Dilemmas in the “21” Movie At the beginning of the movie, we mistakenly take his attitude for granted, but the development of the plot discloses the negative consequences of the Professor’s actions.
• Suicidal Ideation as Ethical Dilemma in Nursing According to the ethical guidelines that govern the profession of a nurse and other health care providers, their primary role is to protect life by enhancing the status of wellness of the patient.
• Ethical Dilemma & Glyphosate: Post Foods Company In this case, some experts believe that it is a vivid instance of the unethical business practices, as Post Foods’s consumers do not expect to find any pesticides in the products that are overtly advertised […]
• Ethical Dilemma and Environmental Surveillance Companies, for example, Planet Labs and Digital Globe have dispatched many miniaturized satellites in the most recent year with the objective of recording the status of the whole earth in real-time.
• ProTech Company’s Ethical Dilemma According to the analysis of the data performed by Staci, the company seems to be having a high potential for growth over the next half-decade.
• Ethical Dilemma in Business Communication Today This paper explores this dilemma in terms of the extent to which a firm may abide by the ethical provisions against the backdrop of the heightening competition.
• Ethical Dilemma: Swimming Pool Building This is evident when the contractor conducts the private work of the mayor without any delay, as well as the birthday gift that the contractor advances to the mayor as a friend.
• Patient’s Secret Revelation: Ethical Dilemma She had to choose whether to hide the information, which she had received from a cancer patient and which was relevant to the treatment, from other nurses and doctors or to reveal it despite the […]
• Ethical Dilemmas in Prison’s Research The present paper aims to discuss the applicability of confidentiality and privacy provisions to prison research by addressing both the general rules regarding confidentiality of information in research and the specific considerations that apply to […]
• The Right to Die: Legal and Ethical Dilemma Consequently, the primary goal of the paper is to discover the freedoms of a patient, specifically, the right to die with the help of a controversial and confusing case of Mrs.
• Teacher’s Ethical Dilemma and Legal Responsibilities However, she is legally obligated not to leak exams to her students in any way because that would defeat the very purpose of the exams.
• HBOS Plc Company’s Ethical Dilemma The ethical dilemma in the case is that the top management of the company used complex nature of the financial statements and the weaknesses in the accounting standards to manipulate the financial records with an […]
• Employee’s Role in Ethical Dilemma Jan is aware of the possible layoffs at JLT that could affect Steve, and she knows the expenses that Steve, unaware of the resolution by the leadership, is about to make in building a house […]
• Ethical Dilemma: Political Involvement in Abortion The development of medicine brought the issue to the fore in the late 19th century. Therefore, it is but natural that it is the right of a woman to make the choice.
• KLM Company Responsibilities Ethical Dilemma To ensure that the expansion plan remained alive, the director suggested that a small team of employees should be a commission to start surveying the new market to identify the location where the firm would […]
• Medical Error Disclosure: Ethical Dilemma The topic in question was chosen due to the obvious conflict between the interests of the patient and the population, in general, which medical ethics supposedly protects, and the interests of the provider, who is […]
• Ethical Dilemmas in Rural Communities The fact that the rural area is different from the urban one has resulted in the creation of rural criminology. The ethical dilemmas that can arise in the process of working in rural areas for […]
• Ethical Dilemma in the Workplace Her partner is adamant, which means she should overlook the guidelines and influence the audit to reflect an outcome that will be good for both her career and the company.
• SuperCom Company Ethical Dilemma This section of the paper shows that the lack of informed consent, failure to report the ethical issue to authorities, and integrity issues are the possible ethical pitfalls in the case study.
• Livestrong and Apple Companies Ethical Dilemmas The USADA probe against Lance Armstrong was not in any way related to the work of the Foundation and its mission for cancer patients and their families.
• Journalism Ethical Dilemma: Moral Discourse This situation resulted in an ethical dilemma for the journalist who has to decide whether to publish the article about the accident and potentially dangerous products or to take the money and remain silent.
• “Erin Brockovich” Movie Ethical Dilemma The response of the company when it became apparent that the chromium was causing cancer was to hide the evidence regarding their operations and its connection to the increased rates of cancer.
• Engineers and Ethical Dilemmas Recently in the Kenyan media there was a situation in which a road engineer had been approached by the government to aid in the design and construction of a road in the Langata area.
• Government and Organisational Regulation: Ethical Dilemmas Costas will be sure of getting good business in the future considering the fact that Dionisis is the Mayor and he is usually in charge of most contracts.
• Topics in Ethical Dilemma: When the Choice Becomes too Complicated To solve the given issue, the principle of consequentialist theories can be used, i.e, the rightness of the employees’ actions can be evaluated only by its results.
• Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go” and Major Ethical Dilemmas Raised Some claim that since clones are created in a laboratory with the help of specific tools and with the number of certain genes, they cannot be regarded as humans. In conclusion, it is necessary to […]
• International Satellite Images Ethical Dilemma Comprehensively, when the code of ethics is entrenched as part of ISI’s business culture, the company would have a seamless process for managing ethical dilemmas.
• Reporting Inflated Numbers: Ethical Dilemma From an ethical perspective, Barbara and the management team of the company conspired to inflate the asset values, overstate the reported income, and eliminate the liabilities from the financial reporting.
• Ethical Dilemmas in The Case of Wilma The case of Wilma, a counselor in a community agency, and Donna who is a client suffering from an anxiety disorder and panic attack is a real dilemma. The most appropriate course of action in […]
• Ethical Dilemma: Participation in Volunteer Activities Even though Carolyn Clark was forced by her boss to volunteer her services to the charity program, she ought to realize that there is a need to help the needy in society.
• Public Scrutiny and Accountability: An Ethical Dilemma The idea of loyalty according to the governor meant that all the employees would have to portray his administration in the best light.
• Huntington’s Disease and Ethics In the case of predictive genetic testing for HD, clinicians and other health care team members must consider the benefit to the patient.
• Ethical and Integrity Dilemma Within Employees in the Global Economy In the case of China, which is one of the most sought after destinations in the world for outsourcing manufacturing services, the business culture within the country considers CSR to be a foreign and “alien” […]
• Ethical and Moral Dilemma: McDonald’s
• End of life: the medical ethical dilemma
• Ethics in Professional Psychology: Abortion Issue
• Drug-Testing: Utilitarian Theory Ethical Dilemma
• Role of Codes of Conduct in Child Labour Practice
• Ethical Dilemma in Medical Practice
• Ethical Dilemma of Psychologist
• Animal Testing: Ethical Dilemmas in Business
• Ethical Dilemma- The Fate of Opel
• Ethical Dilemma: “A weak Dollar Versus A strong Yuan”
• Ethical Dilemma: Heroin Prescription
• Ethical Dilemma: the Husband’s Right to Confidential Treatment
• Decision Making Challenges Facing Ethical Dilemma
• Globalization and Its Impact on the Health Care System: Ethical Dilemmas of Medical Treatment
• Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare Administration
• Ethical Dilemma in Accepting or Rejecting of Offers
• The Ethical Dilemma – How to Make the Right Decision
• What Are the Examples of Ethical Dilemmas?
• What Are Some Examples of Ethical Dilemmas in the Workplace?
• What Are the Oil Industry and Climate Change Strategies and Ethical Dilemmas?
• Which Scenarios Are the Examples of True Ethics Dilemmas?
• What Are the Most Difficult Ethical Dilemmas People Can Face?
• How Do You Identify Ethical Dilemmas?
• What Are the Examples of Ethical Dilemmas in School?
• What Are Some Examples of Ethical Dilemmas in Healthcare?
• What Are the Seven Major Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing Practice?
• What Are Some Common Ethical Dilemmas?
• What Is the Difference between Ethical Issues and Ethical Dilemmas?
• How Does a Person Resolve Ethical Dilemmas?
• What Are the Ethical Dilemmas in Telephone Nursing?
• What Are the Four Core Ethical Dilemmas Social Work Is Concerned With?
• What Is Another Term for Ethical Dilemmas?
• What Are Nurses’ Contributions to the Resolution of Ethical Dilemmas?
• What Are the Four Steps for Solving Ethical Dilemmas?
• What Are the Ethical Dilemmas of War?
• What Are the Ethical Dilemmas in the Military?
• What Are Ethical Dilemmas in a Community?
• What Are the Ethical Dilemmas in Various Stages of Organizational Development?
• What Are Some Ethical Dilemmas for Students?
• What are the Ethical Dilemmas and Dominant Moral Strategies in Games?
• What Are the Ethical Dilemmas in a Classroom?
• What Are Ethical Dilemmas in University?
• Is the Marketization of Education the Ethical Dilemmas?
• What Is the Anatomy of the Ethical Dilemmas?
• What Ethical Dilemmas Arose Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic?
• What Are the Ethical Dilemmas in a Cross-Cultural Context?
• What Is the Frequency of Ethical Dilemmas in a Medical Inpatient Service?

The concepts of ethics and moral dilemmas have originated long ago. They heavily influence the decision-making process in various fields, from social work and healthcare to a simple office workplace.

Emotional intelligence essays are an essential part of education for many professions that involve working with people, such as managers and teachers. The concept is somewhat new, having been first introduced half a century ago and popularized at the end of the last century.

In your essay, you’ll have to approach the topic carefully and rely on the latest available evidence to avoid citing outdated ideas. Furthermore, as with any psychology-related topic, you should exhibit general caution and avoid the numerous pitfalls associated with the study of the human mind.

Here are some further tips for your work:

• Psychology relies on scenarios where a person’s behavior can be as free of outside factors as possible. Toddler observation and scholarly experiments with carefully selected conditions are excellent examples of such situations, and you should use them to ground your descriptions in reality.
• Be sure to adhere to academic guidelines, avoiding the use of first person, calls to action, and other additions that do not match the format. This approach is generally useful, as it applies to most essays and will benefit future reports and similar submissions.
• Write an emotional intelligence essay introduction and conclusion. They make your work easier to read by giving it structure and direction. The introduction should contain a description of the topic and a thesis statement, and the conclusion should sum up the main points.
• Try to set a central theme and address it in your essay instead of providing a general overview of the topic. There are many emotional intelligence essay questions that can be answered in considerable detail. As such, you should concentrate on one of them without getting distracted and sidetracked.

Visit IvyPanda for ethical dilemma essay examples, as well as various titles that will help you begin your writing process!

• Social Development Essay Topics
• Social Justice Essay Ideas
• Ethics Ideas
• Social Norms Essay Ideas
• Social Responsibility Topics
• Capital Punishment Topics
• Human Rights Essay Ideas
• Euthanasia Titles
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, September 23). 208 Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/ethical-dilemma-essay-examples/

"208 Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics & Examples." IvyPanda , 23 Sept. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/ethical-dilemma-essay-examples/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '208 Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics & Examples'. 23 September.

IvyPanda . 2024. "208 Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics & Examples." September 23, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/ethical-dilemma-essay-examples/.

1. IvyPanda . "208 Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics & Examples." September 23, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/ethical-dilemma-essay-examples/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "208 Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics & Examples." September 23, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/ethical-dilemma-essay-examples/.

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

• Basic site functions
• Ensuring secure, safe transactions
• Secure account login
• Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
• Remembering privacy and security settings
• Analyzing site traffic and usage
• Personalized search, content, and recommendations
• Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

• Remembering general and regional preferences
• Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy .

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy .

• Introduction to “A Framework for Ethical Decision-Making”
• Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
• Ethics Resources
• Ethical Decision Making

Introduction to “A Framework for Ethical Decision-Making”

A tool to help people make better informed, more carefully considered decisions that will ultimately be more congruent with their own choices and values using a process that includes both pre-decision and post-decision steps.

The Markkula Center’s Ethical Decision-Making Framework is a tool designed to 1) help users see and identify a broader set of ethical issues than they would have without it, and 2) guide users through a process that includes both pre-decision and post-decision steps.

The goal of the Framework is to help people make better informed, more carefully considered decisions that will ultimately be more congruent with their own choices and values—decisions that they are less likely to regret later.

The Framework does not tell users what the right or most ethical thing to do is. While applying the Framework, the user is still the one who has to make a judgment call.

The Framework is therefore not an ethics algorithm; there is no such thing. The ethical analysis changes depending on a variety of factors including the types and numbers of stakeholders impacted by a decision, the relationships among stakeholders, the broader context in which the decision is embedded, the kinds of benefits and harms that flow from it, and the weight that one assigns to various ethical perspectives (rights, justice, common good, etc.).

The six ethical lenses briefly introduced in the Framework are very concise, broad-stroke descriptions of several ethical perspectives. The user is not asked to choose among them. Looking at a potential decision landscape through each of them in turn, a Framework user will see different ethical aspects highlighted. The lenses are therefore complementary in that they help Framework users see more of the ethical nuances of a situation. However, the lenses might also reveal ethical aspects that come into conflict with each other; when this happens, the balancing of those ethical considerations is up to the user.

The Framework is intended to be practical and accessible. For that reason, it does not go into depth on any of the ethical perspectives that it presents. However, the Markkula Center website includes complementary (and still concise) essays that expand the descriptions of each of the lenses. Of course, users interested in reading more about any of the ethical schools of thought can also find other much more extensive resources about them.

The Framework does not claim to include a full compendium of ethical perspectives spanning history and cultures. The tapestry of human thought about ethics is rich and varied. However, there are common threads that run through it, and the Framework focuses on those, again with the goal of serving as a useful aid that is relatively easy to apply.

The process described in the Framework is not linear; while it begins, for example, with the gathering of key facts and the identification of stakeholders, those steps might need to be repeated if the application of the ethical lenses reveals additional stakeholders and highlights the need for additional facts.

We have found that people who use the Framework repeatedly also build their ethical analysis “muscles”—developing habits of reasoning and response, and a growing comfort level with applying the lenses to challenging situations.

A Framework for Ethical Decision Making

Navigating the Ethical Decision Making Process: A Guide for Ethical Dilemmas

Invest in Sustainable Companies

In our complex and interconnected world, individuals and organizations often face ethical dilemmas that require careful consideration and decision-making. The ethical decision making process is that involves analyzing and evaluating various options to make choices that align with moral principles and values. It serves as a moral compass, guiding us towards actions deemed right or good while helping us navigate challenging ethical situations.

Table of Contents

Understanding Ethical Dilemmas

Ethical dilemmas are situations where individuals or organizations face conflicting moral principles or values, making it difficult to determine the right course of action. These dilemmas often arise when there is a clash between different ethical considerations or when no clear-cut solution fully satisfies all parties involved.

Ethical dilemmas can emerge in various contexts, including personal relationships, professional settings, and societal issues. They can range from straightforward decisions with relatively low stakes to complex, morally ambiguous scenarios with far-reaching consequences.

To better understand ethical dilemmas, let’s explore some key aspects:

1. Conflicting Values:  Ethical dilemmas often involve conflicting values or principles. For example, a healthcare professional may face a dilemma when the principle of patient autonomy conflicts with the duty to protect patient confidentiality.

2. Limited Resources:  A scarcity of resources can give rise to ethical dilemmas. When resources are limited, individuals or organizations may face difficult choices in allocating those resources, leading to moral conflicts and challenges.

3. Multiple Stakeholders:  Ethical dilemmas frequently involve multiple stakeholders with interests and perspectives. Balancing these interests and finding a solution that satisfies everyone can be extremely challenging.

4. Uncertainty and Complexity : Ethical dilemmas can arise when there is a lack of clear information, or the consequences of different choices are uncertain. The complexity of the situation further complicates the decision-making process.

5. Moral Obligations:  Ethical dilemmas often involve conflicting moral obligations. For instance, a business executive may need help choosing between maximizing profits for shareholders and ensuring fair treatment for employees.

Key Components of Ethical Decision-Making

Ethical decision-making is a deliberate and systematic process that helps individuals and organizations make choices aligned with moral principles and values. While the specific steps may vary depending on the context, several key components are integral to ethical decision-making. Let’s explore these components:

• Identifying the Ethical Issue:  The first step in ethical decision-making is identifying the ethical issue or dilemma. It involves recognizing the conflict between different values or principles and understanding the underlying moral concerns.
• Gathering Relevant Information:  Ethical decision-making requires comprehensive and accurate information about the ethical issue. It includes understanding the context, considering relevant facts, and exploring different perspectives.
• Considering Different Perspectives:  It is important to consider the viewpoints and interests of all stakeholders involved in the ethical dilemma. It involves actively seeking diverse perspectives and empathetically understanding the concerns and values of others.
• Analyzing Potential Consequences:  Ethical decision-making involves a thorough analysis of the potential consequences of different courses of action. It includes considering short-term and long-term outcomes and their potential impact on other individuals or groups.
• Evaluating Available Alternatives:  Generating and evaluating various alternatives is crucial in ethical decision-making. It involves brainstorming and considering different options that could address the moral issue in a morally acceptable manner.
• Applying Ethical Frameworks and Principles:  Ethical decision-making often involves using established ethical frameworks or principles to guide the decision-making process. These frameworks can provide a structured approach and guidelines for assessing the moral implications of different choices.
• Reflecting on Personal Values:  Ethical decision-making requires self-reflection and introspection. It involves examining one’s values, beliefs, and biases to ensure that personal values do not influence decision-making.

Ethical Decision-Making Models

Ethical decision-making models provide frameworks and processes to guide individuals and organizations in making moral choices. These models offer structured approaches that help assess and analyze ethical dilemmas, consider relevant factors, and arrive at ethically sound decisions. Here are some prominent ethical decision-making models:

• The Utilitarian Model:  The utilitarian model, associated with philosophers like Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, focuses on maximizing overall happiness or utility. Ethical decisions should aim to produce the greatest net benefit for many people. This model involves assessing the potential consequences of different actions and selecting the one that maximizes overall well-being.
• The Deontological Model:  Deontological ethics, influenced by philosopher Immanuel Kant, emphasizes moral duties and principles. According to this model, ethical decisions should be guided by universal moral principles, regardless of their consequences. Key principles include the categorical imperative, which requires treating individuals as ends in themselves and not merely as a means to an end.
• The Virtue Ethics Model: Virtue ethics, rooted in the works of Aristotle, focuses on cultivating virtuous character traits. This model suggests that ethical decisions should be based on personal virtues such as honesty, integrity, courage, and compassion. It emphasizes the development of good character and the pursuit of excellence in ethical behaviour.  
• The Rights-Based Model: The rights-based model focuses on individual rights and justice. IEthicaldecisions should respect and protect the rights of all individuals involved. This model emphasizes fairness, equality, and the notion that individuals have inherent rights that should not be violated.  
• The Ethical Decision Making Process Model provides a step-by-step process for making ethical decisions. It typically involves identifying the moral issue, gathering relevant information, considering alternative options, evaluating the consequences, applying ethical principles or frameworks , deciding, and reflecting on the outcome.  
• The Four-Component Model: Developed by James Rest, the four-component model comprises four sequential stages: moral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral motivation, and moral action. It highlights the importance of recognizing moral issues, making informed judgments, being motivated to act ethically, and translating intentions into ethical actions.  
• The Integrative Ethical Decision-Making Model  combines elements from various ethical frameworks and decision-making processes. It encourages a comprehensive approach by considering consequences, duties, virtues, and rights. It emphasizes the need to weigh different perspectives and make a balanced, ethical decision.

It’s important to note that these models are not mutually exclusive, and their application may vary depending on the situation. Ethical decision-making models serve as valuable guides, helping individuals and organizations navigate ethical dilemmas and make more informed and moral choices.

Factors Influencing Ethical Decision-Making

Ethical decision-making is influenced by many factors that can shape our perception, reasoning, and choices when confronted with ethical dilemmas. These factors can vary depending on individual, cultural, and contextual considerations. Here are some key factors that commonly influence ethical decision-making:

• Personal Values and Beliefs:  Personal values and beliefs play a significant role in ethical decision-making. Our moral compass, shaped by upbringing, culture, and life experiences, guides our perceptions of right and wrong. Our values and beliefs influence the principles we prioritize and the ethical frameworks we apply when making decisions.
• Organizational Culture and Policies:  The culture and policies of the organization or institution we belong to can significantly impact ethical decision-making. Corporate values, norms, and codes of conduct shape the ethical environment and can influence our choices. Strong ethical leadership, commitment to integrity, and clear ethical guidelines foster a culture that supports ethical decision-making.
• Legal and Regulatory Considerations:  Laws and regulations provide a legal framework for ethical decision-making. Legal requirements and compliance obligations can shape the boundaries and constraints within which individuals and organizations make moral choices. Compliance with laws and regulations is often a baseline expectation for ethical behaviour.
• Social and Cultural Influences:  Social and cultural norms, expectations, and pressures can influence ethical decision-making. The values and moral standards upheld by the larger society or community in which we operate can shape our perceptions of acceptable or unacceptable behaviour. Social approval or disapproval, social norms, and the desire to conform can impact our ethical choices.
• Professional Standards and Ethical Codes:  In specific professional contexts, such as healthcare, law, or business, there are often established professional standards and codes of ethics. These standards provide guidance and expectations for ethical behaviour within these professions. Adhering to professional principles and standards can influence ethical decision-making in these domains.
• Cognitive Biases:  Cognitive biases are inherent biases in human thinking that can distort ethical decision-making. Biases such as confirmation bias (favouring information that confirms existing beliefs), availability bias (relying on readily available data), and anchoring bias (being influenced by initial information) can impact the way we perceive and evaluate ethical dilemmas.
• Time Pressure and Stress:  Time pressure and stress can affect ethical decision-making. When faced with time constraints or high-pressure situations, individuals may be more prone to shortcuts, biased thinking, or decisions prioritizing immediate outcomes over long-term ethical considerations.
• Peer Influence and Social Pressure:  The influence of peers, colleagues, or superiors can shape ethical decision-making. Social pressures to conform, fear of disapproval, or the desire to please others can impact our choices. Peer support and ethical role models can also positively influence ethical decision-making.
• Moral Development and Ethical Competence:  Individual moral development and ethical competence   can influence decision-making. Moral reasoning abilities, ethical awareness, and the capacity for righteous judgment can impact the quality and integrity of ethical decision-making.

Recognizing and understanding these factors can help individuals and organizations navigate ethical decision-making more effectively. By actively considering these influences, seeking diverse perspectives, and engaging in reflective and critical thinking, we can enhance our ethical decision-making capabilities and promote ethical behaviour in various contexts.

Ethical Decision Making Process in Practice

Ethical decision-making in practice involves applying principles and processes to real-life situations. It requires individuals and organizations to navigate complex ethical dilemmas and make choices that align with moral values and principles. Here are some key aspects of ethical decision-making in practice:

• Contextual Analysis:  Ethical decision-making requires understanding the specific context in which the dilemma arises. It includes considering the stakeholders involved, the values and norms of the particular setting, and any relevant laws or regulations. Analyzing the context helps identify the situation’s ethical dimensions and determine the appropriate course of action.
• Gathering Information:  To make informed ethical decisions, it is crucial to gather relevant information about the issue. It may involve researching facts, consulting experts, seeking different perspectives, and considering the potential consequences of various choices. Gathering comprehensive information enables a more comprehensive understanding of the ethical implications and aids in evaluating alternatives.
• Applying Ethical Frameworks and Principles:  Ethical decision-making involves using ethical frameworks or principles to guide the decision-making process. It may include considering utilitarianism, deontological ethics, virtue ethics, or other relevant ethical theories. Applying these frameworks helps analyze the situation, evaluate options, and assess the moral implications of different choices.
• Balancing Conflicting Interests:  Ethical decision-making often involves balancing conflicting interests and values. It requires considering the perspectives and needs of all stakeholders involved and seeking equitable and fair solutions. It may involve compromising or finding creative ways to address competing concerns while upholding ethical principles.
• Collaboration and Consultation:  Ethical decision-making benefits from cooperation and consultation with others. Seeking input from diverse stakeholders, engaging in open dialogue, and considering different viewpoints can enrich decision-making. Collaboration also helps address biases, broaden perspectives, and ensure a more inclusive and ethical outcome.
• Ethical Leadership:  In organizational contexts, ethical leadership influences ethical decision-making. Leaders play a crucial role in setting the tone, promoting ethical values, and establishing a culture of integrity. Ethical leaders model honourable behaviour, provide guidance, and create an environment encouraging open discussions about moral dilemmas.
• Ethical Reflection and Evaluation:  After making a moral decision, reflecting on the process and evaluating the outcome is important. This reflection helps in learning from the experience, identifying areas for improvement, and refining ethical decision-making skills. Assessing the consequences of the decision also informs future choices and contributes to continuous moral growth.
• Ethical Courage:  Ethical decision-making often requires courage to stand up for what is right, even facing challenges or potential consequences. It involves maintaining integrity, staying true to ethical principles, and taking risks when necessary.

Ethical decision-making in practice is a continuous process that involves ongoing learning, self-reflection, and improvement. Individuals and organizations must navigate complex moral landscapes with ethical awareness, critical thinking, and a commitment to ethical values. Integrating ethical decision-making into everyday practices can foster a culture of integrity and contribute to positive ethical outcomes in various domains.

Ethical Leadership and Decision-Making

Ethical leadership plays a critical role in shaping ethical decision-making within organizations and influencing the behaviour of individuals. Ethical leaders set the tone, establish expectations, and guide ethical behaviour. They are role models, demonstrating integrity, transparency, and a commitment to moral values. Here are key aspects of the relationship between ethical leadership and decision-making:

• Setting Ethical Standards:  Ethical leaders establish clear ethical standards and expectations for organizational behaviour. They articulate a shared vision of ethical conduct, promoting honesty, fairness, respect, and social responsibility. These standards serve as guiding principles for ethical decision-making at all levels of the organization.
• Creating a Culture of Integrity:  Ethical leaders foster a culture of integrity where ethical decision-making is valued and encouraged. They create an environment that promotes open communication, honest discussions, and the opportunity to raise ethical concerns without fear of reprisal. Such a culture supports individuals in making moral choices and safeguards against unethical behaviour.
• Promoting Ethical Decision Making Processes: Ethical leaders advocate using systematic and principled ethical decision making processes within the organization. They encourage individuals to consider different perspectives, gather relevant information, and apply ethical frameworks when faced with ethical dilemmas. By promoting structured decision-making processes, ethical leaders ensure that moral choices are well thought-out and based on solid ethical reasoning.
• Role Modeling Ethical Behavior:  Ethical leaders lead by example, serving as role models for ethical behaviour. They demonstrate integrity, consistency, and ethical conduct in their actions. By consistently aligning their behaviours with moral values, they inspire others to do the same and reinforce the importance of ethical decision-making.
• Ethical Decision-Making Support:  Ethical leaders support and guide individuals facing ethical dilemmas. They offer resources, mentorship, and opportunities for honest discussions. Ethical leaders are approachable and accessible, creating an environment where individuals feel comfortable seeking guidance and advice when making difficult moral choices.
• Holding Accountable for Ethical Conduct:  Ethical leaders hold individuals accountable for their ethical conduct. They establish mechanisms to ensure adherence to ethical standards and address unethical behaviour promptly and appropriately. By promoting accountability, ethical leaders reinforce the importance of ethical decision-making and create a culture where ethical lapses are not tolerated.
• Long-Term Ethical Perspective:  Ethical leaders adopt a long-term perspective in decision-making. They consider the potential consequences and ethical implications of decisions beyond short-term gains. Ethical leaders prioritize sustainable and socially responsible outcomes, considering the impact of decisions on stakeholders, the environment, and the wider society.
• Ethical Communication:  Ethical leaders foster open and transparent communication. They encourage honest and ethical communication within the organization, ensuring that relevant information is shared and different viewpoints are heard. Ethical leaders create an environment where moral considerations are part of the dialogue, enabling more informed and ethical decision-making.

Ethical leadership has a profound impact on ethical decision-making within organizations. Ethical leaders promote ethical decision making processes by cultivating a culture of integrity, providing guidance, modelling ethical behaviour and contributing to a more ethical organizational climate.

Overcoming Challenges and Ethical Decision-Making Pitfalls

Ethical decision-making can be complex and challenging, with various pitfalls and biases hindering the process. It is important to be aware of these challenges and take steps to overcome them. Here are some common challenges and strategies for overcoming them:

• Cognitive Biases:  Cognitive biases are inherent biases in human thinking that can influence ethical decision-making. Biases such as confirmation, availability, and anchoring biases can distort our perception of ethical dilemmas and hinder objective analysis. Engaging in critical thinking, actively seeking out diverse perspectives, and challenging our assumptions are crucial to overcoming biases. Reflecting on the situation and objectively examining the evidence can help counteract cognitive biases.
• Emotional Influences:  Emotions can strongly influence ethical decision-making. Strong emotions like fear, guilt, or personal attachments can cloud judgment and lead to biased decisions. It is important to recognize and manage emotions in ethical decision-making. Taking a step back, seeking input from others, and considering the long-term moral consequences can help mitigate the impact of emotions.
• Moral Relativism:  Moral relativism is the belief that ethical decisions are subjective and vary from person to person or culture to culture. It can lead to ethical ambiguity and make reaching a consensus on ethical choices challenging. To overcome moral relativism, engaging in ethical reasoning and considering universal principles and values that can guide ethical decision-making is important. Engaging in dialogue and seeking input from diverse perspectives can also help gain a broader understanding of ethical issues.
• Time Constraints and Pressure:  Ethical decision-making can be compromised when there are time constraints or high-pressure situations. The pressure to make quick decisions can lead to shortcuts or overlooking important ethical considerations. To address this challenge, it is important to prioritize ethical decision-making, even in time-sensitive cases. Taking a moment to pause, seeking advice from others, and considering the potential long-term consequences can help make more ethical choices.
• Lack of Information:  There needs to be more complete information to ensure ethical decision-making. With a comprehensive understanding of the moral issue and its implications, it becomes easier to make informed choices. To overcome this challenge, gathering as much relevant information as possible is important. Conducting research, seeking expert advice, and consulting multiple sources can help obtain a complete picture of the ethical dilemma.

  Conflicting Interests and Pressures: Ethical decision-making can become challenging when conflicting interests or external pressures exist. These pressures may come from stakeholders, financial considerations, or the desire to maintain relationships. It is important to identify and address these conflicts openly and transparently. Upholding ethical principles and values, seeking compromise, and considering the long-term impact can help navigate conflicting interests.  

• Lack of Ethical Awareness and Education:  A lack of ethical awareness or education can hinder ethical decision-making. With a solid understanding of ethical frameworks, principles and the ability to analyze ethical dilemmas, individuals may be able to make moral choices. To overcome this challenge, individuals should seek moral education and training opportunities. Developing ethical reasoning skills and staying updated on ethical standards can enhance decision-making capabilities.
• Lack of Accountability:  Ethical decision-making can be compromised when there is a lack of accountability for unethical behaviour. When individuals or organizations are not held accountable for their actions, it can erode trust and discourage ethical decision-making. To address this challenge, it is important to establish clear mechanisms for accountability, such as moral codes of conduct, reporting tools, and consequences for unethical behaviour.

Individuals and organizations can enhance their ethical decision-making capabilities by being aware of these challenges and employing strategies to overcome them. Emphasizing critical thinking, moral reasoning, open communication, and ongoing ethical education can help navigate the complexities of ethical dilemmas and promote a culture of integrity.

The ethical decision making  process is that guides individuals and organizations in navigating complex ethical dilemmas. By considering ethical principles, analyzing consequences, and applying structured decision-making processes, we can strive to make choices that uphold integrity, fairness, and social responsibility .

Throughout this article, we have explored the key components of ethical decision-making, including identifying the moral issue, gathering relevant information, considering different perspectives, analyzing consequences, evaluating alternatives, and applying ethical frameworks. We have also discussed various ethical decision-making models and the factors influencing moral choices.

Ethical decision-making has its challenges. Cognitive biases, emotional influences, time constraints, and conflicting interests can pose obstacles. However, by recognizing these challenges and employing strategies such as critical thinking, reflection, seeking diverse perspectives, and managing emotions, we can overcome these pitfalls and make more informed and ethical decisions.

Ethical leadership is vital in fostering a culture of integrity and influencing ethical decision-making within organizations. Ethical leaders set clear standards, promote ethical behaviour, and provide guidance and support to individuals faced with ethical dilemmas. They serve as role models, ensuring that ethical considerations are integrated into everyday practices.

 Ethical decision-making is a continuous process that requires ongoing learning, self-reflection, and a commitment to moral values. Individuals and organizations can contribute to a more just and responsible society by prioritizing ethical decision-making. Let us strive to embrace ethical decision-making as a fundamental principle, empowering ourselves and others to make choices that promote the greater good and uphold our moral obligations.

FOLLOW SOCIALS

Latest posts.

5 Essential Reasons Why Your Business Needs Insurance

What is Legal and Ethical Environment of Business?

Profit Calculation: A Comprehensive Guide

Business Premises: A Comprehensive Guide

• Application 16
• Business 63
• Business Ethics 50
• Business ethics Movie 3
• business insurance 4
• Important Tips 18
• Managing Company 7
• Marketing 30
• Smart Tech 11
• Technology 8
• Uncategorized 1

Business Offer: Strategies for Success

Featured Topics

Featured series.

A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts.

Explore the Gazette

Read the latest.

Are rich different from you and me? Would we be better off without them?

Millions of workers are also juggling caregiving. Employers need to rethink.

What skeptics get wrong about liberal arts

Illustration by Ben Boothman

Great promise but potential for peril

Christina Pazzanese

Harvard Staff Writer

Ethical concerns mount as AI takes bigger decision-making role in more industries

Second in a four-part series that taps the expertise of the Harvard community to examine the promise and potential pitfalls of the rising age of artificial intelligence and machine learning , and how to humanize them .

For decades, artificial intelligence, or AI, was the engine of high-level STEM research. Most consumers became aware of the technology’s power and potential through internet platforms like Google and Facebook, and retailer Amazon. Today, AI is essential across a vast array of industries, including health care, banking, retail, and manufacturing.

Also in the series

Trailblazing initiative marries ethics, tech

AI revolution in medicine

Imagine a world in which AI is in your home, at work, everywhere

But its game-changing promise to do things like improve efficiency, bring down costs, and accelerate research and development has been tempered of late with worries that these complex, opaque systems may do more societal harm than economic good. With virtually no U.S. government oversight, private companies use AI software to make determinations about health and medicine, employment, creditworthiness, and even criminal justice without having to answer for how they’re ensuring that programs aren’t encoded, consciously or unconsciously, with structural biases.

Its growing appeal and utility are undeniable. Worldwide business spending on AI is expected to hit $50 billion this year and $110 billion annually by 2024, even after the global economic slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a forecast released in August by technology research firm IDC. Retail and banking industries spent the most this year, at more than $5 billion each. The company expects the media industry and federal and central governments will invest most heavily between 2018 and 2023 and predicts that AI will be “the disrupting influence changing entire industries over the next decade.”

“Virtually every big company now has multiple AI systems and counts the deployment of AI as integral to their strategy,” said Joseph Fuller , professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, who co-leads Managing the Future of Work , a research project that studies, in part, the development and implementation of AI, including machine learning, robotics, sensors, and industrial automation, in business and the work world.

Early on, it was popularly assumed that the future of AI would involve the automation of simple repetitive tasks requiring low-level decision-making. But AI has rapidly grown in sophistication, owing to more powerful computers and the compilation of huge data sets. One branch, machine learning, notable for its ability to sort and analyze massive amounts of data and to learn over time, has transformed countless fields, including education.

Firms now use AI to manage sourcing of materials and products from suppliers and to integrate vast troves of information to aid in strategic decision-making, and because of its capacity to process data so quickly, AI tools are helping to minimize time in the pricey trial-and-error of product development — a critical advance for an industry like pharmaceuticals, where it costs $1 billion to bring a new pill to market, Fuller said.

Health care experts see many possible uses for AI, including with billing and processing necessary paperwork. And medical professionals expect that the biggest, most immediate impact will be in analysis of data, imaging, and diagnosis. Imagine, they say, having the ability to bring all of the medical knowledge available on a disease to any given treatment decision.

In employment, AI software culls and processes resumes and analyzes job interviewees’ voice and facial expressions in hiring and driving the growth of what’s known as “hybrid” jobs. Rather than replacing employees, AI takes on important technical tasks of their work, like routing for package delivery trucks, which potentially frees workers to focus on other responsibilities, making them more productive and therefore more valuable to employers.  

“It’s allowing them to do more stuff better, or to make fewer errors, or to capture their expertise and disseminate it more effectively in the organization,” said Fuller, who has studied the effects and attitudes of workers who have lost or are likeliest to lose their jobs to AI.

“Can smart machines outthink us, or are certain elements of human judgment indispensable in deciding some of the most important things in life?”

— Michael Sandel, political philosopher and Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government

Though automation is here to stay, the elimination of entire job categories, like highway toll-takers who were replaced by sensors because of AI’s proliferation, is not likely, according to Fuller.

“What we’re going to see is jobs that require human interaction, empathy, that require applying judgment to what the machine is creating [will] have robustness,” he said.

While big business already has a huge head start, small businesses could also potentially be transformed by AI, says Karen Mills ’75, M.B.A. ’77, who ran the U.S. Small Business Administration from 2009 to 2013. With half the country employed by small businesses before the COVID-19 pandemic, that could have major implications for the national economy over the long haul.

Rather than hamper small businesses, the technology could give their owners detailed new insights into sales trends, cash flow, ordering, and other important financial information in real time so they can better understand how the business is doing and where problem areas might loom without having to hire anyone, become a financial expert, or spend hours laboring over the books every week, Mills said.

One area where AI could “completely change the game” is lending, where access to capital is difficult in part because banks often struggle to get an accurate picture of a small business’s viability and creditworthiness.

“It’s much harder to look inside a business operation and know what’s going on” than it is to assess an individual, she said.

Information opacity makes the lending process laborious and expensive for both would-be borrowers and lenders, and applications are designed to analyze larger companies or those who’ve already borrowed, a built-in disadvantage for certain types of businesses and for historically underserved borrowers, like women and minority business owners, said Mills, a senior fellow at HBS.

But with AI-powered software pulling information from a business’s bank account, taxes, and online bookkeeping records and comparing it with data from thousands of similar businesses, even small community banks will be able to make informed assessments in minutes, without the agony of paperwork and delays, and, like blind auditions for musicians, without fear that any inequity crept into the decision-making.

“All of that goes away,” she said.

A veneer of objectivity

Not everyone sees blue skies on the horizon, however. Many worry whether the coming age of AI will bring new, faster, and frictionless ways to discriminate and divide at scale.

“Part of the appeal of algorithmic decision-making is that it seems to offer an objective way of overcoming human subjectivity, bias, and prejudice,” said political philosopher Michael Sandel , Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government. “But we are discovering that many of the algorithms that decide who should get parole, for example, or who should be presented with employment opportunities or housing … replicate and embed the biases that already exist in our society.”

“If we’re not thoughtful and careful, we’re going to end up with redlining again.”

— Karen Mills, senior fellow at the Business School and head of the U.S. Small Business Administration from 2009 to 2013

AI presents three major areas of ethical concern for society: privacy and surveillance, bias and discrimination, and perhaps the deepest, most difficult philosophical question of the era, the role of human judgment, said Sandel, who teaches a course in the moral, social, and political implications of new technologies.

“Debates about privacy safeguards and about how to overcome bias in algorithmic decision-making in sentencing, parole, and employment practices are by now familiar,” said Sandel, referring to conscious and unconscious prejudices of program developers and those built into datasets used to train the software. “But we’ve not yet wrapped our minds around the hardest question: Can smart machines outthink us, or are certain elements of human judgment indispensable in deciding some of the most important things in life?”

Panic over AI suddenly injecting bias into everyday life en masse is overstated, says Fuller. First, the business world and the workplace, rife with human decision-making, have always been riddled with “all sorts” of biases that prevent people from making deals or landing contracts and jobs.

When calibrated carefully and deployed thoughtfully, resume-screening software allows a wider pool of applicants to be considered than could be done otherwise, and should minimize the potential for favoritism that comes with human gatekeepers, Fuller said.

Sandel disagrees. “AI not only replicates human biases, it confers on these biases a kind of scientific credibility. It makes it seem that these predictions and judgments have an objective status,” he said.

In the world of lending, algorithm-driven decisions do have a potential “dark side,” Mills said. As machines learn from data sets they’re fed, chances are “pretty high” they may replicate many of the banking industry’s past failings that resulted in systematic disparate treatment of African Americans and other marginalized consumers.

“If we’re not thoughtful and careful, we’re going to end up with redlining again,” she said.

A highly regulated industry, banks are legally on the hook if the algorithms they use to evaluate loan applications end up inappropriately discriminating against classes of consumers, so those “at the top levels” in the field are “very focused” right now on this issue, said Mills, who closely studies the rapid changes in financial technology, or “fintech.”

“They really don’t want to discriminate. They want to get access to capital to the most creditworthy borrowers,” she said. “That’s good business for them, too.”

Oversight overwhelmed

Given its power and expected ubiquity, some argue that the use of AI should be tightly regulated. But there’s little consensus on how that should be done and who should make the rules.

Thus far, companies that develop or use AI systems largely self-police, relying on existing laws and market forces, like negative reactions from consumers and shareholders or the demands of highly-prized AI technical talent to keep them in line.

“There’s no businessperson on the planet at an enterprise of any size that isn’t concerned about this and trying to reflect on what’s going to be politically, legally, regulatorily, [or] ethically acceptable,” said Fuller.

Firms already consider their own potential liability from misuse before a product launch, but it’s not realistic to expect companies to anticipate and prevent every possible unintended consequence of their product, he said.

Few think the federal government is up to the job, or will ever be.

“The regulatory bodies are not equipped with the expertise in artificial intelligence to engage in [oversight] without some real focus and investment,” said Fuller, noting the rapid rate of technological change means even the most informed legislators can’t keep pace. Requiring every new product using AI to be prescreened for potential social harms is not only impractical, but would create a huge drag on innovation.

“I wouldn’t have a central AI group that has a division that does cars, I would have the car people have a division of people who are really good at AI.”

— Jason Furman, a professor of the practice of economic policy at the Kennedy School and a former top economic adviser to President Barack Obama

Jason Furman , a professor of the practice of economic policy at Harvard Kennedy School, agrees that government regulators need “a much better technical understanding of artificial intelligence to do that job well,” but says they could do it.

Existing bodies like the National Highway Transportation Safety Association, which oversees vehicle safety, for example, could handle potential AI issues in autonomous vehicles rather than a single watchdog agency, he said.

“I wouldn’t have a central AI group that has a division that does cars, I would have the car people have a division of people who are really good at AI,” said Furman, a former top economic adviser to President Barack Obama.

Though keeping AI regulation within industries does leave open the possibility of co-opted enforcement, Furman said industry-specific panels would be far more knowledgeable about the overarching technology of which AI is simply one piece, making for more thorough oversight.

While the European Union already has rigorous data-privacy laws and the European Commission is considering a formal regulatory framework for ethical use of AI, the U.S. government has historically been late when it comes to tech regulation.

“I think we should’ve started three decades ago, but better late than never,” said Furman, who thinks there needs to be a “greater sense of urgency” to make lawmakers act.

Business leaders “can’t have it both ways,” refusing responsibility for AI’s harmful consequences while also fighting government oversight, Sandel maintains.

More like this

The robots are coming, but relax

The good, bad, and scary of the Internet of Things

Paving the way for self-driving cars

“The problem is these big tech companies are neither self-regulating, nor subject to adequate government regulation. I think there needs to be more of both,” he said, later adding: “We can’t assume that market forces by themselves will sort it out. That’s a mistake, as we’ve seen with Facebook and other tech giants.”

Last fall, Sandel taught “ Tech Ethics ,” a popular new Gen Ed course with Doug Melton, co-director of Harvard’s Stem Cell Institute. As in his legendary “Justice” course, students consider and debate the big questions about new technologies, everything from gene editing and robots to privacy and surveillance.

“Companies have to think seriously about the ethical dimensions of what they’re doing and we, as democratic citizens, have to educate ourselves about tech and its social and ethical implications — not only to decide what the regulations should be, but also to decide what role we want big tech and social media to play in our lives,” said Sandel.

Doing that will require a major educational intervention, both at Harvard and in higher education more broadly, he said.

“We have to enable all students to learn enough about tech and about the ethical implications of new technologies so that when they are running companies or when they are acting as democratic citizens, they will be able to ensure that technology serves human purposes rather than undermines a decent civic life.”

Next: The AI revolution in medicine may lift personalized treatment, fill gaps in access to care, and cut red tape. Yet risks abound.

Share this article

You might like.

Safra Center for Ethics debate weighs extreme wealth, philanthropy, income inequality, and redistribution

Business School report finds rigid hiring policies, work rules, scheduling hurt employees but also productivity, retention, bottom line

In podcast episode, an economist, an educator, and a philosopher make the case it’s as essential as ever in today’s job market

What happened when a meteorite the size of four Mount Everests hit Earth? 

Giant impact had silver lining for life, according to new study

How to apply cool-headed reason to red-hot topics

Michael J. Sandel brings back wildly popular ‘Justice’ course amid time of strained discourse on college campuses

Do phones belong in schools?

Banning cellphones may help protect classroom focus, but school districts need to stay mindful of students’ sense of connection, experts say.