More Subjects
Ethical Decision-Making Process
[Name of the Writer]
[Name of the Institution]
Ethical Decision-Making Process
Ethics can be regarded as the moral principles that defend as well as systematize the concepts of right and wrong behaviour or what ought to be done in any situation. Ethics can be taught or not is a question which is very important to be considered. As according to research, it has been suggested that ethics cannot be taught. However, based upon already existing literature as well as my personal experience on the topic, I support the stance that ethics, morals and the ethical behaviors can be taught and learned.
“Ethics can be taught or not” is a debate, which is not recent because almost 2500 years ago a famous philosopher, Socrates also debated this question. Thus, the major perspective of the Socrates was that ethics contains knowledge about what we should do and what we should not to, so as like any knowledge, this type of knowledge can also be taught.
However, if we consider the recent arguments and aspects in this regard that so many of the psychologist and behaviorist today also agrees with the Socrates on his ideas (Kaufmann, 2018). As many of the psychologists working in the field of moral development, support with major logical findings that ethics can be taught as well as learnt.
The findings suggest that the major changes in the young adults, about their problem-solving strategies and the way they are used for dealing with the ethical issues, happen during their 20s and 30s. Furthermore, these changes are regarded as the fundamental principles that develop the perception of society and the role they are playing in society. Also, these changes are found to be linked in relation to the years of formal or professional education. The attempts with the help of formal education can influence the way of individual, solving their moral problems as well as making them to develop and use their judgment and reasoning in the way of dealing with moral problems as it has been founded by the researches as a very effective way (Kristjánsson, 2018). Hence, it has been supported that during these years of development people can be made to learn these skills, and ethics can be taught.
Moreover, developmental psychologists have argued that based on the development stages it is possible to teach ethics to a child as well as to an adult. According to Kohlberg, the ability of person for dealing with the moral issues is not formed at one attempt, but as like the other developments such as physical, biological, etc. the person's ability for developing a sense of moral thinking is also developed in different stages. He further proposed that, like any other development of the person's life, this particular development about the ethics also develops all over the lifetime. This development depends on many factors such as education, significant others, social circle, society and experiences (Kristjánsson, 2018). Kohlberg also argued that these factors to some extent can make a person to deviate from the ethical behaviors as well, for example, if the experiences of a person are negative by following the ethical and moral principle he might change his ethical perspective. Also, if a child is raised or surrounded by a person who’s moral and ethical ideas are disruptive (for example, a terrorist), it will eventually affect the moral development of the child as well. Hence, it supports the idea that ethics can be taught and learned through multiple modes.
Based on all these, findings and my experience, I support the perspective that ethics can be taught. As there are multiple ethical and moral principles in a person's life, depending upon the roles that person is playing consisting of professional, personal, social and spiritual ethics. Hence, many of them can be taught by the help of course or instructional framework (Drumwright, Prentice & Biasucci, 2015). Others can be taught by modeling and experience. However, some of the ethical and moral sets can be taught with the help of constant reinforcement by using set of rewards and consequences for following the ethics such as asking not stealing, etc. and that is why ethics can be learned.
References
Drumwright, M., Prentice, R., & Biasucci, C. (2015). Behavioral ethics and teaching ethical decision making. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 13(3), 431-458.
Kaufmann, L. (2018). Can ethics be taught?. Journal for the Study of Religion, 31(1), 207-223.
Kristjánsson, K. (2018). Epiphanic Moral Conversions: Going Beyond Kohlberg and Aristotle. In Self-Transcendence and Virtue (pp. 15-38). Routledge.
More Subjects
Join our mailing list
© All Rights Reserved 2024