True Diversity: Ethics Discussion GEN 480: Interdisciplinary Capstone Course This paper is meant to discuss how my personal ethics were derived and how they are applied to a workplace situation

True Diversity: Ethics Discussion

In order to discuss my ethical values, how I came upon my ethical values and how I apply them to difficult situations, one must first understand the definition of ethics, both my own and that provided by various texts, as well as the difference between ethics, morals and values. Only then can the discussion continue into what are my ethics, how they were developed, how are they manifested and the implications of these ethics in my decision-making process. Finally, for the purpose of this paper, I will apply these ethics to a situation at work that has some complex legal and moral ethical issues.

Definition of Ethics

According to Ruggiero (1997), ethics is the study of right and wrong in a person's conduct. Broken down further, it is the discipline involving the collection and analysis of data on what different cultures believe, without consideration for the appropriateness of those beliefs (Ruggiero, 1997).

Detail of The School of Athens by Raffaello Sanzio...

English: , Prussian philosopher. Português: , fil...

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice

Holmes (2002) considers ethics as the study of morality through different approaches such as moral philosophy or moral legalism. Moral philosophy takes into account the moral wisdom and value of the role of ethics in daily activities. Moral legalism includes the following principles, of which most standard Western ethical theorists follow (Holmes, 2002):

Ethical Egoism: One ought always to maximize one's own personal good.

Divine Command Theory: Whatever God commands is right.

Natural Law Ethics: One ought always to act in accordance with nature.

Kantianism: One ought always to act on maxims that can be universalized.

Utilitarianism: One ought always to maximize the general good.

Principle of Justice: One ought always to act justly.

All of these definitions of ethics mentions the human nature of doing what is right or moral, regardless of the cultural definitions of values.

Ethics versus Morals, Beliefs...