Ethics play an important role in our lives. The decisions we make have an effect on the type of people we are. So what is ethics? Are they the same for everyone? No, they cannot be. The dictionary defines ethics as a set of moral principles. Because each person perceives a situation differently, something that is ethical for one person may not be for another. For example, I had a friend who was caught stealing money from the cash register at work. When confronted by our manager, she lied about everything. She was eventually fired, but believed she had a strong reasoning for stealing the money. There are six different ethical points of view; experientialist, systemic, transcendentalist, conventionalist, individualist, and legitimist. Each point of view would analyze this situation differently. I am going to apply these views to the aforementioned situation and analyze how each style would respond to the theft of money.
The first point of view is experiential. Experientialists are people who base their decisions on emotions. This person would go with his “gut”. In the example above, a person with the experiential point of view will most likely say that it is unethical to steal money and lie about it. Their decision would affect them emotionally, so it would be very difficult for them to judge this situation without knowing all the facts. If they know that stealing is wrong, they would call it unethical behavior. The following point of view, systemic, has similar characteristics.
The store manager in the example above would likely have a systems point of view. Systemics like to base their decisions on what is right for everyone involved. In other words, if it is mostly good, then it is ethical. But, if it is bad, then it is considered unethical. Shoplifting would automatically be considered unethical because the manager’s business is going to suffer the consequences.
The third point of view is the transcendentalists. The transcendentalists based their decisions on the obligation to respond to a deep inner sense of what is right, good, inner, and divine. Basically, your decisions are based on religion. In the present situation, a transcendentalist would have a very clear position that stealing is bad. No matter what the reason for stealing the money was, transcendentalists would still consider it wrong and unethical. The following point of view differs greatly from this.
Unlike the transcendentalist, conventionalists base their decisions on whether other people think it is right or wrong. In other words, if everyone else thinks it’s okay, then it must be ethical. The downside to this approach is that there is no clear point of view. Unlike the transcendentalist, what is wrong is wrong and vice versa. However, with this, one may believe that something is unethical at first, but after listening to the thoughts of others, they may consider it appropriate. The transcendentalist follows the example set by society. Therefore, society will dictate what action should or should be taken in any situation.
The fifth style of decision is that of the individualist. This style differs from the rest in that the views are based on ensuring your own safety and interests. Individualists think in the attitude of “what will benefit me.” Looking back at the example, the girl has her own reasons for stealing the money. However, the manager has to worry about the future of his business. Each of them has their own interests in mind and the interests of the others second. The next and final decision style, the loyalist, varies greatly from the other styles.
The legitimist has a clear vision of ethical decisions. This person believes in the policies and rules and that those rules were set to be followed. Following the rules would be ethical for a loyalist because he believes that the rules are established for the betterment of society. Looking back at the example, the worker would not have stolen the money if she were a loyalist. In addition, the manager followed the views of the loyalists when he fired her for stealing.
Although each decision style has its own characteristics, many of them are similar. Because of this, I think most people make their decisions with mixed opinions. That is, certain information can influence the opinions of some people. For example; the store manager in the example may be a loyalist because he has to agree to the laws of the store. However, if the reason for stealing the money was to buy food for her hungry children, the manager may feel sorry for her and review it. In that case, your emotions would trigger the experiential decision style.
There are many things that affect the decision styles we use. The way we were raised is probably the most influential. However, as we grow older, those views may change. For example, when I was younger, stealing didn’t seem like a big deal as long as you had a reason to do it. Now that I have worked as an administrator I believe that stealing is stealing and there is no excuse for it. Obviously, my views have changed from my experience and I believe that the views of others may change as they too experience new things.
My friend who stole the money told me she needed it to buy gas and get home. After hearing this, my opinion on the situation changed. I felt bad because she didn’t have enough money to get home. Given this information, I think most of the views listed above would slightly change your opinion, unless you were the loyalist because they believe that right is right and wrong is wrong, period.
So what is ethical? According to the six different points of view; experientialist, systemic, transcendentalist, conventionalist, individualist and legitimist there are many ways to define the ethical. Until the day comes when all people on earth share the same point of view, the definition of “ethical” will vary from person to person.