A634.9.4.RB_PALUGODCAROLYN

This course has enriched my understanding of the ethical process and the benefits of ethical theorization.  It has also opened my eyes to my own moral standards and ethical behaviors.  Sometimes we take our actions for granted because they have become so automated and mundane.  But this class has forced me to take a closer look at my thinking patterns, my moral practices and the importance that I place on my moral values.

I think one of the biggest lessons I have learned in this course is the importance of living in sync with your true moral values.  I realize now, after finish the course, that I have not been in line with my true values.  Things such as the importance of treating animals with love and respect have been severely scrutinized.  For example, how can I judge someone for torturing a cat or starving their dog when I am eating chicken that has been raised and processed in a modern farming facility?  I may not be torturing that animal myself but I am supporting an industry that is.  This is not living in sync with my moral values.  How can I preach the importance of a tight family unit when I see my mother or brother only once every few weeks?  The hypocrisy and contradiction of my actions proves that I am not ethically theorizing my own behaviors.

The next biggest lesson I have learned is that the practice of ethics is not as simple as good and bad.  I realize now that our perspectives are severely jaded by so many factors.  I used to think that I was a very open-minded and rational person, but I realize now that I was not ethically theorizing through my own beliefs.  LaFollette explained that one of the reasons we fail in this is because “we lack the relevant empirical information we need to make wise personal choices” (2007, p. 7).  I realize how truth in this statement.  I believe that I have become morally lazy, preferring to make decisions based on what I have in my knowledge bank instead of taking the time and effort to collect more facts.  I think more personal and philosophical reflection of my own thinking is absolutely necessary if I am to make moral decisions.

Thirdly, I learned that morality is not something to be practiced on special occasions or for big causes.  It is something that should be done daily.  I always thought I was behaving ethically on a daily basis therefore I never took the time to evaluate my behavior.  Now looking back, I realize that the lack of awareness and attention to my own actions causes me to act immorally without even realizing it.  Everyday behaviors that I never paid any mind too I realize are not behaviors I would consider correct.  LaFollete (2007) said that “we regularly make exceptions for ourselves and for views we endorse.  I believe this statement is very true.  In this aspect, I believe I need to increase my awareness of my own actions and how I interact with the rest of the world.  I have been extremely surprised by my own moral standards and how I have let myself depreciate ethically.

I think this course has been very effective in revealing things to me that were concealed by my own ego and inability to collect the information needed to make good decisions.  Most importantly, we need to be highly conscious of the consequences of our actions.  Sometimes it is like a domino effect.  We may only see how one action leads to the other but if we are aware, we can see how subsequent effects of our actions continue to hurt us in the long run.

References

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.

A634.8.3.RB_PALUGODCAROLYN

I do believe that citizens have the right to bear arms although I feel like having guns is not necessary for a safe community.  I live in Spain, a country where the regulation of guns is highly restrictive (Library of Congress, n.d.).  Spanish law considers the right to bear arms a privilege and not a right that must meet very strict conditions.  For example, firearms used for protection are restricted to situations where a real threat to security exists (Library of Congress, n.d.).  I personally feel that the gun control laws in Spain are a better option then what is available in the United States.  But, I do also acknowledge that as LaFollette (2007) explains, the demographics in the United States is very different from other European countries and therefore it’s difficult to make a similar comparison as to whether or not the need for guns for protection is actually needed.  I am however of the belief that having such dangerous weapons so readily available increases the chances and risks of death and injury and therefore stricter restrictions in the U.S. should be considered.  I don’t believe complete prohibition is the solution, as history has shown prohibition does not work (Jones, 2012).  We have seen what prohibition had done for alcohol in the past and what it does for drugs.  Countries such as Holland for example have lower drug addiction rates and they do have very lenient drug legislation laws, allowing citizens to choose for themselves.  There is not any strong empirical evidence that shows that complete prohibition of guns would lower death rates (LaFollette, 2007).  Therefore, this leaves us with the option of having stricter gun laws that can help protect citizens but at the same time allowing citizens the right to bear arms.  I feel this is a very difficult debate to win, especially since guns are so culturally embedded in the American culture and symbolic of our national freedom.  Unfortunately, it seems that gun control laws are starting to unravel and we are being faced with such absurd laws such as the one in Florida called “Stand Your Ground” (Cesca, 2014).  According to this law it “authorizes deadly force if a person ‘reasonably believes’ he or she is threatened with ‘great bodily harm’ or ‘death,’ and it doesn’t matter if there’s an opportunity to walk away from the fracas” (Cesca, 2014).  Ridiculous laws like these are part of the reason why allowing citizens to bear arms becomes dangerous and risky.  

I believe with ethical and moral gun control laws that take into consideration the safety and lives of the citizens of society, I would be comfortable with the concept of bearing arms.

References

Cesca, B. (2014, January 16). The American gun culture: Standing your ground against the deadly use of popcorn. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/the-american-gun-culture-_b_4611540.html

Jones, E. G. (2012, December 18). Why the US Should Not Ban Guns

Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ellen-grace-jones/why-the-us-should-not-ban-guns_b_2321309.html

Library of Congress. (n.d.). http://www.loc.gov/law/help/firearms-control/spain.php

 

A634.7.4.RB_PALUGODCAROLYN

After watching these videos I would like to use the example of my yearly evaluation at work as a testimony of my directors ethical leadership.  I have been working with my boss for the last 6 years.  It is only the two of us in the office but over the years she has proven to be a very fair and ethical leader.  I great example is my yearly evaluation.  Every year, our bosses have to evaluate our performance.  Every year she has been very fair in her grading and also has allowed me to be participatory in the evaluation process.

For example, this year has been a very challenging year for me.  I separated and consequently became divorced, had to move out of my home, live temporarily with my mother and basically start from scratch.  This life changing even affected my performance at work and my performance declined.  During our evaluation she brought up her dissatisfaction with my job performance and gave me an opportunity to defend myself.  We discussed my personal life and challenges and she was very understanding.  Based on the explanation, she decided to modify the current evaluation and increase my points since she was able to discern that my situation was unique.  I think a clear example of her ability to exert what I would deem ethical intelligence was that she was willing and able to change her opinion and rating of my performance after discussing the issues with me.  She did not penalize me harshly just based on my performance but factored the challenges I had faced.  Weinstein pointed out some important ethical practices one being the ability to give criticism (Weinstein, 2012).  My director provided me with constructive criticism in a way that was productive and compassionate.  She was empathetic with my case and was able to communicate her criticism to me in a way that was ethical.  Weinstein describes five ethical principles which are: Do no harm, make things better, respect others, be fair, and be loving (Weinstein, 2011).  I believe that my director demonstrates these principles in her treatment of her employees and colleagues.  She does not have a hidden agenda and has a loyal sense to the organization as well as her peers.  This behavior is evident through her actions on a daily basis. I in turn also behaved correctly through ethical intelligent apologies.  I understood her criticism and did not take it personally.  I was able to divulge the information and understand that her ultimate goal was to help me to improve and be an effective and efficient employee.  Through my understanding of ethics and moral behavior I was able to understand the ultimate motivation for her criticism which was to help me.

Gallagher describes different degrees of unethical behavior in the workplace (Gallagher, 2013).  It’s difficult to gauge certain behaviors and decide whether or not it actually is ethical or not.  One example of an unethical behavior that was observed at my job was regarding the purchase of some office equipment.  One of our old directors supposedly purchased a modem for our office.  Yet, the receipt that he turned in was obviously a bogus hand-written receipt.  The modem also came to us in a bag and not a box.  He claimed that he had gotten the floor model. My boss and I suspected that he had brought in a used modem from his house that he wasn’t using and then hand-wrote a receipt and kept the money for himself.  We never blew the whistle on him because he volunteered so much of his own time in troubleshooting many of our IT hardware issues.  Neither my director nor I understand much about computer hardware so he was always the one installing and fixing things and making sure your office ran well. He also bought things out of his own pocket (cords, wires, and other supplies) that were needed for installation.  We decided that overall, he had ethically contributed to making sure we were able to run our office and therefore we could not condemn him for such a small issue such as falsifying a receipt.  The bottom line was that he had saved our office a lot of money by fixing things his self.

All in all, although our office is small, I believe in some way, we have all contributed to what is called an Ethically Intelligent Organization.  This is described as “ the collective capacity of an

organization’s employees to gauge the fit between the organization and its external environment” (O’Donohue & Wickham, 2010, p. 5). I believe that at my campus we have collectively been able to create an ethical atmosphere that we all adhere to and apply these principles to how we conduct our business with each other and our students.

References

Gallagher, C. [ChuckGallagher]. (2013, January 27). 12:17 / 14:20Business ethics keynote speaker - Chuck Gallagher - shares straight talk about ethics! [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUJ00vNGCPE#t=737

O’Donohue, W., & Wickham, M. (2010). The role of ethical intelligence and organizational infrastructure in organizational decision-making (Doctoral dissertation, University of Tasmania). Retrieved from http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/handle/10072/38088/68153_1.pdf;jsessionid=EBE99F45D08C95933BA785B81412CCB7?sequence=1

Weinstein, B. (2011). Introducing the principles. In Ethical intelligence (pp. 1-9). Retrieved from http://theethicsguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Chapter-1-Ethical-Intelligence-All-Rights-Reserved.pdf

Weinstein, B. [TheEthicsGuy]. (2012, August 24). Keynote speech excerpts from the ethics guy  [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLxbHBpilJQ#t=123

A634.6.3.RB_PALUGODCAROLYN

After taking the virtue quiz the results were not surprising (PBS, n.d.).  The three areas which were suggested that I improve on were: Temperance, Frugality and Order.  I have always known myself to live life very intensely and without a lot of boundaries.  Although I was raised to appreciate the things I have and consider myself to be very nonmaterialistic, I also am very spontaneous and impulsive.  This impulsivity gets me into a lot of trouble since I tend to weigh out consequences after the fact. Over the years the impulsivity has dwindled significantly, mostly because I have learned through many mistakes.  But I think that much of this behavior is part of my character and is difficult to change.  The three virtues that the quiz results suggest I improve on would definitely make a significant improvement in my life.  

            Benjamin Franklin described the virtue of temperance as “eat not to dullness. Drink not to elevation (Ben’s 13 virtues, n.d.).  I interpret this as “don’t be a pig and a drunk”.  I absolutely love food, and although I don’t consider myself a drunk, I do love my wine.  Because I am a very athletic person, I have always allowed myself to indulge in practically anything that I like to eat (within reason).  I do stay away most of the time from fried food, sugar and most artificial and processed products.  But, even with these limitations I still overindulged.  I think I could incorporate this virtue into my life by being vigilant, knowing the relevant facts and the consequences as LaFollette (2007) would say.  He goes on to explain that:

We may fail to understand the importance of self-regarding virtues like self-control.  Or we may know that we should be more disciplined, persistent, or insightful, yet not know how to inculcate these traits.  We may also lack the relevant empirical information we need to make wise personal choices (p. 8).

On understanding these limitations and challenges, he assures us that by putting in the work and the practice we can learn to make prudent decisions.  In the aspect of gaining the virtue of temperance, I think that I need to be more disciplined and most importantly have the vivid imagination to see the consequences of these behaviors (LaFollette, 2007).  By adopting the virtue of temperance I am also acknowledging the lack of others and in a way it is a process that I can experience comradeship with those who have less than I do.  

            The second virtue that I scored poorly on was Frugality.  Ben defined this as: “make no expense but to do good to others or yourself: i.e., Waste nothing” .As I mentioned earlier, I am not a materialistic person.  I also was trained from a very young age that money doesn’t grow on trees.  However, my sense of generosity and compassion does hamper my spending behavior.  I think I am meeting this virtue in the middle.  Because I am impulsive and because I love sharing my wealth, I find myself sometimes just throwing my money away on the people I love.  Money means nothing if I cannot share it.  This of course has gotten me into some debt and therefore I need to learn to curb these habits.  I came upon an interesting blog with many tips on how to be frugal and still have a good life.  Many of these tips may seem common sense, but there were some great ideas that I plan on implementing in my life.  For a list of the author’s tips, here is the link: http://zenhabits.net/the-cheapskate-guide-50-tips-for-frugal-living/.   One important tip that the author makes is that being frugal leads to so many more ethical and healthy choices such as exercising more, spending more time with family and saving money for retirement (Babauta, 2007).   In the same way that Temperance teaches me empathy for those who have less, Frugality also is a virtue that can put me in the shoes of others and teach me to experience life with less.

          The last of Ben Franklin’s virtues that I could definitely work on is Order and is defined as: “let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time”.  I am not an orderly person, yet I am a very clean person.  Because I believe in a minimalist life style, I don’t tend to have a lot of clutter.  But, there is still no order in the things I do own, at least not one that makes sense.  This lack of order does cause a lot of stress and chaos in my life.  I was given a book for Christmas that is saving my life in this aspect.  The book is called the life-changing magic of tidying up and proves to be the bible for decluttering your house (Kondo, 2011/2014).  Kondo makes a lot of interesting points in her book regarding the magic of tidying.  She explains that “a dramatic reorganization of the home causes correspondingly dramatic changes in lifestyle and perspective” (p. 2-3).  I can understand how this can be true.  When our lives are cluttered, so are our minds.  I also see how maintaining order in your life can also lead to better ethical and moral behaviors.  Kondo reiterates that “people cannot change their habits without first changing their way of thinking” (2011/2014, p. 15).  By forcing order into our lives we also train our minds into a habit of change.  I do believe that this will extend itself into better moral decisions.  I would like to conclude with something from Kondo’s book that really puts the virtue of Order into perspective.  She says “to truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose” (Kondo, 2011/2014, p. 61). When we put our lives in order and declutter our lives we are in essence also discarding those beliefs and thought processes that don’t resonate with us.  I like to think of putting things in order as a metaphor for putting our ethical and moral ideas in order.  We have to continuously revisit and review our beliefs and values and be willing to make modifications as we learn, grow and evolve.

References

Babauta, L. (2007, August 28). The cheapskate guide: 50 tips for frugal living [Blog post]. Retrieved from  Zen Habits: http://zenhabits.net/the-cheapskate-guide-50-tips-for-frugal-living/

Ben’s 13 virtues. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html

Kondo, M. (2014). the life-changing magic of tidying up (C. Hirano, Trans.). New York, NY: Ten Speed Press. (Original work published 2011)

La Follette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

PBS. (n.d.). http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/exp_virtue_results.html?a=142313333334