Q1) What it means to be ethical as it relates to personal, academic, and professional growth
Being ethical at a personal level involves developing a high level of moral awareness and action. In academics, education plays an imperative role in promoting social progress by enhancing individual and societal moral development. Education enhances intellectual and moral development. Ethical and psychological principles promote the development of a free and powerful character (Kohlberg, 1975). A more educated person holds a broader view of the world and seeks knowledge and understanding throughout life. As people mature, they tend to follow a distinct career path that facilitates professional development. JWOOD00 (2017) noted that usually, people acquire education before having a family since a profession offers them the security they need to support their offspring's in the future easily. Besides, having a career allows people to secure higher-paying jobs. A college degree is also associated with societal expectations that individuals will be better able to support themselves and their children as opposed to when they were uneducated.
Q2) One ethical dilemma you have encountered and describe how the issue was resolved
This happened one day when my colleague fell sick and got sick off. In her absence, a specific client came, and I realized I had to get information from her computer. The client was in a hurry and stated that his issue could only be resolved at the moment. At the back of my mind, I knew I had my colleagues' passwords since we had shared our passwords. However, it was contrary to the company's protocols; hence I pretended not to know the password in the presence of my supervisor. I knew that I would get severe punishment if I revealed having the password. My colleague was not available on the phone, and as time passed, the client grew impatient and eventually left. In this case, the ethical dilemma was not resolved. As (Hale Chair in Applied Ethics, 2002) stated, ethical dilemmas cannot be resolved due to differing interests, lack of understanding, or other reasons. In my case, I failed to resolve the ethical dilemma since I knew I would face punishment.
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Q3) Describe how your general education courses have influenced your ethical values
Through the course, I have learned the various ethical perspectives, such as virtue ethics (Confucianism), utilitarianism, and deontology. Virtue ethics determine an individual's duty, responsibility, and mission, which in turn shape his character and virtues. Stoics promote this view by observing that the correct performance of duties enables people to live virtuously since this is the universal law (Hill, 2015). Virtuous agents are just and refrain from harming others. Utilitarianism stresses that the morality of an action is determined by the consequences, while deontology evaluates the morality of an action based on the rules that should be followed and individual duties towards each other (Qun, 2010). These ethical theories have played an imperative role in influencing my behaviors. For example, in every action I engage in, I have to determine whether it is moral or immoral based on the ethical theories I learned in the course. I usually prefer using the utilitarian perspective, where the morality of an action is determined by the number of people set to benefit. In this case, actions are deemed to be moral when they benefit the largest number of people in society.
References
Hale Chair in Applied Ethics. (2002). Doing good and avoiding evil: Part 1. Principles and reasoning by Lisa Newton. II. Decision procedures for ethics: DEAL carrying on without resolution. https://www.rit.edu/cla/ethics/resources/manuals/dgae1p7.html
Hill, L. (2015). Classical stoicism and the birth of a global ethics: Cosmopolitan duties in a world of local loyalties. Social Alternatives. 34(1): 14-18
JWOOD00. (December 18, 2017). Responsibilities of an educated person. HubPages. https://discover.hubpages.com/education/Responsibilities-of-an-educated-person
Kohlberg, L. (1975). Moral education for a society in moral transition. Educational Leadership. Pp. 46-54.
Qun, G. (2010). Virtue ethics and modern society- A response to the thesis of the modern predicament of virtue ethics. Frontiers in Philosophy, China. 5(2): 255- 265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11466-010-0014-5
