Chaplaincy: an applied ethics approach Trevor L Jordan, BA, BD, PhD President, Jigsaw Queensland encouragingethics@gmail.com

What is ethics? A capacity to communicate about our preferred courses of action/inaction and a willingness to act on them. There is a ‘we’ to ethics ‘In learning morality we learn who we are, to whom we are connected and what matters enough to care about and care for.’ Margaret Urban Walker Moral understandings: a study in feminist ethics, NY, Routledge, 1998, p. 201.

Ethics is a conversation Doing ethics is not just about making decisions, or finding the answer; it is about creating a space in the flow of events to have a conversation about who we are, to whom we are connected and what matters enough to care about and care for.

For chaplains That conversation is at the intersection of Personal ethics Professional ethics Organisational ethics Relational ethics

How much ethics do we need? Too much may not be a good thing ‘moral communities’ Devolved, traditional, unchanging, punitive, ‘gated’, us vs them What we need is more ‘ethical communities’ involved, engaged, transformative, open, mediating and negotiating

Helpful insights from feminist ethics Ethics is not just about principles It also involves people Ethics involves value, identities and relationships ‘In learning morality we learn who we are, to whom we are connected and what matters enough to care about and care for.’ Margaret Urban Walker Moral understandings: a study in feminist ethics, NY, Routledge, 1998, p. 201.

Ethics involves a broad set of skills Not just intellectual skills... but also skills of … perception (noticing and attending) – seeing what is going on communicating (describing events and feelings) - talking about what is going on responding (listening, empathy, negotiating) – doing something about it All these skills are aimed at … seeking shared understandings

New models of ethical engagement From Quasi-regulation, ethics and ‘Law –Lite’ You can’t legislate for kindness’ Passing the road rules test never made anyone a proficient driver. to Transformation creating moral spaces … personal & institutional … by creating and sustaining relationships that … mutually recognise needs and aspirations

Understanding (interpretative dimension) A multidimensional toolkit for exploring ethics (Isaacs & Massey model) Understanding (interpretative dimension) what is going on here? What are the frameworks of the various participants? What do they think they are doing? Appreciating (identity dimension) is the richness, complexity and particularity of others being acknowledged – voices and stories Do people have the power to choose? What constrains them? Evaluating (judgment dimension) What values, principles, or virtues are important in this situation, or are embodied in these stories? Not just mine but others. Acting (transformative dimension) What strategies for change are appropriate? Are there possibilities to inform, educate, mobilise, mediate or resist?

Where does information about values, identity and relationships come from? We will tell our stories! The basic form for representing moral problems is not a theory or conceptual framework but a narrative (a story or history) an embedded account of the adjustment of our situation to our values or of our selves to our situation Walker, Margaret Urban. 1993. ‘Keeping moral space open: new images of ethics consulting’. Hastings Center Report 23, no, 2, 33-40.

Values and principles revisited (many to chose from) autonomy, justice, not harming others doing good Caring for others; Honesty; Accountability; Promise-keeping; Excellence and self-improvement; Loyalty; Fairness; Integrity; Respect for others; Responsible citizenship courage, perseverance, hope, faith, truth, beauty, freedom and love (the Baz Luhmann virtues in Moulin Rouge)

For Chaplains …?