Dilemmas: Black and White?

Questions What is a dilemma? How do you define “ethics”? A situation that requires a choice between two evenly balanced alternatives. How do you define “ethics”? Morality and ethics are really synonyms. Sometimes people use “ethics” to refer to the rules and principles that guide our conduct as it affects others. “Morality” is then used to refer to rules and principles that guide private conduct. What is an ethical dilemma? Sometimes a leader’s decision is not one of simply choosing between right and wrong. Instead a leader must at times choose between two seemingly right choices. In these cases, a leader is confronted with a true ethical dilemma.

Individual vs Community Right vs Right Choices Ethical Dilemmas Truth vs Loyalty Justice vs Mercy Individual vs Community   Long term vs Short term Source: Rushworth M. Kidder, How Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical Living (1992).

Right vs Right Choices Dilemma Resolution Ends-based thinking - what’s best for the greatest number of people   Rule-based thinking – adhere to the highest sense of principle Care-based thinking – follow the golden rule Source: Rushworth M. Kidder, How Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical Living (1992).

Reflections upon Glory Should Shaw have burned the town? What factors are important to this decision? Should external factors such as the greater good of further freedom and credibility of the black soldiers mitigate the actions ordered by Shaw Which of Kidder’s 4 Paradigms best captures Shaw’s dilemma? Why? Which Resolution Principle would you employ to make a decision in this case? Why?

Watch your thoughts, they become your words.   Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your deeds. Watch your deeds, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny. Anonymous

Back-up Slides

CASE STUDY: Fraternization Consider the following situation… While stationed overseas I attended a party hosted by a Lieutenant Colonel who was a friend of mine and also was the commander of the Squadron. He was arm-in-arm with a female who I did not know. One of his troops came up to me and said, “do you think he is going to get lucky tonight?” I asked who she was and was told she was an enlisted member who worked in another squadron. I grabbed a friend of mine and told him it was time to leave and we left immediately. I did not tell anyone what little I saw. I later heard that the Lt Col and the enlisted female went into a bedroom, stayed for a certain amount of time, then rejoined the party. What are the issues and potential effects on the unit?   What are the personal issues? How would YOU have handled the situation?

Reflections on Case Study What should you do? Which of Kidder’s 4 Paradigms best captures my dilemma? Why? Which Resolution Principle would you employ to make a decision in this case? Why?

What is Ethical Conduct? What is Character? 1. “Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established” (Confucius).   2. “Moral excellence; right conduct (self-control, moderation) in relation on oneself and in relation to others” (Aristotle). 3. “Avoid what is evil; do what is good; purify the mind; this the teaching of the Awakened One [Buddha]. ” (The Pali Canon). 4. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) 5. “The group of moral virtues a person possesses” (Webster). 6. “Moral knowing, feeling, and behavior: knowing the good, desiring the good, and doing the good.” (Lickona) 7. “Character describes a person’s inner strength and is the link between values and behaviors.” (FM 22-100). 8. “God changes not what is in a people, until they change what is in themselves.” (The Koran). 9. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” (Martin Luther King Jr.).

An Ethical Vocabulary 1. Morality: The rules and principles that guide conduct, especially with respect to how conduct affects others. A morality is formed to serve values. For example, conventional morality has rules and principles that serve conventional values. The most adequate morality would serve universal moral values.   2. ETHICS: Morality and ethics are really synonyms. Sometimes people use “ethics” to refer to the rules and principles that guide our conduct as it affects others. “Morality” is then used to refer to rules and principles that guide private conduct. 3. MILITARY ETHICS: The rules and principles that guide a person’s conduct as a result of their having taken on a role within the military profession. For example, a military professional must be morally courageous in circumstances in which non-professionals need not be. 4. MORAL/ETHICAL PRINCIPLES: General guidelines for ethical decision-making, such as: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you;” “Treat every person as an end not a means;” “Seek the greatest good for the greatest number;” and “Act as you would have had all other persons act in a similar situation.” 5. MORAL/ETHICAL RULES: Specific guidelines for ethical decision-making such as: “A military contracting officer may not accept anything of value from a government contractor during the period of contract and for a six month period following separation from military service.” 6. VIRTUE: a lived moral value; a moral quality of a person (e.g., trustworthiness, compassion, mutual respect, and moral courage). 7. GOOD CHARACTER: “Character -- the sum of those qualities of moral excellence, which stimulates a person to do the right thing, which is manifested through right and proper actions, despite internal or external pressures to the contrary.” USAF Academy 8. MORAL [or ETHICAL] RELATIVISM: The position that states either that (1) there is no standard of right and wrong, (2) no one has the right to make moral judgments, (3) right and wrong is unknowable because of different societies and cultures, and (4) no one should judge others concerning right and wrong. 9. CORE VALUES : They are the organization’s basic precepts of what is important both personally and professionally. These values suggest how our profession should be conducted and what is held as universal. Your success depends on your ability to internalize these values and espouse them through your actions.