Introduction
Depending on the stance a person adopts, a decision is either viewed as ethical or unethical. People encounter situations that call into question their morals and principles. This essay will assess these strategies, employ one of them to resolve a common case, and construct a conclusion at the end of the investigation.
Ethical and Unethical Decisions
This entails taking into account both the gains and losses that a choice will bring about. If a choice has a greater good than a greater bad, it is said to be ethical. An action is considered to be moral if its results bring happiness to more people than it harms, (Fornari, 2015).
Rights Approach
This involves a consideration of the benefits and the pains that a decision will cause. A decision is considered to be ethical if its results benefit more people than it harms. An action is considered to be moral if its results bring happiness to more people than it harms, (Fornari, 2015).
Rights Approach
This is concerned with the evaluation of the rights that the people have. The decision is therefore made in favor of the course of action that represents the rights of the people. This approach follows the assumption that all individuals can make their decisions freely. Actions are considered to be moral if they represent everyone's moral rights, (Ferrel et al., 2015).
Fairness or Justice Approach
The fairness or justice approach considers the action that treats everyone equally to be moral, unless where there is a morally justifiable reason not to. An action is considered moral if it does not show discrimination or favoritism, (Ess, 2002).
Common Good Approach
The common good approach considers the actions that advance the common good as the ethical decisions. This enables people to find out if the actions they are about to take will be of any good to the community as well as the individuals, (Ford et al., 2013).
Virtue Approach
This approach supports the decisions that develop moral virtues. Every person has internal virtues that he or she intends to hold onto. This approach has a concern on how actions influence character, (Markham et al., 2012).
The Best Approach
From my point of view, the method that works best in decision-making concerning ethical actions is the utilitarian approach. This is because it helps the decision maker to analyze the advantages or benefits that each action brings about. If people were to use this method, all activities would be conducted in a way that leads to the greatest possible utility, (Tenbrunsel et al., 2008).
An Ethical Issue
An employer who fails to inform his employees about the dangers associated with the chemicals that they use in production can either be termed as ethical or unethical depending on the approach used. In such a case, the employers withhold the information to gain the cash that would have otherwise been spent on proper disposal, handling and the purchase of protective gear for the employees. Using the utilitarian approach, the harm is potentially greater than the joy or benefits accrued to the employer. The action is therefore unethical from this point of view, (Bowen, 2004).
Resolution Assessment
Considering the employer's action as unethical on the above illustration is morally right. This is because the employee should be made aware of all the benefits and the dangers that are associated with the employment, (Bowen, 2004).
Conclusion
It is important to consider all actions and decision using different approaches to have the best result. However, the utilitarian approach has its shortcomings, since it can refer to some measures as ethical, while they are not. For instance, a citizen who kills a murderer who would have killed more people can be referred to as one who has done an ethical action. The resolution provided by the utilitarian approach is therefore not valid in some instances.
References
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Fornari, A. (2015). Approaches to ethical decision-making.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition
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