Ls 301 Ethical Decision Making

1. Ethical
Decision-
Making

2. Ethical Decision-Making
 Ethical egoism is the theory that the morality of an act
is determined by one’s self-interest.
 Although egoism has its appeal in the contemporary
culture, there are problems with it as an all-
encompassing ethical system.
 First, egoism does not provide any way to umpire
conflicting interest without appeal to some other
system.
 Second, the Bible calls believers and unbelievers to a
balance of self-interest and altruism.

3. Ethical Decision-Making
 Utilitarianism is what is known as a teleological system
(taken from the Greek word telos, meaning “end”), in
which the end produced is what determines the
morality of an act.
 Deontological moral systems are based on principles.
 According to Rae & Wong, deontological reasoning is
the mode of moral reasoning that most people use
when making difficult decisions.
 Most religious traditions that are centered around a
book (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) are not
deontological in their ethical outlook.

4. Ethical Decision-Making
 Emotivism holds that personal feelings are the most
important determinant of right and wrong.
 The Virtue Theory holds that there is more to morality
than simply doing the right thing. It is an ethics of
character, not of duty.
 “The Bible is NOT an ethics book.” (Rae & Wong)
 When interpreting the Bible and applying it to
contemporary business, one must recognize that the
Bible was written in different types of literature, each
of which has its own distinctives.