Learn about ethical practices
for science, health, business, the environment and more.
Ethical behaviour in business does bring it's benefits. In today's highly connected world; unethical business practices can be more readily exposed than ever before; and any sort of scandal can be a business disaster. Doing the right thing, can be a big bonus in the PR effort for any business; and a way of differentiating you from your competitors.
If your staff are not adequately trained though; it is very easy for ethical behaviour to be breached; sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally, and often with the business manager not even being aware.
Understanding ethics is the first step toward practicing appropriate business ethics and developing the procedures to ensure all staff do the same.
Course Duration = 100 nominal hours
Course Content
There are nine lessons in this course as follows:
- Overview and Introductory Ethics
Who invented ethics – What are its origins?
Ethics and Philosophy
Current Ethical Theories:
Divine Command Theory of Ethics
The Theory of Forms Theory of Ethics
Theory of Relative Ethics
The Three Areas of Ethics
What determines your own Ethics/ Sense of Morality?
- Arguing an Ethical Position – An Overview of Meta Ethics
Metaethical Theories
Expressivism Theories (Non-Cognitive)
- Accommodating Varying Viewpoints
Different Ethical Viewpoints
Ethical Dilemmas
- Virtues and Morality
Developmental Model of Virtue Ethics
Morality
- Reasons for Ethical Decisions
Theories of Ethical Decision- Making
The Theories in More Detail
The Principle of Double Effect
- The Social Contract
Principle of Self-Interest
Theories of Social Contract
Twentieth Century Social Contract Theory
- Applied Ethics A - An Individual’s Rights
Basic Human Rights
The Underpinning Values of Human Rights
Categories of Human Rights
Human Rights Breaches
Applied Ethics A
- Applied Ethics B - An Ethical Society
What Is An Ethical Society?
Applied Ethics B
Case Study: African Caribbean People and Schizophrenia
- Applied Ethics C - Ethics in Work and Business
Why do Organisations Need Ethics?
Applied Ethics C - Organisations and Professions
Benefits of Ethics in Healthcare
How Does a Person Become Ethical or Unethical in the First Place?
This is a concept that rests on the assumption that people are not born with moral virtues; but that those virtues “develop” through life.
Aristotle suggested that virtue develops through habit. He considered that if we do something good repeatedly, it becomes a habit, and we then tend to continue acting in that way. Virtue itself however is not a habit but requires thought and consideration. Developing the right habits helps us to behave virtuously. Someone who develops into a virtuous person over the course of their lifetime does so because they act in a kind manner in many different situations. It is not acquired through a sense of duty.
Virtue ethics theories highlight the role of character and virtue in morality rather than duty or acting in ways to bring about favourable outcomes. These models do not attempt to pinpoint universal principles which can be applied to different ethical dilemmas. That is, they don't aim to state what is right or wrong behaviour but rather what type of person we could be in order to lead a good life, and to that end they propose that we should develop a virtuous character.
Principle of the Golden Mean
This is the concept that virtues are positioned between two extremes (e.g. eating too much and eating too little) and is one of the principles adopted in virtue ethics.
Buddha reportedly said that his philosophy was to live the middle way. In Chinese philosophy, there also exists the Doctrine of the Mean, which was put forward by Confucius and advocates taking a pathway between extremes.
Aristotle espouses a similar viewpoint, suggesting too much or too little of anything was not as good as something in the middle. Aristotle argued that the golden mean is a desirable middle ground between two extremes, so one of deficiency and the other of excess. An example is courage. Too much courage can be seen as recklessness, not enough and it can be seen as cowardice.
In virtue ethics, the mean of a virtue is equivalent to the appropriate amount. In some cases it may be appropriate to show more courage or less courage. The mean amount depends upon the situation and the individual.
