Foundation of Ethics: Virtue and Values (Essay Sample)

Foundation of Ethics: Virtue and Values Name Instructor Institution Date of submission  Ethics is a basic necessity in the lives of human beings. It is the means in which people make decisions on their way of action for instance in business. Without ethics, the actions of human beings would be objective less and might end up achieving no significant outcome (Semetsky, 2011 p 54).There wouldn’t have been means of achieving some goals because it was to be difficult to select a few among the many goals. Sometimes it is difficult to pursue goals even with standardized ethics leading to failure of achieving them (Day & Butler, 2011 p 65). To the extent to which a coherent standard of ethics is selected, people are able to properly organize objectives and the activities in achieving the most significant values. Any fault in ethics will affect the ability to succeed in daily undertakings (Hackenberg& Lawler, 2002 p 55). More often ethics are planned and established by different communities to make standards of doing their daily activities (Hackenberg& Lawler, 2002 p 61).They are interconnected to basic principles which are accepted by members of the community and every member of the society is required to conform to the ethical standards (Semetsky, 2011 p 75).The principles are arrayed into ethical statements which explain the minimum level of behavior that can be tolerated and every person who belongs to the community is expected to abide by them and help in implementing them. This is something which is accepted and advocated by the community (Freeman, Engels &Altekruse, 2004 p 79). Therefore the members of the community take a shared responsibility in ensuring that they are not violated by anybody. In case the ethical standards are dishonored, irrespective of the legality or illegality of the action, the community moves in to protect its own ethical principles (Day & Butler, 2011 p 83).The community is the owner of the ethical principles; therefore it can decide based on given agreements to amend the principles to take a different form that is acceptable. Ethical standards define what is bad and what is good. Habitually, decent decisions have an outright eminence to the moral principles. Most contexts of morals are not easily altered by mere mortals but the interpretation and use of the written morals differ from society to society and from generation to generation (Hackenberg& Lawler, 2002 p 91). An appropriate basis of ethics needs a standard worth which all the objectives and aims can be acted upon in pursuit of success. This level of action is portrayed in our daily chores and the ethical principles in our lives, and the joy they bring which makes them to be accommodated by the community (Hackenberg& Lawler, 2002 p 99). This is the ultimate goal of ethics which every member of the community strives to reach. It is reached by examining the nature of human beings and identification of the unique needs of man (Freeman, Engels &Altekruse, 2004 p 97). A suitable framework of ethics should not only encompass emergency incidents, but daily choices which are made by human beings. It should contain the relations among people, and state their significance not merely to the physical living of people, but also the well-being of the society (Day & Butler, 2011 p 103). There are various methods which are used in the determination regarding the ethical nature of a decision. Some of these methods include utilitarian. This is a method which states that goods produced, should be produced with a motive of providing the greatest and best good for the greatest and for the majority of the people. This implies that businesses should aim at producing goods, which will benefit the larger society if not the whole. The other method used for determining the ethical nature of a decision is justice. This model states that the distribution of harms and benefit should be done in a manner that is equitable, fair and impartial. The other model that determines the ethical aspect of a decision is moral rights. This method states that the privileges and rights of individuals should be protected (May, Cheney, & Roper, 2007 p 87). Social responsibility denotes a theory of ethics, that a business, organization, or a person has a duty of benefiting the society. This is a duty that each person needs to do as a way of maintaining the balance that exists between the ecosystem and the economy. The existence of a trade off is present between the society welfare and the economic development in terms of material sense, and the environment (Hunnicutt, 2009 p 73). However, social responsibility is said to be the aspect of sustaining and maintaining the equilibrium that exists amid the two. In essence, this pertains to all the people who are said to have an attachment with the environment. If a company does as per the laws regulated and implemented by the bodies regarding environment, this makes them face minimal speculations. Social responsibility is an idea that should be practiced in all aspects of life. It is an ethical requirement which is vital in any society. It embraces inclusiveness and ensures that people are focused on the well-being of the bigger population and not driven by self-motifs at the expense of others. For instance in business, one should not prioritize in maximizing profits regardless of the quality of services or goods. Social responsibility in business includes establishing business with a good relationship between the environment and the society at large (Freeman & Francis, 2006 p 118). Business ethics looks into the environment because it is an important factor which business persons do their transactions efficiently. It is one of the factors which are used in estimating their success. By application of ethics in business most firms have placed social responsibility to be their chief part integrated in the model of their business. For instance, if one comes from or lives in a community which an ethical principle of objecting smoking, then the business person will not invest in companies of tobacco (Hackenberg& Lawler, 2002 p 107). Cohen suggests that there should be a balance between the liberties of expressing one’s opinion and social responsibility. Social responsibility calls for transparency, accountability and being answerable to all actions one does. People stay in communities and they have roles which they should generous play (Day & Butler, 2011 p 113). The duties can either be good, leading to positive outcome or bad leading to negative outcome. In most cases responsibilities which are bad only involve personal issues but the ones which are good consider the wellbeing of both the community and the environment and in such there is no selfish motifs attached (Freeman & Francis, 2006 p 124). When one does the business, ethically he or she puts other people into consideration. It is necessary for people to know and be able to differentiate between good and bad. After knowing then they are required to act accordingly (Freeman & Francis, 2006 p 127). Cohen groups people into two categories based on the context of internet: net-users and net-citizens. The term net user is a general term which does not give a specific explanation to the group (Freeman, Engels &Altekruse, 2004 p 131). It only shows that this people use the internet and the way they use it is either good or bad. Net-citizen shows that this group utilizes the internet correctly and as a fundamental part of their daily lives (Hackenberg& Lawler, 2002 p 129).They is accountable and answerable to their use of internet. They lead to the development of internet services and make sure that the way they use it is constructive and respect other people’s views and opinions. Therefore, net-citizens use the internet in a responsible manner (Freeman & Francis, 2006 p 143).Regarding to this explanation, all the stakeholders in business should do their activities as required while considering other people, the prosperity of the business and the environment in which they work (Freeman & Francis, 2006 p 149). Drucker did not find a precise answer which would respond to all eventualities. A...