Ethics on Film for Filmmakers

Ethics is not simply a set of politically correct views on specific issues, or a particular moralistic stand,
or a bully flag planted in the sand. It’s a process that helps us come to terms with our toughest
dilemmas. It’s not a compromise; it’s a lens.
-- Rushworth M. Kidder, How Good People Make Tough Choices

Ethics and Film combine in so many delicious ways to achieve multiple student learning
outcomes: Introduce ethical theory through film; introduce ethical analysis as a stream of
film criticism; ground students in the social responsibilities of the filmmaker and artist;
demonstrate how ethical conflict and resolution enhance character development in
screenwriting and define the "moral center" of a script.

A wealth of theoretical and applied ethical knowledge can be learned "in the dark" through
film viewings, analysis, discussion, and writing (and, of course rewriting).

Millennial students tend to come to the classroom with underdeveloped social value systems.
Combined with limited life experiences, their film preferences and film imagination are
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equally limited and underdeveloped. Immersive exposure to character-driven narratives that

struggle with ethical dilemmas not only widens their knowledge of film forms, but also
allows them to vicariously participate in life experiences that can lead to greater self-analysis,
awareness, and growth. They subsequently increase their abilities to create more nuanced,
complex, and textured characters and film stories of their own.

Through a greater practice and appreciation of ethical analysis of the films they experience,
students also become sharper observers, critics, and writers about film. Like film, applied
ethics lay at the nexus of theory, practice, writing, and professional skills.

This paper discusses multiple approaches used in a highly rated Ethics and Film capstone
course that challenges, builds, and polishes students' analytical, writing, and creative skills.
The usefulness of specific films, ethical theories, sample assignments for both study and
application, and a rubric for measuring student learning outcomes are included.

The approach is particularly valuable in employing the "flipped classroom" or "upside down"
movement in student learning where the classroom becomes the locus of application through
active learning, rather than passive attention to the traditional lecture.

Freshman Fifteen: Encountering Weighty Issues

Contemporary students come to the university “ethics ambivalent” on a

number of levels. As documented in numerous “millennial” studies, the
bulk of decisions have been made for them throughout their childhood and
youth, often including the choice of university. Unlike previous generations
who arrived on college doorsteps searching for a “philosophy of life,”
contemporary students are more careerists out of the starting gate with a
focus decidedly absent of traditional arts and humanities where the richer veins of philosophy
and ethics are mined.
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This is not to say contemporary students are beyond reach for a grounding in a traditional
liberal arts education or in philosophic/ethical inquiry. They are actually quite ready and ripe
for it. They have been shaped to this point more by peer identification and media influences.
Although they have a preference for more simplistic and relativist answers to contemporary
ethical issues (which generally amount to no answer at all), they also express a sense of
inadequacy and incompleteness in their reflectively stunted
approach. In informal entering classroom surveys, ethics is
usually defined as individual conscience, following the mores of
the social group (mostly identified as peers), and whatever one
can get away with. It takes only a touch of Socratic dialogue (or
simple role-playing exercises) for the realization to emerge that
this trio of thought is mutually unsupportable. Many can draw
from their own lives examples of when their individual conscience led them in one direction,
but peer mores reversed it. They admit a frustration at the thwarting of conscience-driven
action by pressure to conform to group norms, or by the simple “rewards” of being able to
get away with behavior they wouldn’t necessarily subscribe to as a way of life.

Film and Film Study courses are a prime resource to address this ambivalence, ambiguity,
and generally amoral outlook. We see it often enough when we direct students with the
standard: Write what you know. We discover they really don’t know much at all. Much of
what they know is via media sources and their film (including online video, gaming, etc.) diet
is lacking in essential nutrients of what constitutes the “human dimension” as opposed to the
superhuman, paranormal, car chase, explosion, slasher, and revenge-driven dimension. They
have certainly faced and can construct dilemmas, but come up short with resolutions that are
not clichéd media-standards that privilege power over humanism. Here is where we can
capitalize - as film professors and mentors in life-long learning - on their familiarity, and
discomfort, with confronting ethical dilemmas in life.
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Constructing the Ethical Design

Following a discussion of differences between ethics and law, and externally driven rule
behavior v. inwardly driven ethical behavior, we arrive at what constitutes an ethical
dilemma: A conflict in values that presents multiple options in behavior/action. Examples are
given and solicited from the class, such as:
• Truth v. Loyalty
• Short-term pleasures v. Long-term consequences
• Justice v. Mercy
• Self v. Community
• Doing what we should v. doing what we want
• Wanting two things (outcomes) that preclude each other

The first assignment is to write a personal ethical dilemma the student has faced and what
resolution, if any, she/he might have pursued. Two pages, double-spaced. Confidentiality is
assured. No one will see this assignment other than the student and professor. An
acknowledgement of completion is given, but the assignment is not returned nor the dilemma
commented upon. This is because it will be used again as a summative assignment.

Although individual dilemmas are not identified with the student author or detailed before
the class, it is instructive to group them by general description into categories (relationship
dilemmas, workplace dilemmas, academic dilemmas, social dilemmas, etc.) and present the
categories to the class as a reminder that many of us face similar dilemmas, as they are
human and so connect us in ways that all good stories do. They can also be brought together
as illustrative of the “Ethical Triumvirate:”
• Virtue – Who we should be; our ideal selves
• Duty – How we should act; our societal and role obligations
• Consequences – What (and whose) good will be served

From this “Triumvirate” come ethical tests for assessing the adherence of action to traditional
principles:
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• Universality: Is this the way we would want everyone to act? Is this the way we
would handle all similar situations?
• Reversibility: If we were on the receiving end of the action, would we agree
(regardless of whether we “liked it”) that it was justified?
• Transparency: Are we willing to make our actions and decision-making publicly
known? Are we willing to discuss them freely and openly?

Learning Ethics Though Film I: The Basics

Films are a handy way to teach traditional ethical philosophy, whether or not an instructor
wants to immerse the class in the “naming of the parts” of individual philosophies
(Deontology, Teleology, etc.) or philosophers (Aristotle, Mill, Kant & Jung, as I’ve often
joked to little reaction). There are several valuable websites where students can find easily
digestible explanations of these basic principles and thinkers:
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Ethics < http://www.iep.utm.edu>. University of
Tennessee. James Fieser and Bradley Dowden, eds.
• Ethics Update < http://ethics.sandiego.edu>. University of San
Diego
• The Window: Philosophy on the Internet (Philosophers).
<http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/phil/philo/philosophers.html>.
Trinity College
There is an excellent, but pricey, textbook that recognizes the value and
special role story telling plays in both our learning of social ethics and the
setting of social mores. It utilizes synopses of film stories to illustrate its
major points:
Rosenstand, Nina. The Moral of the Story: An Introduction to
Ethics (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.

A good starting point in in the learning of traditional ethical principles is a discussion of

egoism v. altruism, or selfishness v. selflessness. An
excellent film – in fact it could be considered an entire
ethics course in a box – to explore these concepts is
Return to Paradise (dir. Joseph Ruben, 1988), starring the now uber-popular (but then just
emerging) Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix, Anne Heche, and Jada Pinkett-Smith. From the
synopses provided on IDMB.com:
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Lewis (Phoenix), Sheriff (Vaughn) and Tony (David Conrad) are three American
guys who meet and hang out one summer at the beach huts of Malaysia. There they
enjoy the luxuries of women, rum and hashish. As the summer ends, Tony and Sheriff
go back to New York, but Lewis decides to go to
Borneo to help save the orangutan. But before he got
the chance to leave, police came to investigate a
missing bicycle that Sheriff destroyed and in the
course of their search, Lewis was arrested for
possession of the leftover hash and sentenced to death
because he was considered to be trafficking. Two years
later, a lawyer (Heche) comes to New York and hunts
down the other two friends and confronts them: Lewis
is set to be put to death in 8 days, and the only way the
charges can be decreased is if the two friends come back to paradise and take their
share of the responsibility. If they do, they both will spend three years in prison. If
only one does, he will spend six years behind bars. Although neither want Lewis to
die, they do not know him well enough to really want to sacrifice three or six years of
their lives to a Third-World prison. "Return to Paradise" watches Sheriff and Tony as
they struggle to decide in the short period of time.
A side-plot involves Pinkett-Smith as a prize-in-her-eyes journalist eager to break the
story, and the consequences of her hubris. Also drawn into the morass of questions
are the motivations and methods of the lawyer, who later is revealed to be Lewis’
sister.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124595/?ref_=nv_sr_1>

The theme of altruistic action (assuming responsibility for Lewis’ circumstances) v. selfish
denial of action is felt viscerally by the students. The film can be stopped at several points for
discussion of how the characters are responding to the ethical dilemmas they are facing (and
have caused). Students are reminded that they are able to vicariously “try on” the multiple
reactions via character identification to appreciate, rather than judge, each character’s
motives and pressures as they shift through the story. (Occasionally I assign students a
particular character and ask them to retell the story in a page or less from that character’s
perspective.) Considering the essential dignity of even the most undignified characters can
assist students in constructing fewer one- and two-dimensional characters in their own
screenplays, as well as evaluating ethical character development as an angle of film criticism.
Although the ending has been tarted up some from the original French production Force
Majeure with the obligatory Hollywood romance and promise of hope, the fundamental
issues reap hours of rewarding discussion around such questions as:
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Where do the characters fit on this scale, and how do they shift as the story
progresses?
Egoism . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Altruism
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

How would you define the characters’ actions in terms of:

• Virtue
• Duty
• Consequence
Did they change? If so, how?

How do the characters’ actions measure up to the “3 Tests:”

• Universality
• Reversibility
• Transparency

Is Sheriff’s statement:
• “Just because you do something good doesn’t mean there’ll be a happy
ending”
• A rationale for NOT being altruistic when the outcome is unknown or
unpredictable?

At this point students are getting a feel not only for applying some principle-based ethical
reasoning (as opposed to knee-jerk pre-reflective reactions), but also for the value of a rich
and textured “moral center” to a film and character development. To help along their
thinking about character complexities and to integrate their viewing, thinking, and discussion
with their writing, this final question is presented, which lends itself nicely to a small-group
discussion/writing/editing session:

Write a sketch for the sequel: It’s 2 years later, the anniversary of Lewis’ hanging.
What has happened to the other characters? What are they doing now?

(Some may see the reflection of the classic “Prisoner’s Dilemma” in the plot, which can be
added to enhance role-playing and group discussions as an illustration of the tension between
preserving self-interests and acting toward a greater social good. An illustration is included in
the sample course resource section. For further reference, see:
<http://ingrimayne.com/econ/IndividualGroup/PrisDilm.html>.)
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Learning Ethics Through Film II: Digging Deeper

Having become conversant with the ideas and application of some ethical terminology and
tests, students are prepared to integrate some simple statements of ethical principles into their
thinking, analyses, and writing. In a stand-alone course on Ethics and Film, it would be
relevant to identify these statements with the philosophies from which they are derived, and
the philosophers who introduced them. As a unit in a broader film studies course, it would
not be necessary, as students might feel bogged down with additional memorizations. Either
way, it is the application of the principles that is truly key. (I confess to some bursts of pride
when a former student tells me there was a discussion of ethics in her workplace and she
exclaimed: “We learned about that in FILM class!”)

• Act in ways you would want all people to act.

• Don’t act as an exception to your own rule.
• Don’t use other people as a means to your ends.
--Immanuel Kant: Categorical Imperative
and Principle of Self-Determination
• Act in ways that will bring the greatest good to the greatest number – and
harm to the fewest.
• Any harm your actions bring to individuals must be clearly and
overwhelmingly outweighed by good to the general society.
-- John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism

• Treat all equally. Put yourself in the place of the person whom your actions
will affect.
--John Rawls: Justice as Fairness

Selected films to illustrate these philosophic approaches might include High Noon (dir. Fred
Zinnemann, 1952) as an illustration of Kantian Duty or Obligation; and Million Dollar Baby
(dir. Clint Eastwood, 2004) as illustrative of both Obligation and Social Utility, and the
tensions that can arise between them. Discussion questions/writing assignments for these
films follow in the Course Resource section. Writing assignments can be completed
individually, or in collaborative small groups. At this point students are learning that an
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Ethical Analysis of Film can be as valuable and revealing as other approaches to Film
Studies and Criticism. As Filmmakers, they can also study the films for the ways in which
the director used film language and technique to isolate and emphasize the dilemma and its
path to resolution; and how the outward acting reflected (or in some cases deflected) the
inner tensions and turmoil of the dilemma.

With this basic understanding of ethical principles, how as human principles they are
reflected as the “moral center” in the better character-driven dramas, students are ready to
tackle some higher-order professional issues of social responsibilities as filmmakers, such as
Representation and Stereotypes.

Smoke Signals (dir. Chris Eyre, 1998) and Better Luck Tomorrow (dir. Justin Lin, 2002) are
two films against which they can measure their own stereotypical perspectives against the
Representation presented when the camera is now in the hands of “the Other.” Both films use
familiar genres (the road film, the high school social world) to take the viewers into new
perspectives, including indigenous story-telling styles and an existential twist on a “model
minority” becoming anything but.

The non-traditional ending of Better Luck Tomorrow tends to leave students dissatisfied, as it
lacks the usual closure they have come to expect in films (and is drilled into them through the
teaching of the three-act-character-arc screenwriting template). This presents an opportunity
for them through a writing assignment to create a treatment for a sequel occurring at the 10th
reunion of the former high school classmates that outlines what has become of each of the
characters. This affords the students the opportunity for both creativity, and to draw on their
newly acquired ethical knowledge to search out a “principle-based” resolution for the
unresolved dilemmas of the original.

This exercise leads naturally to a final assignment where their original personal ethical
dilemmas, written at the beginning of class, are dusted off for their review. They are
instructed to re-evaluate their dilemmas and actions in the light of what they have learned
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over the term, and then to draft a film treatment about a character facing that, or a similar
dilemma, and the steps the character takes toward a resolution. If nothing else, they are truly
“writing what they know.”

Course Resources

Films & Discussion/Writing Assignments. Note that the discussion/writing assignments

become less directed allowing students to comment on what seems most important to them,
rather than what they think will be most important to the instructor. They also embrace group
writing, editing, and rewriting. A shifting-group strategy is used in later assignments so that
each member of the re-formed groups brings the perspective of her/his previous group to the
writing, further spreading – but not diluting – the intellectual collaboration.

High Noon
• Group 1: Discuss in your group and each member write a clear and concise
paragraph on your impressions of High Noon as a film.
• Group 2: Discuss in your group and each member
write a clear and concise paragraph on what you learned about
filmmaking from watching High Noon.
• Group 3: Discuss in your group and each member
write a clear and concise paragraph on what you learned from
your research about the making of High Noon.
• Group 4: Discuss in your group and each member
write a clear and concise paragraph on how High Noon illustrates
the differences between Deontology (Kantian or duty ethics) and
Utilitarianism (Consequential Ethics).
• Group 5: Discuss in your group and each member
write a clear and concise paragraph on these questions re: the film
“High Noon:”
a. Are the townspeople of Hadleyville likely to change because of
Marshal Kane’s solo stand?
b. Why or why not? If they don’t, does that make Kane’s actions
meaningless?
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Million Dollar Baby

Briefly describe the things you learned about ethics, films, and filmmaking,
from watching MILLION DOLLAR BABY.

1. Something about the film’s theme or statement

2. Something about filmmaking
3. Something from your research on the film and/or director
4. Something about ethics – how can Frankie’s actions be described
in terms of Virtue, Duty, and Consequences (the “Ethical
Triumvirate”)?
5. Something about ethics – how can Frankie’s actions be described
in terms of Utilitarianism?

Smoke Signals

Group Essay – Smoke Signals Group # _____

Instructions:
1. Small groups: Each group member selects a different paragraph to write.
Before writing, everyone in the group discuss their thoughts for each
paragraph. Help each other with ideas.
2. Write
3. Large group: Discussion of ideas
4. Small group: Further discuss each paragraph. Help each other with ideas
and expression. Put the paragraphs together in a group essay.
5. Put the paragraph sheets in order. Write each group member’s name on the
first sheet. Turn in all sheets.

A. Write 1-2 clear and concise paragraph(s) on how

the image of Native Americans in Smoke Signals
differs from others you’ve seen on film.
B. Write 1-2 clear and concise paragraph(s) on what
you learned about filmmaking from watching
Smoke Signals.
C. Write 1-2 clear and concise paragraph(s) on what
you learned from your research about the making of
Smoke Signals.
D. Write 1-2 clear and concise paragraph(s) on how
you think images of Native Hawaiians would differ
in a film made by Native Hawaiians.
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Better Luck Tomorrow

Part 1 – 1st Group

Ten years have gone by. It’s

the high school 10-year
reunion. In your group,
describe how the characters
have changed, or haven’t.
What traits would help define
them in a short film about the
reunion?

Your character is: Daric Loo (or Ben Manibag, Virgil Hu, Han, Stephanie
Vandergosh)

Part 2 – 2nd Group

In your 2nd group, do some collective free writing on these questions:

1. Something new you learned from the film

2. Something new you learned from the filmmaking style
3. Something new you learned from researching the film & filmmaker
4. Describe (on the back) the reunion.

Final Assignment

After a semester of studying ethics and practicing some critical thinking and self-
reflection, you should have a different take on your own ethical dilemma you wrote at
the beginning of the term. Different how? That’s
up to you. Perhaps it’s a more mature outlook.
Perhaps it’s a change in the way you frame and
think about problems. Perhaps it’s an additional
courage of your convictions. The one thing we
should see is change.
Revisit your dilemma and ask yourself: Knowing
what I know now, what do I think about my
dilemma and any solution I might have arrived at?
How do I think about my dilemma? What
knowledge of ethical theories, tests and principles
– from the textbook, films, outside reading, earlier
commentaries, lectures & discussions – can I bring to bear on this dilemma? How do
they help in finding a solution?
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Part I
1. Briefly summarize your dilemma (2-3 sentences)
2. How does your dilemma and/or its resolution reflect the ethical principles we’ve
studied?
3. How do the three tests lead to a more critical understanding and perhaps suggest
possible resolutions to your dilemma?
-------
Part II
4. (Think About): If you took the “original position,” (removing your own self-
interests) what would be the ideal resolution to your dilemma?
5. (Write): To illustrate #4, write a short film treatment (you can use the Act1, Act2,
Act3 structure if you like) about a character going through your, or a similar dilemma.
What do they encounter in resolving it?

Other Films to Consider:

• Brokedown Palace (dir. Jonathan Kaplan, 1999) – a story similar to Return to

Paradise involving American tourists (this time two young women), drugs,
and a Southeast Asian prison.
• A Simple Plan (dir. Sam Raimi, 1998) – Family, friendship, and basic values
recede and vanish in the face of greed.
• Abandon Ship (dir. Richard Sale, 1957) / Lifeboat (dir. Alfred Hitchcock,
1944) – Two films set on overcrowded lifeboats following a ship’s sinking.
Who decides who will go overboard so the others can be saved?
• 3:10 to Yuma (dir. James Mangold, 2007) – Another Western focused on duty
and obligation in the face of personal danger.
• The Simpsons (var.) – Deals surprisingly with many ethical issues, such as
The Boy Who Knew Too Much (Season 5), about withholding truth that
would save another to avoid punishment to self; or Bart’s Inner Child (Season
5), on the effects of rampant egoism infecting Springfield; or Lisa the
Iconoclast (Season 7), where Lisa decides whether truth or myth benefits the
town.
• The Dark Knight (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2008) – This iteration of the
Batman series is a treatise on Hume-Hobbes concepts of inner good and evil.
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Prisoners’ Dilemma

(As an optional assignment, students could use the dilemma as a template for a short film
treatment that explores options and consequences.)

Two members of a criminal gang are arrested and imprisoned. Each prisoner is in solitary
confinement with no means of speaking to or exchanging messages with the other. The
police admit they don’t have enough evidence to convict the pair on the principal charge.
They plan to sentence both to a year in prison on a lesser charge. Simultaneously, the police
offer each prisoner a Faustian bargain. Each prisoner is given the opportunity either to betray
the other, by testifying that the other committed the crime, or to cooperate with the other by
remaining silent.

Here’s how it goes: If A and B both betray the other, each of them serves 2 years in prison.
If A betrays B but B remains silent, A will be set free and B will serve 3 years in prison (and
vice versa) . If A and B both remain silent, both of them will only serve 1 year in prison (on
the lesser charge).

Although the best outcome for both would be to remain silent (1 year each), self-interest will
lead each to confess in the hopes of parole, even though if both are acting in their own self-
interests, they will serve 2 years.
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A Rubric for Assessment

CONTEMPORARY ETHICAL ISSUES RUBRIC

10/24/2007 [v6/30/2014]
CATEGORY 1 2 3 4
Identifies ethical - Does not identify the ethical - Identifies some of the - Identifies/names the - Clearly identifies the ethical choices
issue(s) issue(s) or realizes professional and/or ethical choices and and implications involved in a
something is not “right” but contemporary ethical issues implications involved in professional and/or contemporary
does not clearly identify the or identifies what is the professional and/or situation
professional and/or legal/illegal or contemporary situation - Understands the effects of
contemporary ethical issues acceptable/unacceptable - Clearly describes relevant perspective, context, personal views,
at play - Recognizes relevant ethical ethical ambiguities/ codes and laws (if applicable)
- Sees issues mostly in “black ambiguities/ dilemmas but dilemmas - Specifies the decision-makers and
and white” terms does not clearly describe stakeholders
them - Integrates clear descriptions of
relevant ethical ambiguities/
dilemmas into the overall analysis
Deliberates - Unclear about the - Describes the frameworks, - Draws upon frameworks, - Draws upon frameworks, principles,
responsibly using frameworks, principles, principles, and/or code of principles, and/or code of and/or code of ethics to develop
ethical tools, and/or code of ethics to be ethics that can be applied ethics to develop pertinent arguments and/or
processes, and/or applied - Comfortable discussing pertinent arguments positions
frameworks
- Fails to acknowledge ethical issues from own and/or positions - Develops and presents alternate
multiple viewpoints or point of view, but may have - Debates and/or discusses arguments/positions
embraces contradictory difficulty seeing different ethical issues with - Discusses and/or debates ethical
viewpoints points of view sensitivity to others’ issues with sensitivity to others’
- May discuss ethical issues points of view and perspectives and the context while
but unclear on own position different perspectives also defending own position with
and/or the effects of logic and fact
different perspectives
Forms sound ethical - Does not specify a - Makes a judgment/decision - Makes a judgment that - Makes a reasoned judgment that
judgments resolution or judgment or but may not take into considers and is sensitive takes into account an array of
decision account multiple to multiple perspectives arguments and perspectives
perspectives - Evidence of a logical, - Evidence of a logical, systematic
- Partial or flawed use of a systematic decision- decision-making process.
systematic decision-making making process
process
Uses professional - Does not correctly reference - Cites applicable sections, but - Correctly cites applicable - Correctly cites applicable sections of the
code of ethics sections of the professional may not correctly use in sections of the professional professional code and explains their
(ONLY for course code of ethics decision-making process code and explains how they meaning and/or implications on forming
instructor) guide forming a judgment a judgment
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 A  Framework  for  Thinking  Ethically    

From  the  Markkula  Center  for  Applied  Ethics    
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/framework.html    
 
This document is designed as an introduction to thinking ethically. We all have an image of
our better selves-of how we are when we act ethically or are "at our best." We probably also
have an image of what an ethical community, an ethical business, an ethical government, or
an ethical society should be. Ethics really has to do with all these levels-acting ethically as
individuals, creating ethical organizations and governments, and making our society as a
whole ethical in the way it treats everyone.
What is Ethics?
Simply stated, ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human beings ought to
act in the many situations in which they find themselves-as friends, parents, children, citizens,
businesspeople, teachers, professionals, and so on.
It is helpful to identify what ethics is NOT:
• Ethics is not the same as feelings. Feelings provide important information for our
ethical choices. Some people have highly developed habits that make them feel bad
when they do something wrong, but many people feel good even though they are
doing something wrong. And often our feelings will tell us it is uncomfortable to do
the right thing if it is hard.
• Ethics is not religion. Many people are not religious, but ethics applies to everyone.
Most religions do advocate high ethical standards but sometimes do not address all
the types of problems we face.
• Ethics is not following the law. A good system of law does incorporate many ethical
standards, but law can deviate from what is ethical. Law can become ethically corrupt,
as some totalitarian regimes have made it. Law can be a function of power alone and
designed to serve the interests of narrow groups. Law may have a difficult time
designing or enforcing standards in some important areas, and may be slow to address
new problems.
• Ethics is not following culturally accepted norms. Some cultures are quite ethical,
but others become corrupt -or blind to certain ethical concerns (as the United States
was to slavery before the Civil War). "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" is not a
satisfactory ethical standard.
• Ethics is not science. Social and natural science can provide important data to help
us make better ethical choices. But science alone does not tell us what we ought to do.
Science may provide an explanation for what humans are like. But ethics provides
reasons for how humans ought to act. And just because something is scientifically or
technologically possible, it may not be ethical to do it.
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Why Identifying Ethical Standards is Hard

There are two fundamental problems in identifying the ethical standards we are to follow: 1.
On what do we base our ethical standards? 2. How do those standards get applied to specific
situations we face?
If our ethics are not based on feelings, religion, law, accepted social practice, or science,
what are they based on? Many philosophers and ethicists have helped us answer this critical
question. They have suggested at least five different sources of ethical standards we should
use.
Five Sources of Ethical Standards
The Utilitarian Approach Some ethicists emphasize that the ethical action is the one that
provides the most good or does the least harm, or, to put it another way, produces the greatest
balance of good over harm. The ethical corporate action, then, is the one that produces the
greatest good and does the least harm for all who are affected-customers, employees,
shareholders, the community, and the environment. Ethical warfare balances the good
achieved in ending terrorism with the harm done to all parties through death, injuries, and
destruction. The utilitarian approach deals with consequences; it tries both to increase the
good done and to reduce the harm done.
The Rights Approach Other philosophers and ethicists suggest that the ethical action is the
one that best protects and respects the moral rights of those affected. This approach starts
from the belief that humans have a dignity based on their human nature per se or on their
ability to choose freely what they do with their lives. On the basis of such dignity, they have
a right to be treated as ends and not merely as means to other ends. The list of moral rights -
including the rights to make one's own choices about what kind of life to lead, to be told the
truth, not to be injured, to a degree of privacy, and so on-is widely debated; some now argue
that non-humans have rights, too. Also, it is often said that rights imply duties-in particular,
the duty to respect others' rights.
The Fairness or Justice Approach Aristotle and other Greek philosophers have contributed
the idea that all equals should be treated equally. Today we use this idea to say that ethical
actions treat all human beings equally-or if unequally, then fairly based on some standard
that is defensible. We pay people more based on their harder work or the greater amount that
they contribute to an organization, and say that is fair. But there is a debate over CEO
salaries that are hundreds of times larger than the pay of others; many ask whether the huge
disparity is based on a defensible standard or whether it is the result of an imbalance of
power and hence is unfair.
The Common Good Approach The Greek philosophers have also contributed the notion
that life in community is a good in itself and our actions should contribute to that life. This
approach suggests that the interlocking relationships of society are the basis of ethical
reasoning and that respect and compassion for all others-especially the vulnerable-are
requirements of such reasoning. This approach also calls attention to the common conditions
that are important to the welfare of everyone. This may be a system of laws, effective police
and fire departments, health care, a public educational system, or even public recreational
areas.
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The Virtue Approach A very ancient approach to ethics is that ethical actions ought to be
consistent with certain ideal virtues that provide for the full development of our humanity.
These virtues are dispositions and habits that enable us to act according to the highest
potential of our character and on behalf of values like truth and beauty. Honesty, courage,
compassion, generosity, tolerance, love, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and
prudence are all examples of virtues. Virtue ethics asks of any action, "What kind of person
will I become if I do this?" or "Is this action consistent with my acting at my best?"
Putting the Approaches Together
Each of the approaches helps us determine what standards of behavior can be considered
ethical. There are still problems to be solved, however.
The first problem is that we may not agree on the content of some of these specific
approaches. We may not all agree to the same set of human and civil rights. We may not
agree on what constitutes the common good. We may not even agree on what is a good and
what is a harm.
The second problem is that the different approaches may not all answer the question "What is
ethical?" in the same way. Nonetheless, each approach gives us important information with
which to determine what is ethical in a particular circumstance. And much more often than
not, the different approaches do lead to similar answers.
Making Decisions
Making good ethical decisions requires a trained sensitivity to ethical issues and a practiced
method for exploring the ethical aspects of a decision and weighing the considerations that
should impact our choice of a course of action. Having a method for ethical decision-making
is absolutely essential. When practiced regularly, the method becomes so familiar that we
work through it automatically without consulting the specific steps.
The more novel and difficult the ethical choice we face, the more we need to rely on
discussion and dialogue with others about the dilemma. Only by careful exploration of the
problem, aided by the insights and different perspectives of others, can we make good ethical
choices in such situations.
We have found the following framework for ethical decision making a useful method for
exploring ethical dilemmas and identifying ethical courses of action.
A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
Recognize an Ethical Issue
1. Could this decision or situation be damaging to someone or to some group? Does this
decision involve a choice between a good and bad alternative, or perhaps between two
"goods" or between two "bads"?
2. Is this issue about more than what is legal or what is most efficient? If so, how?
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Get the Facts

3. What are the relevant facts of the case? What facts are not known? Can I learn more about
the situation? Do I know enough to make a decision?
4. What individuals and groups have an important stake in the outcome? Are some concerns
more important? Why?
5. What are the options for acting? Have all the relevant persons and groups been consulted?
Have I identified creative options?
Evaluate Alternative Actions
6. Evaluate the options by asking the following questions:
• Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm? (The Utilitarian
Approach)
• Which option best respects the rights of all who have a stake? (The Rights Approach)
• Which option treats people equally or proportionately? (The Justice Approach)
• Which option best serves the community as a whole, not just some members? (The
Common Good Approach)
• Which option leads me to act as the sort of person I want to be? (The Virtue Approach)
Make a Decision and Test It
7. Considering all these approaches, which option best addresses the situation?
8. If I told someone I respect-or told a television audience-which option I have chosen, what
would they say?

Act and Reflect on the Outcome

9. How can my decision be implemented with the greatest care and attention to the concerns
of all stakeholders?
10. How did my decision turn out and what have I learned from this specific situation?

This framework for thinking ethically is the product of dialogue and debate at the Markkula
Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Primary contributors include Manuel
Velasquez, Dennis Moberg, Michael J. Meyer, Thomas Shanks, Margaret R. McLean, David
DeCosse, Claire André, and Kirk O. Hanson. It was last revised in May 2009.

Source: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/framework.html. Last accessed June 2014.

 Lights! Camera! Ethics! – Page 20

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