Sunday, March 1, 2009

Making Ethical Decisions

Every day we make decisions. While the majority of those decisions involve our day to day activities, some of them are more serious.

Each of us is faced with the challenge of making ethical decisions at one point or another. These situations challenge our integrity and force us to act according to our values. 

In the world of public relations, making ethical decisions is a common task. I have read and heard many common theories on ethical decision making, most of them quite similar and intuitive. In a recent post, however, on the Ruder Finn Ethics Blog, Emmanuel Tchividjian brought a new theory to my attention. 

In his post, Tchividjian considered and analyzed the affects that shame has on ethical decision making. He believes that shame or the fear of shame can play a huge role in making decisions that are ethically sound. 

"Shame or the fear of shame can be a very good indicator that we should exercise caution before taking an action that we think may cause us shame." Tchividijian 

While I agree with Tchividjian, I believe this particular approach to making ethical decisions is a bit backward. I believe one should want to make ethical decisions because it is the right thing to do, not out of a fear of shame. If you are making ethical decisions based off of others opinions of you actions, then what is the true purpose of acting ethically? 

While shame does play an important role in making ethical decisions, it should not be the only one. It is important to consider your values and challenge yourself to act with integrity, purely because it is the right thing to do. 

images: www.soxfirst.com/50226711/ethical.jpeg

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