Section 1
An example of an ethical action in my life is my active participation in fighting for equality and justice for all colleagues at my work place. I continue to participate in such activities out of care for my colleagues. I believe that every person deserves to be treated with respect and equally. Women and minority groups continue to be ignored in the workplace. Their issues are rarely addressed and are often left out in the decision-making process. Participation in fighting for equality and justice of other colleagues is an act of caring because it is beyond my duty and expands from myself to include the welfare of other people. It is an act of caring because the focus of attention shifts from an individual to the relationship with other people and through taking responsibility. It shows awareness of an issue and working towards achieving a goal through concern and kindness. The definition of caring includes empathy and an understanding of the position of another person and taking a stand to actively help for purposes of improved welfare. The value of caring in our ethical decision-making, therefore, becomes that of ensuring the welfare of other people. By guaranteeing that the next person’s issues are considered, caring becomes one of the central tenets in ethical decision making.
Section 2
An example of an ethical action where duty was the main motivation for action was taking responsibility for a decision that led to failure of a project in my department at work. This was an act of duty because it is my role to be accountable. A critical part of my role and responsibility as a project head was to take responsibility of all actions, whether positive or negative. An act of duty means that an individual has the responsibility to act towards the public and other with the attention, prudence, caution, and watchfulness that any reasonable individual in the circumstance would be. The decision to take responsibility of a failed project due to poor decision-making is therefore an ethical action that is born out of duty. Based on the understanding of duty as a responsibility to be watchful, attentive, prudent, and with caution, the value of duty in our ethical decision making is to inform the right activities or actions and responses. When faced with a decision to make, duty defines how one reasons before taking a stand. It allows a decision-maker to do the bare minimum, based on the expectations of their role.
Section 3
From the discussion above, caring has a critical role to play in ethical decision making because it allows a decision maker to connect with others and a situation through empathy and understanding before making a decision. Caring links an individual to the human side of a decision. For example, in the decision to participate in fighting for the equal treatment of every employee, there is a connection that surpasses the need to do the right thing. On the other hand, duty informs the basic definitions of right and wrong with respect to what is expected of an individual given a situation. For example, faced with a need to take responsibility for a failed project, a project manager could easily shift blame to others and other situations. However, duty demands that one takes responsibility of actions and further helps to set the tone for how to go about the act of taking responsibility. The value of both duty and caring, thus, go beyond the basic definition to include an influence to the decision maker. Caring links a decision maker to the decision while duty helps to properly define the situation.
