HOW TO MAKE AN
ETHICAL DECISION
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RECOGN IZE AN ETHICAL ISSU E G ETTHE FACTS
1. Could this decision or situation be damaging to someone 3. What are the relevant facts of the case? What facts are
or to some group? Does this decision involve a choice not known? Can I learn more about the situation? Do I
between a good and bad alternative, or perhaps between know enough to make a decision?
two "goods" or between two "bads"?
4. What individuals and groups have an important stake in
2. Is this issue about more than what is legal or what is most the outcome? Are some concerns more important? Why?
efficient? If so, how?
5. What are the options for acting? Have all the relevant
persons and groups been consulted? Have I identified
creative options?
EVALUATE ALTERNATIV E ACT IONS
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 DEC ISION ANDTEST IT • ACT AND REFL ECT ON THE OUTCOM E
A FRAMEWORK FOR
7. Considering all these approaches, which option best 9. How can my decision be implemented with the greatest
addresses the situation? care and attention to the concerns of all stakeholders?
8. If I told someone I respect-or told a television audience 10. How did my decision turn out and what have I learned
ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
which option I have chosen, what would they say? from this specific situation?
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: This Framework for Ethical Decision Making is the product of dialogue and This document is designed as an introduction to
debate at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
1J www.facebook.com/MarkkulaCenterForAppliedEthics Primary contributors include Manuel Velasquez, Dennis Moberg, Michael J. thinking ethically. We all have an image of our better
� www.twitter.com/scuethics Meyer, Thomas Shanks, Margaret R. McLean, David DeCosse, Claire Andre, selves-of how we are when we act ethically or are
and Kirk 0. Hanson.
va@ www.youtube.com/appliedethicscenter "at our best." We probably also have an image of
� www.bit.ly/ethicsblogs what an ethical community, an ethical business, an
ml www.linkedin.com/company/markkula
ethical government, or an ethical society should be.
.,A.__. Santa Clara I Ethics really has to do with all these levels-acting
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ethically as individuals, creating ethical organizations
and governments, and making our society as a whole
ethical in the way it treats everyone.
Copyright ©2018. Santa Clara University. SCU.EDU/ETHICS
FOUR ETHICAL FRAMEWORKS: a short summary
There is no one universally accepted way of deciding whether something is ethically
acceptable or not. Instead there are several different ethical frameworks. You don’t always
get the same answer!
Rights and duties
Rights define what people can expect as their due, so far as it is under the
control of people or human society. There is always a duty associated with a
right, though in many cases the duty on other people is simply that they do
not interfere with or prevent others claiming their rights. Any right an
individual has relies on other people carrying out their duties towards that
individual. So it follows that if people neglect their duties, then other people’s
rights may be neglected.
Maximising the amount of good in the world
This framework balances the benefits of an action against the risks and costs.
It promotes the common good to help everyone have a fair share of the
benefits in society, a community or a family. This framework is often
described as ‘the 'greatest happiness for the greatest number'. It could be seen
as ‘right’ to override the rights of individuals in order to bring about
happiness in the wider community.
Making decisions for yourself
This framework considers that people should make their own lives.
Respecting people’s autonomy (independence) and decision-making abilities
enables individuals to make reasoned and informed choices. Personal
autonomy is where people control their own destiny, through decisions they
make throughout their lives.
Leading a virtuous life
This framework supports the moral ‘rightness’ or ‘wrongness’ of actions. An
action can be described as right or wrong independently from any
consequences of the action. It is not the consequences that make an action
right or wrong, but the principle or motivation on which the action is based.
By Michael Reiss and Angela Hall, Institute of Education, University of London
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