Traditional and Modern Ethical Thinking, Case Study Example

You are a manager at your current company. You receive a call requesting a character reference for an employee you know to be unreliable and dishonest but who has not broken any rule directly.

1. What should you tell the prospective employer?

I would tell the truth. This is a traditional ethical model of always telling the truth.

1. What type of information would you tell the prospective employer?

I would share his dishonesty and his unreliability but be sure to include that they never break rules directly and the advantage that would have for them as a company. This is a traditional ethical model.

1. How would what you share be to your advantage or disadvantage?

The disadvantage would be if they found out they didn’t get the job because I pointed out their character flaw. The advantage is that a reference reflects both ways and the old saying goes it’s a small world you don’t know how you vouching for someone can be a point of character assassination. . This is a traditional ethical model.

Mike is currently enrolled in a challenging course. His personal life is also unusually complicated by his seriously ill mother who lives out of state. Mike receives an e-mail from an individual who has taken this course previously and who Mike knows did reasonably well in it. In the e-mail, the individual offers Mike, for a fee, all the course assignments, discussion question responses, and Checkpoint answers.

1. How should Mike reply to his friend?

Yes they should reply to the friend. They should say NO. This is a Traditional ethical model

1. What are the positive and negative consequences of accepting this offer?

On the plus side mike can help his sick mother. The down side is the risk of getting caught and its consequences. This is a Traditional ethical model.

1. What are the positive and negative consequences of refusing this offer?

The plus side one would have a clean conscious. On the down side they would have maintained their ethical principles in the face of his ill mother’s condition. This is a Traditional ethical model .

You are a politician involved in a hotly contested race to retain your seat on the city commission. The political issues are important to you, but allegations have been raised that your opponent is leaving his wife for a younger woman. These allegations are unproven. Your campaign advisors have urged you to release this information to help your campaign.

1. What moral and ethical considerations come into play when making this decision?

The main ethical consideration is truth. The other ethical consideration is the consequences of your actions and how you will be perceived by both friend and foe alike. This is a Traditional ethical model. More specifically it falls under Consequentialism.

1. What are the positive and negative consequences of using the information?

On the plus side you may gain more votes if you’re seen as more moral. On the negative side you will be seen as playing dirty politics. This is a Traditional ethical model. Specifically it falls under Consequentialism.

1. What are the positive and negative consequences of not using the information?

The plus side is that the allegations may prove false and thus one would have dodged a bullet. Also one would have taken the higher moral ground. This is a Traditional ethical model. It falls under Consequentialism.

Reflection Question:

Discuss whether you generally make ethical decisions using a traditional or a modern ethical model. Provide an example using an experience you have had in your daily life.

Consequentially my actions and reactions to moral conundrum generally follow a traditional ethical model. Peer pressure has always surrounded me throughout my life to conform to norms that are not necessarily my own. This was particularly difficult in high school. Marijuana was quite prevalent and only the cool kids did it if you didn’t you were not cool and an object of mistrust. So I did what any teenager would have done especially to impress the girl. I faked it, I pretended I smoked marijuana even lit up with some girls I found attractive to get attention. But I never inhaled because of my mortal fear I would end up doing far worse in the future. So I was true to myself and used a traditional ethical model.