Introduction
A moral-ethical dilemma occurs when an individual is prompted to make a critical decision between two or more competing options. Moral dilemmas are relevant in everyday life because they allow people to examine their ethical stance in light of different competitive alternatives (Qun, 2019). In this paper, Jane Doe decides to continuously remain unethical in her nursing exams even though she had a choice to uphold an upright moral stance. A breakdown of why and how virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and personal moral philosophies apply to her unethicality, alongside a proposed solution to her actions, form the basis of this paper.
Why Virtue Ethics and Utilitarianism Apply to Jane’s Actions
Utilitarian and virtue ethics are the two ethical theories that fit this situation the best. This is because they both concur with the shared belief that an individual’s view of good and evil is predominantly influenced by their ego and outcomes (Rachels & Rachels, 2014). It is the utilitarian advantage Jane enjoys that motivates her to cheat. Thus, she is willing to compromise her ethical standards by prioritizing easier ways to get good grades. Contrarily, the virtue ethics phenomenon bases its assessment on a person’s character. This theory explains Jane’s behavior because it can be deduced that the professor’s ignorance and credulity traits contributed to her continuous cheating. The section below highlights the implication of my moral philosophy in the question’s context.
Personal Moral Philosophy as Applicable in Jane’s Case
According to my moral philosophy, what Jane did was unethical because it was unfair to her classmates, who toiled and completed their assignments independently. Furthermore, her failure to cite previous literature done by other authors constitutes unethicality through plagiarism. Although Jane achieved the outcomes she sought, judging by utilitarian and value ethics standards, her indulgence in cheating ultimately deprives her of the knowledge and skills that will be crucial in her future profession. The section below highlights the magnitude of Jane’s unethicality and how it can influence her profession.
Grave Instances of Ethical Transgressions
Based on the question’s context, it is false to conclude that some of the examples provided are more grave instances of ethical transgressions than others. All her actions weigh equally when criticized on the basis of ethical, moral requirements and will cumulatively affect her future career, as highlighted in the previous paragraph. The segment that follows demonstrates both the solution and specific actions that can be taken to deal with unethicality in school.
Proposed Course of Social Action and Solution
My proposed course of social action in this context will involve two main steps grounded upon the ethics of egoism, utilitarianism, the “veil of ignorance” method, and the deontological principles. Firstly, it would be necessary to mold the students’ desired behavior. Professors in Jane’s class need to act as role models and provide ethical leads regarding upright moral conduct. Teachers can offer advice and further inform learners of potential repercussions in case any of them is found cheating.
The second step is to emphasize developing skills and solving any emergent problems. The step-by-step techniques for establishing ethical decision-making processes, skills, and methods for dealing with ethical problems must be highlighted. This stage includes giving learners the resources they need to behave ethically, such as guidance and supervision (Qun, 2019). As a result, it will be possible to address Jane’s egoism, utilitarianism, veil of ignorance, and deontological principles by taking this approach. Jane believes that her egoistic pleasure from achieving her goal is a noble motivation. Since she consistently received fair treatment at school, just like the other pupils, she subtly acted unethically.
Jane should base her conduct on her religious affiliations because they outline the appropriate responses to all compromising situations. Concurrently, irrespective of some students’ constrained economic statuses, their decision-making should be based on the right proposition. The deontology theory, which contends that behavior is either acceptable or destructive as defined by a set cluster of standardized principles, can as well be applied regardless of the student’s economic status.
Conclusion
As stated in the introduction, a moral-ethical dilemma occurs when a person has to choose between two equally significant options. Since both utilitarian and virtue ethics models support the notion that self-interests determine how individuals interpret right and wrong, these concepts have been useful in explaining Jane’s unethical behavior. The study of ethical aspects highlighted throughout this paper can help readers make impartial decisions when faced with moral dilemmas.
References
Qun, G. O. (2019). The basic characteristics of virtue ethics and its fundamental differences with deontology and utilitarianism. Journal of Renmin University of China, 33(4), 45.
Rachels, J., & Rachels, S. (2014). The Elements of Moral Philosophy.” Buabandit Journal of Educational Administration, 14(3), 125-129.