Ethical Trap and Avoidance Mechanism one: Justification

Ethical Trap and Avoidance Mechanism One: Justification

In order for Justification to succeed a person must apply conflicts of loyalty and indirect responsibility. I believe that blacks were enslaved and Jews murdered partially due to this trap. First, no one was willing to against the culture, whether they believed it was right or wrong. To do so meant that a person wasn't a part of the majority, but a rebel, someone who could not be trusted. The belief that by doing nothing, they have take no action is indirect responsibility. This is complex and I see it all the time.

I can avoid this trap by using The Reputation Perspective, which has principles that demand integrity, justice, courage and civility. All of these principles place a great deal of responsibility on the individual and demand that he do the right thing.

Ethical Trap and Avoidance Mechanism Two: Conformity

I was shocked to learn that the conformity experiment in the book found that 75% of test subjects eventually conformed at lease once. I find it hard to believe that intelligent people could be worn down so quickly without pressure. Is a question of confidence, wanting to fit in, or not wanting the pressure? I couldn't figure it out.

I think that it takes inner strength to avoid conformity, so I look to Aristotle and Kant for their principles of courage and freedom of conscience, respectively. It's difficult to be at a table and watch people fall into group thinking and be the lone dissenter. I believe that once I have the courage to interject, I can to step away because I'm not obligated to participate in actions that go against my values. Now, this is typically career limiting, but it makes for better sleep.

Ethical Trap and Avoidance Mechanism Three: Conflicts of Interest

This particular trap resonates with me because I'm in the pharmaceutical business. I'm constantly at odds with my company's goals, which represent shareholders, and my clients, who are physicians and patients. Physicians constantly ask questions about how my drug is used off-label, which I legally cannot answer, but could create utilization. They ask me to sponsor events and create income streams for them. To keep my job, I have to produce sales, but physicians who see me purely as a "sales rep" are unlikely to speak to me or even consider what I have to say, so sales are harder to produce. Meanwhile, my competitors are constantly bending the rules.

I have been able to avoid these traps by utilizing Mill's principles. I always act in a way that enhances my reputation and that of my company. I do not behave in a way that jeopardizes my company's goals. I don't win the big trips because I'm unwilling to cross the line, but I never worry about getting phone calls from my company's attorneys.

Ethical Trap and Avoidance Mechanism Four: Social Dominance Orientation (SDO)

SDO, I believe, is the reason that our banks control our lawmakers, and our lawmakers ignore their constituents. They all believe that their groups are superior to others, intellectually, financially, socially or in some combination of them all.

I can avoid this trap by recalling the Reputation Perspective, which asks if the decisions that I make support the "golden rule" and if they demonstrated the respected human qualities of courage, self-control, goodness and compassion. Mill's lens begs the question, "Is the outcome of this decision one that results in overall good?" I can remind myself that I belong to a much bigger group - humanity. I can avoid this trap by volunteering my time to help those less fortunate.

Ethical Trap and Avoidance Mechanism Five: Doing is Believing

When asked if they cheated, students not indicated that they did, but ranked themselves highly in self-approval. Choosing to be dishonest created a mechanism to eliminate guilt. The author went on to describe how the Enron executives bragged about their ability to be unethical.

This trap is avoided by Mill's integrity principle. I must have moral self-discipline; be truthful and promote fair treatment for all people. I have to keep myself from taking the first little step towards unethical behavior, because it will automatically reduce my personal responsibility.

Ethical Trap and Avoidance Mechanism Six: Small Steps

Small steps involve the cumulative effects of low threshold unethical behaviors and the ability of the actor to tolerate his behaviors as they intensify in frequency and severity.

This trap is best avoided by the principle from Utilitarianism that states, "The employee should not the goals of the organization". The Reputation principles of integrity and civility also play a role in avoiding this trap. The smallest unethical action is less ethical than the largest. It's much like sin.

Ethical Trap and Avoidance Mechanism Seven: Contempt for the Victim

This trap works because the actor is able to dehumanize his victim and, by doing so, is able to remove any sort of empathy that he may have for them as person with similar hopes and dreams. Eventually the actor is able to create a cycle that allows him to dehumanize a person, which makes it easier to harm them, which makes it easier to dehumanize them.

I am reminded instantly of the Reputation Perspective and its question regarding the "golden rule". I believe that this question would help to put myself in the shoes of my potential victim and allow me to sidestep this trap. From the Rights perspective, "There are duties of respect owed to persons to insure that individual personal rights will not be violated". As I mentioned above, I need to always find a way to be involved in the lives of those less fortunate than myself.

Ethical Trap and Avoidance Mechanism Eight and Nine: Advantageous Comparison and Zooming Out

Advantageous comparison is a person taking his actions and comparing them to something much worse. Zooming out is trivializing and minimizing