Philosphical Approaches Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philosphical Approaches - Essay Example It is very important to leave out bias, prejudice, personal factors, and opinions from ethical decision making in such cases (Guy, 1990). Ethical decision making requires a good sense of morals and a neutral viewpoint. While it is very difficult for a person to remain neutral in several situations, an ethical decision maker or a judge has to keep his/her mind clear of preconceived notions. An ethical dilemma may arise when a decision has to be made on moralistic grounds between two opposing situations. While both parties may be right in their own regard, it is up to the decision maker to reach a fair, unbiased, altruistic conclusion (Trevino, 1986). Several tools are available to decision makers to derive their decision such as references, proof, investigations, objective opinions of others, etc. However, the method to be chosen is reliant upon the decision maker’s preference and his/her comfort level with the chosen method (Robert, 2007). In regard to ethical decision making, there are three philosophical approached to guide the behavior of the decision maker. The first approach is the intuitionist approach. This approach relies on intuition alone and is basically reliant upon the decision maker’s own sense of morals and standards of ethical behavior. The decision maker alone is responsible for deciding what is right and wrong according to his/ her judgment and intuition. This is the most subjective approach amongst the three as the basis of an ethical decision relies upon whether the decision maker himself feels that he has made an ethical and moralistic judgment. This may also be criticized as being an unethica l approach to decision making as everyone’s norms and sense of morality may differ. However, this approach is used and is considered to be one of the most phenomenal approaches to ethical decision making (Guy, 1990). The next is the deontological