1. Moral Issue

   • We should add that “issue” is also often used to refer to those particular situations that are often the source of considerable and inconclusive debate (thus, we would often hear topics such as capital punishment and euthanasia as moral “issues”).

2. Moral Decisions

   • When one is placed in a situation and confronted by the choice of what act to perform

3. Moral Judgement

   • When a person is an observer who makes an assessment on the actions or behavior of someone.

4. Moral Dilemma

   • one is torn between choosing one of two good or bad choosing between the lesser of two evils. when an individual can choose only one from a number of possible actions, and there are compelling ethical reason for the various choices. A mother may be conflicted between wanting to feed her hungry child, but then recognizing that it would be wrong for her to steal is an example of a moral dilemma.

Ethical Decision Making

1. Gather The Facts

   • clarifying the facts of the case in question

   • In analyzing a case, we want to know the available facts at hand as well as any facts currently not known but that need to be ascertain

   • one is asking not only “What do we know?” but also “ What do we need to know?” in order to make an intelligent ethical decision..

2. Determine the Ethical Issues

   • The ethical issues are stated in terms of competing interests or goods.

   • It’s these conflicting interests that actually make for an
     ethical dilemma.

   • The issues should be presented as ______versus _________ format in order to reflect the interests that are colliding in a particular ethical dilemma.

   • For example, in business ethics there is often a conflict between the right of a firm to make profit and its obligation to the community. In this case, the obligation pertains to the environment.

3. What Ethical Principles Have a Bearing on the Case

   • It is critical to identify moral values or principles to the conflicting positiont, and in some cases, to determine whether some principles are to be weighted more heavily than others.

   • There may be other principles that speak to the case that come from other sources. There may be constitutional principles or principles drawn from natural law that supplement the biblical principles that come into play here.

   • The principles that come out of your mission and calling are also important to consider.

4. List the Alternatives

   • Part of the creative thinking involved in resolving an ethical dilemma involves coming up with various alternative courses of action.

   • In addition, you may come up with some very creative alternative that you had not considered before.

5. Compare the Alternatives with the Principles

   • At this point, the task is one of eliminating alternatives according to the moral principles that have a bearing on the case.

   • In many instances, the case will be resolved at this point, since the principles will eliminate all alternatives except one.

   • the purpose of this comparison is to see if there is a clear decision that can be made without further deliberations.

   • If a clear decision is not forthcoming, then the next part is the model that must be considered. At the least, some of the alternatives may be eliminated by this step of comparison

6. Weigh the Consequences

   • If the principles do not yield a clear decision, then a consideration of the consequences of the remaining available alternatives is in order.

   • Both positive and negative consequences are to be considered. They should be informally weighed, since some positive consequences are more detrimental than others.

7. Make a Decision

   • At some point, a decision must be made.

   • Realize that one common element in ethical dilemmas is that there are no easy and painless solutions to them.

   • Frequently the decision that is made is one that involves the least number of problems or negative consequences, not one that is devoid of them.

3 Steps in Ethical Decision Making

1. Moral Problem

   • Whether A or B

   • Whether to cheat on exams or not

2. Moral Analysis

   • Positive and Negative Consequences

   • Positive and Negative Consequencesof cheating

   • Positive and Negative COnsequences of Not cheating

3. Moral Decision

   • Chosen scenario and why

   • I will cheat because I want to pass the exams