Discussion Project: Identifying Ethical Questions and Defining Ethics

Try to decide which of the following questions are ethical questions. In some cases it may not be clear whether or not a question is an ethical one. For example, if I asked "Should I take that job they offered me at the bank?" I would most likely be asking a question about whether or not taking the job would be a good career move. But in some situations (say, if I thought the bank was an unethical organization) it could be an ethical question. So try to sort the questions into three categories: 1. clearly ethical; 2. clearly not ethical; 3. ethical or not ethical depending on the circumstances or on how you interpret the question.

1) Should abortion continue to be legal in Minnesota?

2) Do the majority of Minnesotans favor legal abortions?

3) Should abortions be performed only by licensed M.D.'s, or could a nurse handle the job?

4) Who was the greatest third baseman of all time?

5) Who was the greatest President of the United States?

6) Should I inform on a co-worker who is stealing from the company?

7) Is there a company policy that says, "Employees must report stealing by fellow workers"?

8) Is there anything wrong with mixing chlorine bleach with ammonia to clean floors?

9) Is there anything wrong with mixing truth with falsehood to make a sale?

10) Is there anything wrong with killing my children if I think they are making too much noise?

11) Aren't there some cultures where bribery is thought to be perfectly O.K.?

12) Is there really anything wrong with paying bribes to government officials, if that’s the local custom?

13) Was the United States justified in attacking Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001?

14) Was the Supreme Court justified in overturning the Georgia capital punishment law?

15) Should I buy a sailboat, or set the money aside for my children's education?

16) Should I buy a sailboat, or use the money to get a fancier car?

17) Should I spend all my money on myself, or should I give some of it to charity?

18) Should I go to the movies tonight, or stay home and read a book?

19) Can a professional code of ethics contain unethical principles?

20) Should a man open a car door for a woman?

21) Is it wrong to wear furs with tennis shoes?

22) Is it wrong to wear furs?

23) Does the death penalty deter crime more effectively than life in prison?

24) Is the death penalty a just punishment for certain kinds of crimes?

25) Does exercise prevent heart attacks?

26) Does exercise build good character?

27) Is there intelligent life elsewhere in the universe?

28) Which is better, chocolate or vanilla?

29) Which is better, telling a lie or hurting a friend's feelings?

30) Which is better music, country/western or jazz?

Now, try to decide if there is anything that all the ethical questions have in common, which the non-ethical questions don't have. If so, what is it? If not, is there some other way that you could explain what distinguishes the ethical questions from the non-ethical ones? (When you think you have an answer, use this list to test it.)