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Essay / How Moral Character is Developed: A Study in Ethics
Table of ContentsIntroductionUnderstanding Ethics and Its ElementsMoral Ethics in Organizations and BusinessTheoretical Framework for Moral Character DevelopmentStages in Moral Character DevelopmentEthical Dilemma communityConclusionReferencesIntroductionThis article aims to explore and improve my personal ethical skills by presenting real-life cases from my family and community that revolve around ethical values. I will identify ethical dilemmas that conflict with my personal ethical values and formulate solutions rooted in ethical principles to effectively resolve these moral issues. Before addressing the ethical dilemmas within my family and community, I will delve into a comprehensive review of ethics and its components, including ethical values, ethical behavior, ethical challenges, and the role of ethics as an integral part of organizational culture. This foundational exploration serves as a framework for understanding how moral character is developed and applied in various contexts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Understanding Ethics and Its Elements Ethics is simply discovering what is right or wrong in relation to individual or organizational behavior. Ethics refers to the rules that are used as guidelines for a person's behavior in society related to good and bad traits. Ethical behavior is a science of morality and human behavior in association with others, which is related to the principles of morality and human behavior (Trevino and Nelson, 2014). In other words, ethics is the obligation and moral responsibility of everyone to behave in society. Not only at the individual and societal level, but ethics also contributes to business management. Generally speaking, the concept of business ethics refers to the way in which a company conducts its business activities which cover various aspects, both of individuals, businesses and society. Business ethics can also be interpreted as knowledge of the ideal procedures for running a business by observing standards and morality that apply universally, economically and socially. Every business must pay attention to and implement applicable ethics, for example, obeying applicable laws and regulations. In the organization there are ethical values and codes of ethics as a reference in the execution of work obligations. Ethical values are all the values that are applied in an organization as a reference in carrying out each activity. The ethical values common to the organization are integrity, fairness, honesty, reliability, respect and openness. This may be more or less important, depending on the values of the organization. Integrity means the quality of being honest in one's life as a whole. The definition of integrity is a consistent and intact personality, both in word and deed, in accordance with the values and code of ethics (Adams, Tashchian, and Shore, 2001). Moral ethics in organizations and businesses. Equity is equality or fair treatment. in respecting the rights and obligations of employees which arise from the values and regulations applied in the organization or company. The company must create a solid system to make everything work as expected. With such fair work, it is expected that all existing regulations will be followed to protect everyone who has a stake in the sustainability of the business. The principle ofbusiness ethics in the practice of honesty is the principle of conformity between words and actions with current or existing rules and/or conditions regarding material or information relevant in activities, practices or management of a company or an institution. To be a quality individual and be able to benefit many people, of course, someone must have a special character that can sustain them, and one of the characters in question is trustworthy. What we mean by trustworthy is when another person trusts someone. Good performance will make other people trust us to do things and not hesitate to give us assignments. Performing tasks honestly also creates a trustworthy environment where no one likes to be lied to. In an organization or company, respect is one of the important things to maintain good relationships in order to create work synergy between colleagues or with people in higher positions. Respect means mutual respect in the world of work, can know the hierarchy that exists within an organization or company in order to create a synergistic work environment. Also respect one of the ethical values that must be taken into account to create harmony in the workplace. Openness is an imaginative, creative and artistic person. The word openness refers to the ability to tolerate, the ability to absorb information and focus. A very open person has imaginative thoughts. While people who are not very open also describe people who are myopic and conservative. These ethical values are usually enforced in a business in the form of a code of ethics or regulations of the company or organization. Apart from knowing the ethical value of a company or organization, understanding individual ethics is also an important thing. Ethical dilemmas, prescriptive to ethical decision making in business, ethical awareness and ethical judgment, individual differences, ethical judgment and ethical behavior. An ethical dilemma arises when two or more good values are in conflict. In an ethical dilemma, we will be faced with a situation in which we will have to choose the best alternative among several choices in a particular condition. In the philosophical theories of a prescriptive approach to ethical decision making in business, there are three theories regarding how the individual makes the decision based on their philosophical condition, namely the consequentialist theory, the deontological theory and the virtue ethics. Consequentialist theory means that when people make a decision and decide what is right, they will focus on the outcome or consequences of the decision or action. Consequentialist theory has a close relationship with utilitarian theory according to which people will tend to maximize the benefits of an action or decision and minimize the harms or consequences (Trevino and Nelson, 2014). Deontological theory means that people will focus on duties, obligations and principles when making a decision. Rather than thinking about the consequences of action, deontological theory prefers to focus more on an organization's value principles when making decisions, such as honesty, keeping promises, fairness, loyalty, rights, justice, responsibility, compassion and respect for human beings and property. Thus, whatever the consequences, as long as the action follows the main values of the organization, ethicswill assume this is the right decision. Finally, virtue ethics is a theory that focuses on integrity, meaning that the virtue ethics perspective focuses more on the motivation, intention, and character of the actor. When making decisions, virtue ethics theory focuses on the moral character of decision makers, not the consequences of decisions (utilitarianism) or the motivation of decision makers (deontology). The two main problems in virtue ethics are determining which virtues a person should have based on their position and duties, and how the virtues are manifested in the workplace. These three fundamental theories will serve as a guideline for making a decision based on the philosophical condition of the individual. Theoretical Framework of Moral Character Development According to the textbook, another important theory that will be related to the discussion of the ethical dilemma and how to resolve this dilemma is the theory of cognitive moral development which explains how people judge when deciding to take an action based on their characteristics derived from moral reasoning (Trevino and Nelson, 2014). This theory maintains that moral reasoning, which is the basis of ethical behavior, has six stages of development that can be identified. He tracked the development of moral decisions by adding age, originally studied by Piaget, who stated that logic and morality develop in constructive stages. Kohlberg extended this fundamental insight, determining that the process of moral development was in principle linked to justice and that its development continued throughout life, although there were dialogues that questioned the philosophical implications of his research. Kohlberg's six stages of moral development are grouped into three levels: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. In accordance with the requirements proposed by Piaget for the theory of cognitive development, there is a very rare step backwards in these stages. However, no feature reaches the all-time high levels. It is also not possible to jump over a stage; each stage has a new and necessary perspective, and is more comprehensive, diverse and integrated than the previous stage. In children, pre-conventional levels of moral reasoning are typically found, although at this stage adults can also demonstrate reasoning (Trevino and Nelson). , 2014). Someone at the preconventional level judges the morality of an action based on its immediate effects. The pre-conventional level includes two initial stages of moral development and purely egocentric self-view. Initially, individuals focus on the direct effects of their own perceived actions. For example, if the person who performs it is punished, their action is considered morally wrong. The harsher the punishment, the more bad the action is considered. Moreover, he didn't know that from his perspective, the other person's perspective was different. You can see this step as a kind of authoritarianism. Second stage reasoning does not show sufficient attention to the needs of others, only to the extent that those needs also affect their own needs. Second, caring for others is not based on loyalty or intrinsic factors. Lack of perspective on society at the preconventional level is different from social contracts (stage five) because all actions are taken to meet one's own needs. For them, from the second stage onwards, the world perspective is seen as something relatively moral. The conventional level isusually occurs in an adolescent or adult. At this stage, people evaluate the morality of the action by comparing it to people's opinions and expectations. The conventional level includes the moral development of the third and fourth stages. Someone enters society at the third stage and plays a social role. Individuals would like to accept the approval or disapproval of others because it reflects the community's approval of one's role. In the fourth stage, it is important to respect the law, decisions and social conventions because they are useful in maintaining community functions. Moral reasoning at stage four is more than just the need for individual acceptance as at stage three; Community needs must exceed personal needs. Stages of Moral Character Development The postconventional levels, also called principle levels, include five and six stages of moral development. It is becoming increasingly clear that individuals are separate entities from society. Everyone's point of view must be placed in relation to society's point of view. Post-conventional levels are often confused with pre-conventional behavior, because the nature of self precedes others. In the fifth stage, individuals are seen as having different opinions and values, and it is important that they are respected and respected impartially. Problems are not considered to be relatively life-long and choices should not be withheld or inhibited. As a result, the law is not seen as a rigid decision but as a social contract. We must change the rules which do not have a social effect if necessary, we must change them to obtain the best for the greatest number. This was achieved by majority decision and compromise (Fraedrich, Thorne and Ferrell, 1994). Moral reasoning at stage six is based on abstract reasoning grounded in universal ethical principles. The law is only valid if it is based on justice, and the obligation not to obey unjust laws also includes a commitment to justice. Rights need not be social contracts, nor are they important to the moral actions of deontologists. Decisions are made absolutely, not conditionally hypothetical. In this part, I will use the theory I described above to analyze the problems that exist in the family and my community in the context of an ethical dilemma and an ethical decision-making process. There are three things that I will discuss in this section, namely ethical dilemma in my family, ethical values that are not compatible with my ethical values, and ethical dilemma in my community. Before describing the problem of the case, I will start with my family background to give information that might help in understanding the case in the next part. My name is Gede Boy Rekeyasa from Bali, Indonesia, I am the first child of two brothers who are all boys. I come from a simple family with an environment with strong cultural values. Over the past few months, I have been thinking about the problems faced by my cousin who would continue her studies at a conference called Dian. Dian is my uncle's first child who is currently attending vocational school at one of the best high schools in Bali, Bali Mandara Vocational School. The problems faced by villagers like our family are not far removed from financial, technological and informational problems. The problem my cousin faces today involves an ethical dilemma that confronts him with two difficult choices. Dian was very keen to continue studying outside of Bali at one of the universitieslocated in Malang, but the family did not support it because financial and gender issues meant that the fear felt by my family and by Dian when allowing Dian to study outside Bali without the direct supervision of the family. As the eldest child of a large family, I have become one of the suggestions and an important decision in this matter.Community Ethical DilemmaIn this condition, I am facing an ethical dilemma that has to choose one of the two right choice. The first choice was to support Dian's decision to study outside of Bali or be supervised by her family to be able to pursue her goals, and the second choice was to support the decision of most family members to request to Dian to study in Bali with the aim of being followed by families who will be delivered by parents with financial problems. This problem still hadn't been resolved until the test results for entering Dian University came out and he chose based on family discussions and the advice I gave. In this case, I was more concerned about the consequences that would be caused if Dian went to study outside of Bali without the supervision of her family. The first issue that came to my mind was the financial problem faced by Dian's family, the second was about Dian's safety while studying outside Bali, which involved unhealthy relationships, security and mental stress when meeting new people with different characters. But in this case I also saw gender discrimination by families not allowing Dian to study outside of Bali on the grounds that Dian was female and the unfair treatment Dian received was not addressed the same way I was allowed to study in Bali. Jakarta. After thinking about it, the negative consequences or possibilities that will be experienced by Dian and her family are greater than the positive things that will be achieved. Therefore, I decided to advise Dian to study in Bali with a course that she wanted to be able to reduce the costs and risks she would face studying outside of Bali. The second topic I will talk about is the ethical values of my community. which are not compatible with my ethical values. In my Bali community, there is a value that is applied illegally but has become a natural habit in my village: having sex outside of marriage. This is completely unethical behavior, based on religious values and current law in Indonesia, but it is something so common that it is considered a legal and ethical value. Some people might not agree with this value, but there is no real action from people aware of this deviant behavior. According to the manual, requiring ethical behavior is what is right and what makes me think about developing a solution to this problem of unethical behavior or values. First, I think the best solution to this problem is to change the mentality of people in my community by socializing the legal system that regulates sexual freedom and the impact it will have on collaboration with the police and the chief of establishment so that supervision of children by parents will be tightened to reduce deviant behavior. The last topic that will be discussed concerns the ethical dilemma in my community. A problem that Indonesians often face is flooding and water pollution caused by several factors usually caused by the behavior of throwing garbage and waste into the river. This problem occurs.