Ethical Decision-Making 101: A Common Sense Approach

Friday, October 29, 2010 by Stephen Elliott
In a complex world, it's sometimes difficult to know what to do or not do. It boils down to a matter of making choices based on ones values, ethics and general understanding of what's right versus wrong. One day as I pondered what to do in a given situation, I serendipitously discovered that a good exercise for gaining an understanding about what to do for a given situation is to ask ourselves the following question:  What would it be like if everyone (in the relevant group) did what I'm considering doing? Take for example a classroom. What would it be like if everyone in that classroom did exactly what I have been doing or am thinking about doing? In the business world, what would it be like if every business-person behaved exactly like I behave in business matters? What if everyone in the world, in my state, at my place of employment, or in my family smoked cigarettes all day long every day? If we imagine the world engaging in a given behavior, and then ask ourselves if it makes the world a better place or a worse place, we can usually figure out what to do for the given situation. Best Wishes, Stephen S. Elliott, Ph.D., Child and Adolescent Psychologist

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