comma rule test

You may think that ethics means just knowing right from wrong, but people who practice good ethics don’t tolerate things that are wrong. In this ethics module, I learned a lot about ethics and gained a better understanding of what it means. There were three parts to my reading. They are as follows: a question of ethics, ethics check, and last but certainly not least, universal ethics principles. To others, I can explain what I have learned and it can help everyone know just what ethics really means and how it can be applied to our lives.

          The first part was entitled, “A Question of Ethics.”  This section explains the meaning of ethics. It goes on to say that no matter what the context of the decision, ethics is simply a matter of right versus wrong or more right than wrong. You really want to make up your mind right now, so when you are faced with the decision to cheat or do something unethical, you know that you won’t do it. It then asked the question “something might not be against the law, but is it ethical?” This is indeed a very good question to ask ourselves when we are having a hard time making a decision.

The next part was “Ethics Check.” In this part of the article, it listed five things to think about when making an ethical decision. Five things were mentioned, and I liked all of the information. Those five things were the golden rule, the rotary 4-way test, the power of ethical management, the markula program, and the mother test. The tips given, compared to anything else I have ever heard, were very helpful. Have you ever heard the phrase, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” I am sure you have, and it goes right alongside with rule number one, the golden rule. Through this part of the article, I learned all the ways to really test what is ethical.

          The third part of the article was called “Universal Ethical Principles.” The small heading for this part is “ethics according to the world’s great philosophers.”  This part, written by four very famous people, tells a lot about what being ethical is all about. I had heard some of the rules before like, “tell the truth no matter what.” But there were others I had never heard before. Rawls says, “When things can’t be equal, fairness means protecting the least advantaged.” This is one I had never read before and it really made me stop and think. At this point, I learned that no matter what the consequence is, you should always tell the truth because it is the right thing to do.

           This article really made me think, and I thought about everything I did in life. It had good pointers on how to look at a situation and decide whether or not it is the right thing to do. Sometimes we know right from wrong, but choose wrong because we are not thinking about the ethical thing to do. I know from now on I can look at a situation and better tell for myself what to do. In my own life, I can apply what I have learned about ethics. There is more than one part to the definition of ethics. How to tell if things are ethical, some wise words from some really smart people on what to do in a sticky situation, and general rules to ethics, are all things I learned. Just tell the truth, even though it might be hard,  and I promise that it will be a lot easier to make ethical decisions!