From Judith McDaniel
One of the things I really like about ethics—teaching ethics, I mean—is that we can find some timeless ethical principles that have always been with us. These principles cross country boundaries and political systems and millennial markers. No matter what the specific cultural beliefs of a country, a community that survives from one generation to the next does so because it adheres to one or several of these timeless ethical principles.
The second thing I really like about teaching ethics is how quickly the situations in which we need to apply those principles change. This combination makes teaching ethics online a perfect combination. Let me explain–
What are those timeless principles?
1. Ethical decisions based on the greatest good. This system of thought assumes a community whose members are joined in a shared pursuit of common goals. The community is made up of individuals who have defined their individual good as inextricably tied into achieving the good of the whole. The principle of this system would state: What is ethical is what advances the common good.
2. Ethical decisions based on fundamental rights. Human rights, civil rights—these are issues that have been in the news and in our daily discussion for more than sixty years. This approach to an ethical system maintains that each person has a fundamental right to be respected and treated as a free and equal rational person capable of making his or her own decision.
3. Ethical decisions based on fairness. Definitions of ethical conduct in this system are based on how fairly or unfairly our actions benefit or burden others. One guideline here is consistency in the way people are treated; however, consistency by itself does not ensure fairness. There are justifiable reasons for treating people differently based on need, effort, merit, fault, disability. The principle of this system would state: Treat people the same unless there are relevant differences between them.
What changes? The context in which these principles are being applied changes every day and with every group or culture. I am not talking about “situational ethics” but rather about the things you do that require you to apply these standards, whether you think about them consciously or not.
My course materials on the ethical principles never have to change; but the online format allows me to make instant changes in the discussions and problem-solving that students are doing—and I can change the scenario in a day or an hour, whatever the student/participant group needs.
Tags: benefits of online education, ethical principles, ethics, online education, teaching ethics
