ETHICAL DECISION MAKING

MODEL I
 INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
• That’s cheating! No it’s not!
• That’s wrong! No, it’s fine!
• It’s just part of the game!
• “Frequently there is no critical examination
nor probing of the set of beliefs, the actual
basis for rendering moral judgment, used by
the person making such comments. In part
this is due to the paucity of attention paid to
the study of ethics, generally, and to sport
ethics, particularly, at all levels of
schooling:
 COURSE OBJECTIVES
• ENCOURAGE, INSPIRE, MOTIVATE
YOU TO THINK ABOUT ETHICAL
DECISIONS YOU MAKE.

• PROVIDE A SYSTEMATIC WAY OF

MAKING ETHICAL DECISIONS.

• “THE MODEL” (MODEL 1)

 DEFINITIONS
• ETHICS – a sub-discipline of philosophy
concerned with issues of right and wrong in
human conduct. It is concerned with good
and bad; what is authentic and not
authentic; and with the notions of duty,
obligation, and moral responsibility.
• VALUES – Individual beliefs which
motivate and guide behavior.
• NORMS – Group or societal standards or
generally held criteria for acceptable
conduct.
• ETHICS – Objective basis upon which
judgments are rendered regarding right or
wrong behavior.
• MORALS – Actions, behavior, and the
principles that guide them.

• OFTEN USED AS SYNONYM FOR

ETHICS.
 ETHICAL BASES/THEORIES
• DEONTOLOGY
• TELEOLOGY
• EXISTENSIALISM
 DEONTOLOGICAL
• Rule-based approach, focusing on
obligation and duty, similar to the
orientation found in the Bible. Since
attention is directed to the act itself, this
approach is non-consequentialist.

• FOCUS: WHAT IS RIGHT

 DEONTOLOGICAL
• RULE-BASED
• OBLIGATION OR DUTY
• ATTENTION DIRECTED TO ACT
ITSELF
• FOCUS: WHAT IS RIGHT.
 TELEOLOGICAL
• An approach that focuses on the consequences of
the action, one that conceives of ethics as
concerned with measuring the amount of
goodness, or badness, arising from behavior.
Attention is directed towards assessing the
consequences of a particular action rather than
examining the act itself.

• FOCUS: WHAT IS GOOD

 TELEOLOGICAL
• CONSEQUENCES
• MEASURES AMOUNT OF GOOD OR
BAD ARRISING FROM BEHAVIOR
• FOCUS: WHAT IS GOOD
 DISCUSSION
• THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
DEONTOLOGICAL AND
TELEOLOGICAL

• SPOCK VS. KIRK

• DISCUSS EMBRYONIC STEM CELL
RESEARCH.

• “We cannot allow the theology of a few to

prevent the progress of the many”
 EXISTENTIAL
• Attention is directed squarely on the individual.
Concepts such as authenticity, which refers to how
true the person is to himself or herself, integrity,
and genuine-ness are factors that must be
considered in judging each individual act at that
particular time within the context of the unique
circumstances prevailing.
• FOCUS: WHAT IS AUTHENTIC
 EXISTENTIALISM
• ATTENTION ON INDIVIDUAL
• INTEGRITY
• TRUE TO SELF
• CONSISTENT
• AUTHENTIC
• FOCUS: WHAT IS AUTHENTIC
• EXAMPLES OF EXISTENTIALISM

• DISCUSS USA OLYMPIC HOCKEY

PLAYERS TRASHING DORM ROOMS.
• DISCUSS VITO CORLEONE
• “PIRATES CODE”
• CONSISTENT UMPIRES
 THE 5 STEP MODEL
• PROCESS IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT

• CONCLUSIONS MAY BE DIFFERENT

 MODEL I
• 1. OBTAIN AND CLARIFY ALL THE
PERTINENT FACTS OF THE CASE OR
INCIDENT.
• 2. IDENTIFY AND ENUNCIATE THE
ETHICAL MAXIM(S) TO BE USED.
• 3. TIME
• 4. IDENTIFY AND DISCUSS EXTENUATING
CIRCUMSTANCES
• 5. RENDER JUDGMENT.
 STEP 1: GATHERING
INFORMATION
• PERTINENT FACTS
• EVERYONE ON SAME PAGE – OFTEN
SOURCE OF CONFUSION
 STEP 2: ETHICAL MAXIM
• CAN USE:
• DEONTOLOGY – ARE THERE ANY RULES?
UNDERSTOOD RULES?
• TELEOLOGY – WHAT ARE BENEFITS? WHAT ARE
NEGATIVES?
• EXISTENSIALISM – WAS BEHAVIOR CONSISTENT,
AUTHENTIC?
• More than one ethical maxim can be found to serve as the
moral yardstick against which we can measure behavior.
Invoking more than one ethical maxim promotes a wider-
ranging moral discourse.
 STEP 3: TIME
• HELPS COMPLETE STEP ONE
• PRIOR
• MOTIVATION
• INTENTION
• (MURDER V. MANSLAUGHTER)
• DURING
• ESTABLISHED RULES
• UNWRITTEN RULES
• (THROWING AT THE BATTER)
• AFTER
• CONSEQUENCES
• (NO HARM NO FOUL)
 STEP 4: SPECIAL
EXTENUATING
CIRCUMSTANCES
COMPLETES STEP ONE
• Les Miserables
• Everest Climbers
• New Orleans nurses post Katrina –
euthanize severe cases
STEP 5: RENDER JUDGMENT
• CAN BE DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON
ETHICAL BASE
• NOT ALWAYS BLACK AND WHITE,
OFTEN GRAY
• REASONS HELP SUPPORT JUDGMENT

• AT LEAST PROCESS IS USED

 PRACTICE
• THE CASE OF LISA LESLIE
• (CASE 8.7)