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7 Step of Moral Decision Making

Jen works as a housekeeper for Ms. Carla, who is offering Jen a chance to earn extra money by signing up as a "ghost employee" on a hospital project Ms. Carla is overseeing. Jen would not have to do any actual work but would receive half of the monthly pay of PHP 8,000 for six months. Jen is feeling confused about the offer since she is an active member of her local parish. Ms. Carla wants Jen to sign soon. Jen is unsure what to do if faced with this situation.

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Joe Carl Castillo
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2K views14 pages

7 Step of Moral Decision Making

Jen works as a housekeeper for Ms. Carla, who is offering Jen a chance to earn extra money by signing up as a "ghost employee" on a hospital project Ms. Carla is overseeing. Jen would not have to do any actual work but would receive half of the monthly pay of PHP 8,000 for six months. Jen is feeling confused about the offer since she is an active member of her local parish. Ms. Carla wants Jen to sign soon. Jen is unsure what to do if faced with this situation.

Uploaded by

Joe Carl Castillo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Case Analysis: Jen’s Conundrum

Jen and her messenger husband Lito, along with their three young children, live as informal
settlers in a compound in Halaan City. Jen works as the stay-out house-help for Ms. Carla, who is
the administrative assistant of the town mayor. One day, Ms. Carla approached Jen to offer her a
source for extra money, which Jen could make much use of. What Ms. Carla wants Jen to do is to
sign up as a ghost employee in a hospital project the former is overseeing. Ms. Carla tells Jen: “she
does not have to do anything but to sign in an employee contract.” Ms. Carla will give Jen half of
the expected Php 8000 monthly allowance for the six-month long project. Jen, who is an active
member of her local parish, is now feeling confused. Ms. Carla wants her to sign soon. If you are
in Jen’s situation, what are you going to do?
Source: PPT from New GE Curriculum Training, ADMU 2016
SEVEN-STEP OF
MORAL
DELIBERATION
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

Every day we are confronted with situations which require decision-making.


Some are non-moral situations while others are moral. The first challenge that
people need to pass through is to distinguish moral from non-moral problem.
Sometimes, many of our students including us failed to distinguish the difference
to the point of interchanging them. The consequence of the failure to recognize
the difference is the failure to provide an appropriate solution to the problem. We
sometimes stress ourselves with problems which we consider morally-demanding
when in fact it is not. The worst is when we address moral issues with non-moral
solutions thinking that the issue is non-moral.
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

There are two common errors which people usually commit when confronted
with issues mentioned above.
• First, situations with different worth, moral and non-moral are most of the
time addressed similarly because people have difficulty in identifying the
difference. Most people do not know that issues are in various
characteristics, thus need to be solved distinctively.
• Second, due to our laziness to engage in in-depth thinking, we usually rely
on the common method without knowing the appropriateness of the method.
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

• One example of the common method is the reliance to the authority. The error
arises when we set aside our reason because of our trust in authority. We
become deaf of reasons backed-up with good arguments because of so much
reliance to authority. This does not mean that the authority cannot be the basis
of truth. It simply says that ‘right and wrong are not to be understood in terms
of the authority.’
• ‘Morality is a matter of reason and not of the authority’s words.’ The authority
can be a determinant of right and wrong if the authority has good rational claim.
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

Ideally, to make our decision appropriate, moral or non-moral,


it is right to identify first the problem to be able to apply the
correct principle. If the principle we employ does not provide
good result, reason dictates that we need to rethink of fitting
solution. “This turning of mind from the appreciation to
rethinking of more better solution again and again and again, is
what we call moral reflection (Que, __22).”
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

The following paragraphs discuss a framework for moral


deliberation. These are not rigid process that one simply follows
without wrestling with the dilemma. The steps still demand a
diligent and careful reading of a moral dilemma. It is to be noted
that the following steps are processes which pay recognition to
the role of both feelings and reason in the moral decision-making.
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

1. GATHER THE FACTS


“Frequently, ethical dilemmas can be resolved simply by clarifying the facts of
the case in question. In those cases that prove to be more difficult, gathering the
facts is the essential first step prior to any ethical analysis and reflection on the case.
In analyzing a case, we want to know the available facts at hand as well as any facts
currently not known but that need to be ascertained. Thus, one is asking not only
‘What do we know?’ but also ‘What do we need to know?’ in order to make an
intelligent ethical decision.” It is very important to consider all available facts in the
situation to avoid arriving at a wrong moral decision.”
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

2. IDENTIFY THE STAKEHOLDERS


“It is important to identify the stakeholders who will be affected by the ethical decision
to be made. It will also help to identify the corresponding obligations that one has toward
the various stakeholders. For instance, one must consider the stakeholders who stands to
lose more from the decision more seriously than others. At this stage too, it is helpful to
get to know the perspective of the stakeholders. One can do this by stepping into the shoes
of the various claimants and trying to determine what they would prefer to do in the
situation. This is one of the most difficult tasks in ethical decision-making. The key in the
step is to try to see the problem in the perspective of the stakeholder.”
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

3. ARTICULATE THE DILEMMA


“Under this step, one must identify the moral values or principles which are
central to the conflicting positions being taken. This is important to determine
whether some principles are to be preferred than others. By articulating the
dilemma, one is able to choose which values and principles are appropriate to the
problem.” e. g. as a class president, your professor asked you about exam leakage.
You know that your best friend was the one who took a picture of the questionnaire
from your professor’s folder. Now, are you going to tell the truth or not? Which
value you are going to prefer, friendship or honesty?”
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

4. LIST THE ALTERNATIVES


“Part of the creative thinking involved in resolving an ethical dilemma
involves coming up with various alternative courses of action. Although
there will be some alternatives that you will rule out without much thought,
in general the more alternatives that are listed, the better the chance that
your list will include some high-quality ones. In addition, you may come up
with some very creative alternatives that you had not considered before.”
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

5. COMPARE THE ALTERNATIVES WITH THE PRINCIPLES


“At this point, the task is one of eliminating alternatives according to the
moral principles that have a bearing on the case. In many instances, the case
will be resolved at this point since the principles will eliminate all alternatives
except one. In fact, the purpose of this comparison is to see if there is a clear
decision that can be made without further deliberation. If a clear decision is
not forthcoming, then the next part in the model must be considered. At least,
some of the alternatives may be eliminated by this step of comparison.”
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

6. WEIGH THE CONSEQUENCES


“If the principles do not produce a clear decision, then a consideration of
the consequences of the remaining available alternatives is in order. Both the
positive and negative consequences are to be considered. They should be
partially weighed since some positive consequences are more beneficial than
others and some negative consequences are detrimental than others.”
SEVEN-STEP OF MORAL DELIBERATION

7. MAKE A DECISION
“Deliberation cannot go on forever. At some point, a decision must be made. Realize that one
common element in ethical dilemma is that there are no easy and painless solutions to them.
Frequently, the decision that is made is one that involves the least number of problems or
negative consequences, not one that is devoid of them.”
It is better to have a method of moral deliberation to see the full picture of one’s decision.
Whenever some loopholes are recognized after reviewing the whole process, things can be easily
rectified because of its simple format. After carefully following the process, still a problem is
recognized, then, it provides a realization that some issues cannot be fully deciphered. The good
thing is that there is an attempt to make it a perfect decision. The product of the attempt is a
sound and reason-based decision. Good arguments are surely provided to support the decision.

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