Ethical Decisions and Ethical Judgment Theories about ethical

Ethical Decisions and Ethical Judgment Theories about ethical judgment and behavior ACCT 7320 Fall 2011

Your responses to dilemma of confronting boss over tax fraud 14 Histogram 12 12 10 Frequency 10 8 8 Frequency 6 4 4 2 2 2 1 0 0 10 20 30 0 0 40 50 60 70 Probability of Confronting 80 90 100

Rest’s 4 -Component Model of Ethical Behavior n n Moral sensitivity judgment motivation character James Rest & colleagues 1960’s

Ethical Development (Kohlberg)

Ethical Development: Conventional Level

Ethical Development: Postconventional Level

Rationalist vs. Intuitionist Theories n n Kohlberg adopted the tradition of philosopher Immanuel Kant, holding the view that individuals interact with their environment in a rational process that becomes more and more refined through time. Other philosophers (Hume? ) have seen us as more emotionally/instinctively driven

Is ethical decision-making instinctive? n “Intuitionist” theorists claim that moral judgment is almost (or completely) devoid of rational judgment n driven by immediate instinctual responses which the decider then justifies by ex post explanations that masquerade as rational reasons.

The social-intuitionists’ work n n Attracted attention in the popular press as well as academic literature. For examples, see Joshua Greene’s website, www. wjh. harvard. edu/~jgreene/, Jonathan Haidt’s website, http: //people. virginia. edu/~jdh 6 n/, and www. yourmorals. org/links. php.

Dilemmas to demonstrate Streetcar dilemma……vs……. . Footbridge dilemma

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