MORAL DILLEMAS'

Discussion Question 1-

Describe a time when your moral values influenced the way you responded to an issue. What differences did you notice between your logical reasoning process and your moral reasoning process? What were the possible consequences or outcomes of your decision?

ABOVE IS ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WERE ARE ANSWERING WHEN IT COMES TO HONESTY IN OUR RESEARCH PAPERS, VERSES PLAGIARISM.



WHAT WOULD YOU DO, OR DO YOU HAVE ANY EXAMPLES OF A TOUGH MORAL DECISION, MADE OR UNMADE YOU CARE TO SHARE? ...SEE IF YOU CAN GET A JUST A COUPLE OF FRIENDS EACH TO DROP IN AND SHARE.. (SO WE CAN HAVE SOME FODDER FOR DISCUSSION & DO A LITTLE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT!

J



I can recall when my friend drank all night and came to work smelling like a brewery. The difference`s I recall between logical and moral reasoning are strong. My moral reasoning was to not watch my friend go down, or let him. Logically, he could have gotten me fired. Additionally, he could have gotten someone hurt, or himself.

There was one time when I was a teenager, my brother's girlfriend offered my marijuana. I said no, she insisted but I refused again and I told my parents everything that happened. My moral values told me that to take her up on her offer would have been wrong. Being that she was a friend and she was much older than me, I hesitated for a moment and thought that maybe smoking marijuana would not be that bad. But like I said, my moral values told me it was wrong and I stood my ground. Needless to say, when my brother found out what she had done he broke up with her. The difference between my moral reasoning and logical reasoning is my moral reasoning was an instinct, no thought behind it, I just reacted. The logical reasoning was a thought-out, longer process. I asked myself questions like, "Was smoking marijuana as bad as I thought?", or "Maybe I shouldn't tell my parents?".

In the end, I feel that I made the right decision. My parents trusted me more after that incident and it just felt nice for them to be proud of me. If I followed through with it the consequences could have been terrible. I could have became addicted to drugs, my brother would have been with a terrible person, I could have got into trouble with the law....ect. There are many things that could have happened to me.

TAKING A POSITION

I worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC processing Dental claims for two years. I found out an employee was improperly paying claims knowingly to certain providers. Do I say anything or turn a blind eye? I was the new kid and she trained me! I knew what needed to be done, but would I do it? I thought about it, prayed about it, and slept on it, (even though I knew what I was going to do) and told my supervisor the next morning.

I did not regret my decision and they were able to observe her and catch her in the act of falsely paying claims. She resigned without any criminal prosecution. I do not think you would say I used logic, because I do not think anyone knew but me. Therefore, I believe it was purely a moral decision. It was in line with my beliefs and convictions on honesty and integrity. I am no Saint, but I did take a vow to report any known offenses or breach of company policy to proper personnel. I made a decision, took action, and because of that, a problem and actually a criminal offense was corrected.

Turning her in to my Supervisor led to her resignation, saving the company money. I suspended judgment about what she would “think” of me, and did the right thing. That was more important than any selfish gain as to whether she “liked: me or not!

Truthfully, I was proud that I took the higher road and do not regret my decision.


WEEK 8 DQ1

I used the example above in week one or two in- "Taking a Stand". I'm using it again to answer the questions posed after 7 weeks of class have flown by. I sated originally that I did not think I used logic, as I was the only person involved in the decision process. I was very wrong. I had to use logic in facing the very argument itself. There was no way of coming to a conclusion, or even a lack of conclusion without using logic. I had to find the premises, draw a conclusion and the act on what I had discovered. Reflecting on my decision making process I came to a logical conclusion that she may very well lose her job based on my actions. I had to weigh that outcome, compared to the consequences I would have inside based on my moral maturity at that time. Since I was the only one that knew, what harm could it do right?

The differences noticed, was the immediate feelings of guilt I experienced when I thought about not saying anything. That my Spiritual Man or Conscience, or whatever you want to call it, rose up and flew all up in the face of logic. I do not attribute this to any righteousness or right standing of my own, but only to a higher power than myself. I had taught these principles for 20 plus years and now was the acid test concerning what I preached and believed. I noticed the logical response was cold and clinical, whereas the moral process was very emotional and conflicting or more difficult.

The outcomes were black and white. Tell or not tell. Feel guilty or not guilty. Her losing her job verses what she and others may think about me. I am still glad I made the decision I made, and pray that I would continue to make decisions based on clear logic and sound moral principles.


One time I was face to make a moral decision some friend and I were at the beach for a weekend. We all decided to go out to local bars and do a little dancing and drinking considering I do not drink adult beverage I was appointed the driver. Late in to the night my friend wanted to make a toast to honor our friendship, I reminded them not to buy me a shot, aim the one how was driving their drunken butt home. The entire group valued my decision not to drink, but one, he thought I needed to drink for the toast. I made a judgment a long time ago not to drink and I was not going to start now. The outcome of my decision was we all returned home safely.


The time that I was faced with a moral issue was when my mother found 11,000 dollars in cash in a house that she was cleaning out. The house had belonged to my great step grandmother (confusing huh?), who is in a nursing home. My mother bought the house from her about a year and a half ago, and had rented it to a young couple. The couple moved out, and my uncle was moving in. He didn't want the stove that was there, so my mother was cleaning it out and getting ready to move it out when she found plastic bags full of bank envelopes, which were full of cash. She initially though that there was only a few thousand, but when she got it home she counted and found that there was eleven thousand. Can you imagine. Of course she was faced with a huge moral dilemma. Say anything to the executor of my step grandmother's estate or just keep it and be quiet? It didn't take too long, and I believe that she did the right thing. She contacted the executor right away and gave him the money to be used for my grandmother's care. She said that if it had been a stranger, or if she had already passed away she probably wouldn't have said anything, but because it was family and she knew it would be used for good she had to do the "right thing". That situation wasn't mine personally, but it caused a lot of discussion in the family about what they would do. Some people said the typical, I would have kept it and not said anything, but I would have done exactly what my mother did, because I would not enjoy having the money because I know that I would always feel guilty that I didn't speak up. The logical side of me said "that could help my mom live a very comfortable life, and my children and I may benefit from it eventually," but the moral side of me knew that it had to be given to the person who had spent all those years saving it, probably in case she ended up in a nursing home.


NOW THE ONE ABOVE IS A TOUGH ONE FOR ME, UNTIL I HEARD GRANDMA WAS STILL LIVING! HAS SHE BEEN DECEASED, HMMMMMMMMM.

I'll leave this up a while and see if we can't get a good post going--and add some that didn't turn out so good....everyone can ask at least one or two to drop by..and no this isn't a shameless attempt to get traffic..I am just curious at some of the DILRMMAS we've been faced with, and how we handled tham at a certaing age!

Have a grate week!

John