Ethics

Ethics Essay Exam

In this world, humans are bound by ethics and virtues. We live or lives day to day within the confines of an ethical infrastructure built by our forefathers, whom, in turn, was instructed by their Father. It ultimately depends upon our own beliefs system that determines what we do is considered either right or wrong. Ethics and morals are some of the biggest issues in philosophy and as we review the many aspects of our world's ethical issues, I will touch on just a few.

In our ethical case, we are given the situation of three students who gain access to their teacher's office and decide to make photocopies of the exam at the library. When they finish, they attempt to return the exam to the professor's office. However, they are caught in the act and are turned over to the Discipline Committee. The Discipline Committee then decides that they all receive an F in the course and that they have the option to ask the professors of their other classes they are enrolled in, to take their final. I am playing the role of one of the other professors and have to decide whether or not to let them take their final for my class or not.

One can not simply come to a decision right away without any analysis of the facts and motives behind the actions. Everyone has a conscience that tells us what is wrong or what is right. However, it is the individual's responsibility to conjure a course of action that will define whether they chose the wrong or right path. This capability of being able to discern is what we know as ethical behavior. In "The Handbook for Christian Philosophy," by L. Russ Bush, Bush defines ethics as the study of moral values and moral practices. He continues by explaining it as a system setting forth not only what is right or wrong but an explanation of why one should act or not act in certain ways. (Bush, 1991, 252) The students had the capability to discern what the consequences would be before committing the act. For example, if you stole a jacket from a department store, you would be held liable for your actions and you would probably be thrown in jail or be charged to "the highest extent of the law," as you would see on signs posted around the exit of the building. But, one should already know that if they steal they will be punished because this deed is considered unlawful; in other words, unethical! Going back to the situation of the students, had they not realized what the consequences would be, they would have copied the exams, for some reason, with innocent intentions. But since we are led to believe that they did know the consequences and they had guilty intentions, it would be fair to assume that they would have to be held accountable for their actions. In this situation I would not let the students take my final because their intentions for being at the school are not ethical and do not match up with the policy of the school. They knew that because they copied the exam, they were not abiding by university policy. Standard procedure for an issue of this sort would be dismissal for the semester.

In the "Encyclopedia of Philosophy," written by Paul Edwards, Edwards points out the theological theories based on objective morals. According to these theories, there is an objective criterion of what is right or wrong which is provided by what God wishes us to do, approves our doing, commands us to do, and so on. If this criterion of right is provided by God's commands, then it is not possible for two people, one of whom says that an action is right and the other whom says that the same action is wrong, both to be correct. For if the one is right in thinking that God wishes us to act in a certain way, then the other must be wrong in thinking that he does not.(Edwards, 1967, 73) God does ask that we, as Christians, act in a certain way. For example, in 2 Peter 1 of the New International

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