Importance of Personal Ethical Viewpoint
Personal Ethical Viewpoint A personal ethical viewpoint is a statement that defines what a person believes in, in terms of ethics, morals and values. Almost every part of our life is governed by our ethical viewpoint. What do you believe is right and wrong? It is represented in the way that you act, respond and live your life every day. Your ethics, morals and values define your strength of character. They show who you really are as a person.
These values are learned and developed as you grow from a child to an adult. It is important to know what you believe in because as the old saying goes, “If you don’t stand for anything, you will fall for everything. ” The ethical lens exercise helped opened my eyes and helped me to further define my ethical viewpoint. As an African-American, I have always valued the equality of all people because I feel this is the just way to live. As a child, I was taught to value justice and justice is righteousness.
So, the ethical lens inventory was correct about these two values, but I feel that the exercise overemphasized the fact that I value rationality over sensibility. I do believe in being logical because yes, sometimes things do not feel great but using rationality can help you come to the best decision. But, this does not mean that I do not value sensibility; I feel that I am a very sensitive person and I always consider others feelings before I say or do anything. This proves that I do value sensibility.
According to the Ethical Lens Inventory, my preferred ethical lenses are rights, responsibility and relationship lens. This means that I value mine and other’s rights. I feel that taking responsibility is important. It also means that I prefer to have personal relationships rather than being alone. My blind spot is the belief that motive justifies method or overconfidence in the process. To be quite honest, I am not sure how much I agree with this statement but, I must say that I do believe with all my heart that justice should be upheld.
Justice is fairness so I do not think that this could hurt someone that does not deserve it. My strength is being able to logically think and research options before I take action. My weakness is feeling sad or guilty when I am not able to provide justice or seeing someone who did not receive justice. My classical values are temperance and justice. Temperance is the using moderation and self- restraint. My course of action is always defined by my personal ethics. I will continue to uphold justice in every situation because RIGHT is RIGHT!
