Moral Problem Solving

Question 1

Explain what the Ethical Cycle is and why it is useful.

Answer 1

Real-world moral problems are often ill-structured: it is often unclear what the problem actually is, who is affected, who must solve it. Thus, it is often unclear how exactly to apply a relevant ethical theory to derive a solution.

The Ethical Cycle is a method for stating ill-structured moral problems more clearly, thereby laying the groundwork on which to apply relevant ethical theories and eventually solving moral problems effectively.

Keywords: structure, ethical theories, solutions

Question 2

Explain each step in the Ethical cycle.

Answer 2

1. Stating the moral problem:
   - First formulate the problem as a question
   - Highlight the Ethical aspects (Normative vs. descriptive)
   - Identify the responsible actor
2. Analyze the facts about the moral problem:
   - State the facts
   - Identify missing information
   - identify stakeholders and their interest
   - Specify moral values
3. Identify options for actions
4. Evaluate the options for action
   - Use an ethical theory like Consequentialism, deontological ethics, virtue ethics, common sense to evaluate the action.
5. Reflection
   - essentially asks you to provide an argument for your proposed solution

Keywords: Problem statements, facts, stakeholders, actions, evaluation, argumentation

Question 3

What kind of options for actions are there in the ethical cycle (step 3)?

Answer 3

• “Black-and-White” strategy (Do everything or nothing).
• “Middle-way” strategy (Do some).
• “Cooperation” strategy (Consult additional stakeholders to come up with an effective solution).
• “Whistleblowing” strategy (Alert additional stakeholders to “force their hand” to find a solution).

Question 4

What should you keep in mind when using the Ethical Cycle to define and/or solve a moral problem?

Answer 4

You usually start at step 1 of the cycle and then move sequentially through the steps, but it can be that you need to revise the results of each step based on the information gained from subsequent steps. Also, it is not a template for an essay!