Factors to Determine Ethical Behavior Essay Example for Free

Factors to Determine Ethical Behavior Essay Scott: I couldn’t agree more. And nowhere is this more evident than in corporate America. We see ethics at play all the time, with Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scheme, the Enron scandal, Exxon, BP, and many, many more examples. Ethical behavior can make or break a company. Diane: Sure, I remember people passing up Exxon stations after the Valdez accident several years ago; same with the BP oil spill. Boycotts against companies happen all the time if they forget they have to be good corporate citizens, in addition to turning a profit. Scott: I think the issue here, in a discussion of ethics though, is what determines ethical and unethical behavior. Can we give people any kind of a framework that might help to easily determine what is seen as correct behavior and what needs changing in a corporate setting? Diane: Of course! And while none of these ideas are foolproof, in general, they cover the majority of signs or problems to look out for and be aware of. You have to look at the individual employee’s stage of moral development, their individual characteristics, the structure of the company, the company culture and then look at how big the issue itself really is. Scott: Well, I’m interested in a few concepts that I’ve never really heard of before. Talk to us a little about â€Å"the stages of moral development.† Diane: Gladly. There are three levels inherent in moral development. You have the pre-conventional level, which deals with consequences from the outside dictating moral behavior†¦ Scott: So, an example might be my grandfather, who  always talked about the nuns who taught at his Catholic school breaking out the rulers. That would be pre-conventional, right? Diane: Exactly. It’s all about how outside punishment or reward affects the choices people make between what is right and what is wrong. Scott: So, if that’s pre-conventional, I’m betting that the second level is conventional, then. People just living up to the standards of society – what other people believe for the most part is right and wrong. Diane: That is it exactly, and that leads to the third level, which is the principled level. This is beyond responding to an outside stimulus or to our own notions of what others believe is right and wrong. At the principled level, people now look inside themselves and make a determination removed from all those other factors affecting what they believe is right or wrong behavior. Scott: Well, that does make a lot of sense. So then, what are the individual characteristics that can have an influence on moral behavior? Diane: Values and personality are the two things that govern these individual characteristics. A person’s individual values begin developing during childhood and continue to develop through experiences, discussions with other people and interactions with family, friends, teachers, religious figures, and others. A person’s value system is very broad and includes many different areas. Personality deals more with two specific ideas, that of ego strength and locus of control. Scott: Sure, ego strength influences a person’s convictions. If you have a high degree of ego strength, then moral convictions will be easier to hold. â€Å"Locus of control† isn’t a concept I’m too familiar with though. Diane: A person’s locus of control has to do with fate. Some people believe they have a lot of control in their lives, while others believe that things are left to the wind. Those who have an internal locus of control believe they are in control, while those who have an external locus are more apt to believe that things will happen to them because of fate or luck or mere happenstance. Scott: So I know we’ve talked before about how a company is structured; whether or not it is centralized or decentralized. That plays a significant role as well, correct? Diane: It does, very much so. The more hands touch something, the less likely it is that any strict controls put in place will stick. The less people you have managing a process, the more tightly the controls can be monitored. This of course would be inaccurate if you had, say, one person managing everything who was inherently unethical. Then there would be nobody to call them to account. The structure of a company is a significant factor in the ethical behavior put into practice. Scott: The ethical behavior of individuals is fascinating and all, but what about the ethical behavior of organizational culture? Some companies encourage transparency and ethical behavior at all times. They have realized that openness and honesty are good for the bottom line in the long run and ensure a strong core brand. Other companies may not overtly tell people to act unethically, but have individual â€Å"bad actors† inside the corporation who might encourage people to do things they shouldn’t. Diane: Exactly. And we all know examples of this. We hear about chemical companies dumping dangerous waste that contaminates ground water, about cigarette companies lying about how dangerous and addictive their product is, or about banks and the â€Å"robo-signing† scandal during the last recession. All of these activities, while not necessarily condoned by everyone across the enterprise, were OK’d by certain people within the corporation and seriously damaged the brands involved. Scott: And of course, this is where issue intensity is important, because while we don’t like to admit it, some unethical behaviors are worse or more impactful than others. While all unethical behavior should be avoided, dumping toxic chemicals into water that could kill thousands of people could arguably be seen as worse than, say, an employee who is skimming a few dollars here and there from a company. Both are bad, wrong, and can cause harm, but the characteristics  that determine issue intensity show us that there are indeed levels of unethical behavior, and they can determine the likelihood of this kind of behavior occurring in the future. Diane: And these characteristics – greatness of harm, consensus of wrong, probability of harm, immediacy of consequences, proximity to the victim, and concentration of effect – all play a role in determining when and why something unethical might occur. The less these factors play a role, the more likely for fraud or other unethical behavior to occur. If the victim isn’t seen, if the consequences are far in the future, or if the behavior only affects one person, the possibility for unethical behavior is likely to see a jump. Scott: And to talk more about this, we’d like to welcome to the show Scott Hyder, attorney at law. Diane: Hello Scott – welcome to our show. Let me ask you, how does ethics play a part with respect to certain professions that require licensing to do business? Scott Hyder: Well, it’s incredibly important particularly in very regulated businesses such as businesses where you need a license. I’m an attorney and so every attorney has to follow a certain set of ethics guidelines regardless of the state that you’re in. Every state has passed very detailed ethical rules that are approved by the state’s Supreme Court and it’s not a matter of if, or a matter of choice, or just a matter of morals when following the ethical rules. It’s a matter about whether your license will be revoked if you don’t and many times you’re violating ethical rules unintentionally; it’s usually NOT an intentional  thing. It goes anywhere from disclosing client confidences to wrongful accounting practices, even if they are innocent mistakes. So, we really have to be careful as lawyers because if we don’t comply with these rules, all it takes is one client’s bar complaint to open up the flood gates. A client could complain about poor service from a lawyer, file a complaint with the state bar who regulates all lawyers but, by the end of the day, even if the client’s complaint about the service of the lawyer is frivolous, the attorney could be sanctioned for other unrelated things that become apparent as a result of the investigation. It’s very common, for example, for a complaint to be filed but ultimate charges are implemented that have to do with wrongful accounting practices, competence issues and if that kind of thing happens, your license can be suspended and if it’s very egregious, it can be revoked. Scott: Very interesting discussion, Scott, thank you so much for all your time. Diane: And thank you all of you listening. We’ve appreciated your time and hope that you’ve gained a great deal from this content. Scott: Until next time!

Catholic And Protestant Baroque Overview

Catholic And Protestant Baroque Overview The word Baroque was first applied to the art from the period of the late 1500s to the 1700s, by critics in the late nineteenth century. The word Baroque in no way though, seems to describe the art movement. In Italian the word Baroque means Tortuous medieval pedantry and Portuguese for Deformed pearl. Regardless, Baroque , is primarily associated with religious tensions within Western Christianity, spanning a 200 year time span. A divide had began in the Catholic church and the outcome would see the creation of a new offset of Christianity. In 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. By 1520, Luther has been excommunicated and began a protest movement against the Catholic church. This protest movement would later be called Protestantism. Luther believed that the layperson, or someone who is not a clergyman, was being distanced from the church and understanding the scripture. He advocated hymns as a better way to communicate hard to understand mysteries of the church and made music an integral part of Protestant church services (evansville.edu). The Catholics in response convened the Council of Trent to discuss and consider Luthers Theses. In 1563 the council finished their work and made art an integral part of the process of helping the layperson to understand the scripture. Through a visual and emotional display of the church through art, they hoped to influence as many people as possible to remain faithful to the Catholic Church. This was not only through the funding of paintings, but also in the commissioning of churches with enormous domes, swirling forms, huge spiraled columns, multicolored marble and lavish murals. This new program of renewal, or counter reformation, would see the church commission all types of work that would be both doctrinally correct visually appealing, and emotionally appealing. This unique style, later referred to as Baroque, would start in Italy, but as the century progressed the style would make inroads into the Protestant countries. Baroque would become a style in which painters, sculptors an d architects rummage emotion, movement and variety in their works. The Protestant reformation would be a refresher course on the reality of life for the individual. This would change with the advances of the counter reformation, as the mood of middle age art once again found expression. The mystical, the abstract and the dominance of color over form would serve as an emotional stimulus for everyday people to reconsider the advantage of Catholicism. For some artists this transformation would be easy. The reformation had caused a separation between artist and church, which in turn caused a financial crunch on the already meager living of the typical painter (rice.edu). This new visually intense form of expression took on very different characteristics in different regions of Europe. This is largely in part due to the topics covered at the Council of Trent. In Northern Europe and largely in the Netherlands, the Baroque movement took on a significantly non secular undertone. This is a result of the predominance of the Protestant faith in this region. The advances in techniques are still noticeable in different examples of the Baroque era from Protestant artists, however due to the nature of the Protestant practice the messages are drastically different. Contrary to Catholics of the time, who worshiped in lavish sanctuaries with elaborate services for mass, the Protestants experienced their faith internally. This meant that they enjoyed simple churches and took their religious messages from the bible itself, instead of the imposing Catholic Church (csun.edu). The Protestants had their Reformation and the Catholics had their Counter Reformation. While the Catholics needed to attract viewers with religious art that more significantly impacted onlookers, Protestants would respond with a lack of religious art. Instead they would concentrate, for example, on genre paintings that taught their viewers moral lessons. Compositions from both tended to have more open space. Objects and scenes were in a state of motion to create emotion. They either came out as the viewer or something could fall on the viewer. The motion of these pieces was created through circular or diagonal compositions. On going at this time was a general knowledge that the Earth was in motion, which was a giant conceptual leap to show this aspect of life in art. Some characteristics of baroque was an attention to exact, naturalistic details. Spatial values, such as deep space, fooling the eye and objects being pushed into the viewers space. An integration of architecture, sculpt ure and painting. Stories being portrayed would seem to happen in the space and time of the viewer (smcvt.edu ). One of the more influential Catholic Baroque artists of the time was Caravaggio. His influence on the art of his century would be significant. One of Caravaggios masterpieces is The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (albany.edu). In it three dishonest characters, their faces concealed or turned away, are drawing, dragging and thrusting the cross to which Peter is nailed by the feet with his head put down. The Saint Peter, as portrayed by Caravaggio, cannot be called a martyr. Instead he is an old man, suffering from pang and in fear of death. The obscure, impermeable background attracts the viewers gaze back again to the keenly illuminated people, who remind us that the death of the apostle did not look like a heroic drama, but a hapless and humiliating execution. In Caravaggios The Conversion of Saint Paul (albany.edu), Saint Paul is seen rolling around in the dirt of an old stable This attacked both the prevailing ideas about painting as well as offending the religious sensibilities of the church. Caravaggio sought a way to bring the Catholic faith down from the heavens and make it relevant to the everyday man on the street. Through his paintings he wanted to create a convincing copy of the optical world and use this as a vehicle of spiritual meaning. His so called dark manner would be influential to all later Baroque painting. One of the few northern Europe protestant artists to create religious paintings was Rembrandt. He was from protestant Holland and is well remember for creating about 60 self portraits. Biblical subjects accounted for one third of his entire production. This is quite rare for the Protestant North of the seventeenth century, for church patronage was nonexistent and religious art was not regarded as important. His famous painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son (tiu.edu), was finished shortly before his death in 1669. There is a sense of great tragedy as you gaze upon this work. The contrast between the light and the dark, the two mysterious figures that appear dimly in the background, the woman behind the father and the dishevelment of the younger brother, all contribute to this sense of tragedy. The Baroque styles of Protestant Northern Europe and predominantly Italian Catholic artists are stylistically similar. This comes as no surprise since the techniques originated in Italy. The most notable distinction between the two styles is not the artistic tendencies, but rather the motives or message being conveyed through the paintings. The Catholic Baroque style included vivid imagery that displayed vigorous emotion and incited emotion in those that viewed it. While the Protestant Baroque style used many similar, if not the same techniques; portrayed uniquely intrinsic emotion felt by the artist and brought about emotion not so much through dramatic stimulation, as through sympathetic understanding. The fundamental difference between Protestant Baroque and Catholic Baroque is that Protestant Baroque painters convey subjects in ways that portray the artists personal emotion; while Catholic Baroque painters conveyed visually entertaining and captivating imagery in order to evoke e motions from the person viewing the image.

Death Penalty Essay -- Capital Punishment Judicial Essays Papers

The Death Penalty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Death Penalty can be considered one of the most debated issues in the United States. The death penalty is a judicially ordered execution of a prisoner for a serious crime, often called a capital crime (Capital). There are many people that oppose the death penalty and then there are many people who are for the death penalty. People who oppose the death penalty feel that it is not humane or it might be too expensive. The people who are for the death penalty feel that it gives a chance for individuals to be accused for their wrong acts. Most convicted murderers face the possibility of execution. The nature of the case is what decides whether or not the convict qualifies for the death penalty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People who oppose the death penalty take the side that is too much money. They feel that it is far more expensive to execute the convict than keeping them in prison. In Texas, the cost of each execution case is roughly three times greater than detaining an inmate for forty years with the tightest security. Other states have similar statistics on how the death penalty is more expensive than imprisonment. One poll, "The Budgetary Repercussions of Capital Convictions" states that the cost of capital trials from 1982-1997 was $1.6 billion (Costs). Part of the taxpayers money goes to the cost of executing a criminal. Many feel that the money can be used for education or medicare. Also, many people opposing the death penalty feel that many convicts are inn...

Prevention for HIV/AIDS :: Diseases Health Medical Essays

Prevention for HIV/AIDS Although anti-viral therapy exists to support people coping with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and AIDS, the AIDS epidemic is not over. Though it is not prevalent in the Untied States, 2.1 million people died of AIDS by 1999. Half a million children under the age of fifteen are HIV positive, mostly infected through mother-to-child transmission or sexual assault (2). Ninety percent of HIV infections occur the developing countries, leaving the poor and struggling to cope with the epidemic (3). Heterosexual infection is the most common form of infection in Africa and Asia, especially in women. Elsewhere, infection through sex with a bisexual or drug infected partner, drug injection with dirty needles, blood transfusion and heterosexual sex are typical (2). Overall, the primary forms of transmission occur through unprotected sexual behavior, sharing needles, home tattooing, and through birth, from mother to child (5). An infectious disease, HIV must enter the blood stream of a person for transmission. It enters through bodily fluid, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, and breast milk. The disease infects cells in the body, especially CD4 cells, a type of white blood cells. Also known as T-cells, CD4 cells are crucial in maintaining the human immune system in protection from infectious diseases (5). By destroying the white blood cells, HIV causes a sever breakdown of the body's immune system, leaving the body vulnerable, fragile and unable to protect against any disease they are exposed to. When the immune system becomes severely damaged AIDS is diagnosed by the contraction of specific diseases such as tuberculosis and toxoplasmosis (5). Once diagnosed with AIDS, the virus never leaves the body, leaving the immune system to deteriorate until it is unable to fight off the diseases anymore, letting them take over the body. Major research and pharmaceutical companies continue to place precedence on the search for a vaccine or cure; it is estimated that it will take another ten to fifteen years to find a cure or vaccine for HIV/AIDS. Methods for HIV prevention need to be a priority in medical research; prevention is the first step to slowing an epidemic, and an interest in vaginal microbicides, a new form of female prevention, could result in having them on the market in a third of the time it would take to discover a vaccine (1).

1984 And The Left Hand Of Darkness Essay -- essays research papers

The two books Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Left Hand of Darkness help to define humanity and truth. Humanity is the condition, quality or fact of being human collectively. The definition of truth is things as they are, things as they have been, and things as they are to come. Truth cannot change because it does not reflect a personal perspective. These books illustrate how humans relate towards themselves, friends, enemies and humanity as a whole. Truth allows humans to stand-alone. When they find truth they are able to be one against the whole. "Being in a minority even a minority of one did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad."(Pg.171, Nineteen Eighty-Four) This fact allows Winston to fight against the party. Truth is a powerful weapon that can defeat all odds. "One voice speaking truth is greater force than fleets and armies, given time." (Pg. 27, The Left Hand of Darkness) Genly Ai knew that eventually the people of Winter would accept the truth, however it would only take time. Truth cannot be changed by man but can only be distorted. This fact is illustrated in both books. "The shortcomings are in the messenger, not the message." (Pg. 106, The Left Hand of Darkness) Genly Ai knew that sometimes when the responsibility of the truth is on one person it could get distorted. The truth can also get distorted when the people holding the power are in charge of keeping the truth. "Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth." (Pg. 62, Nineteen Eighty-Four) When truth is distorted one loses the freedom to decide if one wants to support truth or untruth. When people's friendships go untested they believe a friend would do anything for them, but when the trials come the trials end in betrayal. Winston believes he will stay true to Julia no matter what happens. "If I could save Julia by doubting my own pain, would I do it? Yes, I would." (Pg. 184, Nineteen Eighty-Four) After Winston betrays everyone except Julia, he still believes he can withstand his torture and not betray Julia. "You have whimpered for mercy, you have betrayed everybody and everything. Can you think of a single degradation that has not happened to you? Winston had stopped weeping, th... ...ston is a part of his country by force, he eventually is brain washed by O'Brien and changes his hate for Big Brother to love for him. "Down with Big Brother!" (Pg. 18, Nineteen Eighty-Four) "He loved Big Brother." (Pg. 236, Nineteen Eighty-Four) He loses his freedom for he feels that freedom is the ability to die hating Big Brother. "To die hating them, that was freedom." (Pg. 223, Nineteen Eighty-Four) Winston is brain washed and as a result he loses the freedom to make his own decisions about whom he will hate and whom he will love. These books show that though the relationships between humans might be different, the principals are the same. These principals include the fact that humans will stand-alone when they have the truth on their side because truth cannot be changed. Secondly, when friendships are tried, they will break because of one's love of him self. Moreover, the death sentence is not a necessary way to punish one's enemies. Lastly, being part of a group can be helpful because an individual belongs, yet harmful because of blind loyalty. The relationships people build with others are a reflection of their beliefs of truth and humanity.

Frankenstein an early form of science fiction? Essay

† Many people believe that this was just an excuse for Victor’s mistakes, but I believe that it was Mary Shelley’s influence creeping into the storyline yet again. Shelley was a romantic; she spent her life against the facts of the world, hoping for the near impossible. She drove herself to the wonders of fate, much like Victor is doing at this time in the book. He told himself that he had little control, and that fate and mysterious wonders possessed him like a puppet on a string. Death is in a way the centre of the story. More then half of the characters themselves die, and the creature is made of dead matter. It is astonishing that Mary Shelley would write about death if she was a romantic. What is even more astounding is that she wrote so much about science! But I think there is a possible link that does not contradict any of the facts or motives. If Shelley wanted to prove how dreadful science was, then what could persuade people more then death? I think that she wrote the story to illustrate what science could really do to someone’s life. Whereas the â€Å"guardian angel† mentioned in the story (which I think is symbolic for the romantics Shelley loved), could have saved their lives. The death presented can be received as if it were a horror story, and it partially is, but the amount of death and pain suggests otherwise. Even though the idea of death is dire, without it the book would be pointless and boring. In fact, in this situation, the death creates life, the creature. â€Å"With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. † Victor’s experiments with dead matter and electricity must also give a massive input to the concluding decision. It contains scientific knowledge, experience and language, and therefore helps the science fiction appeal. Even the way that Victor speaks sounds scientific enough to make you think that it’s science fiction. â€Å"I thought that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption. † Although in the film certain parts of content are lost and an exaggeration of the electricity used is inputted, the outlines, structure and main plot remain. And if the film was defined as a sci-fi horror, then indubitably the book must also be regarded with similar merits. There are so many ways in which science is referred to in the book that it is almost impossible to imagine how many there actually are. If Victor as the main character is experimenting with science, then presumably the story is experimenting too, bringing to the conclusion that Frankenstein is an early from of science fiction, on the basis of the meaning of science fiction itself. Science fiction itself is defined as â€Å"a piece of fictional writing including a form of scientific knowledge or plot. † Therefore, theoretically Frankenstein would fall into this category. The only obstacle preventing this is whether or not it should be something else, like gothic horror or even romantic thriller. There are approximately equal amounts of evidence that would finally classify the novel. There are so many genres it could be that it is extremely difficult to comprehend which one it would distinctively fall into. The problem is how do we choose which one? But one thing most people do not consider is why can’t something be more than one thing? For years people have combined ideas to save time or just for the sake of it. Things like two in one shampoos, or multi vitamin tablets or even television programmes. So what some people agree upon in this situation is: why can’t Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein be three genres rolled up into one? After all, this essay has found no reason to suggest why it shouldn’t be pronounced science fiction, and I am sure that there will be no way to say how it is not any other genre. If we excluded one genre from the description then it would not fully describe the book to its full temperament. However, against anything else and for the sake of answering the original essay question, I will call it an early form of science fiction, only because there was nothing like it before it was written, and if it hadn’t been, there may not be a science fiction anyway. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

TOP 10 discoveries of Decade

Discovery of Eris in 2005 by Mike Brown, a minor body that is 27 percent bigger than Pluto. Eris had trumped Pluto and become the 9th largest body known to orbit the sun. The finding became the trigger that changed the face of our solar system, defining the planets and adding Pluto to a growing family of dwarf planets in 2006 by International Astronomical Union (IAU) 9. T. rex Tissue Dug from Bone the discovery of what appeared to be soft tissues – blood vessels, bone matrix and other cells – inside the fossilized femur of a small T. rex in 2005.  (Tyrannosaurus)Since then, the bones have revealed amino acids that resemble those of modern chickens, firming the link between dinosaurs and birds 8. Dark Matter's Existence Confirmed Directly is the direct confirmation of the mysterious dark matter in the summer of 2006 Until then, the existence of dark matter was inferred by the fact that galaxies have only one-fifth of the visible matter needed to create the gravity that keeps them intact. So, the rest must be invisible to telescopes: That unseen matter is â€Å"dark. â€Å"7. New Human Ancestors Emerge  is the emergence of new human ancestors, first, in the form of a 6- to 7-million-year-old skull of Sahelanthropus tchadensis – known as Toumai, in northern Chad in 2002. Then, in 2009, the nearly complete skeleton of â€Å"Ardi,† in northeastern Ethiopia bumped the famous â€Å"Lucy† as the earliest, most complete skeleton of a human ancestor ever found 6. Alien Planets Seen Directly is an astronomer seeing alien planets, or â€Å"exoplanets†, directly in 2008, using the Hubble Space Telescope and the infrared Keck and Gemini observatories in Hawaii5.  Humans Meld with Machines is the concept of cyborgs that is, half-machine, half-humans, becoming a reality in the last decade, as much progress has been made with people controlling robotic limbs and computers with their minds 4. Stem Cells Found in New Sources is fi nding of stem cells in new sources in 2007, when scientists from Kyoto University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, essentially turned back the clock for adult skin cells, allowing these mature cells, which were preprogrammed to become skin, to act like embryonic stem cells3.  Mars Surface Gives up Signs of Water is the discovery of water ice on the surface of Mars in 2008 by NASA's Mars Phoenix lander 2. Human Genome Mapped is the development of the rough draft of the entire human genome in the year 2000, followed by a completed version in 2003. Since decoding the human genome, dozens of other species have had their genomes sequenced, including pigs, dogs, bees, mosquitoes, puffer fish, chimpanzees, yeast, corn, and rice.With these maps in hand, scientists can and will discover new ways to heal diseases or improve crop yields 1. Glaciers Melting Fast When the 21st century began, scientists studying Earth’s climate thought the gigantic ice caps on Greenland and Antar ctica would melt slowly around the edges and lag behind the overall global warming of climate. But this past decade, the warmest on record, proved the climate modelers wrong Glaciers have been melting much faster than ever expected and researchers have been trying to understand why