Ethical Reasoning Methods Various ethical reasoning methods, or philosophies, exist to provide specific principles and rules that help individuals arrive at what is right or wrong in a particular instance. The common method bases covered by your book include teleology, deontology, justice, and virtue. After reading the characteristics of each method it may be difficult to know which one guides your decisions in difficult situations. A common ethical dilemma used to distinguish between philosophical reasoning methods is the classic Runaway Trolley example depicted below:

Case -

Imagine you are standing on a footbridge spanning some trolley tracks. You see that a runaway trolley is threatening to kill five people. Standing next to you, in between the oncoming trolley and the five people, is a railway worker wearing a large backpack. You quickly realize that the only way to save the people is to push the man off the bridge and onto the tracks below. The man will die, but the bulk of this body and the pack will stop the trolley from reaching the others. (You quickly understand that you can't jump yourself because you aren't large enough to stop the trolley, and there's no time to put on the man's backpack.) Legal concerns aside, would it be ethical for you to save the five people by pushing this stranger to his death?

Question from Ethical Obligations and Decision-Making in Accounting: Text and Cases by Steven Mintz and Roselyn Morris.

Questions 1.) Which of the four Ethical Reasoning Methods did you use in arriving at your decision for this particular situation?

2.) Were you surprised by your answer to this case? Why or why not?

3.) Can you think of another time in your life when used the same reasoning method for an ethical situation as the one you selected for the Runaway Trolley Case?

4.) Can you think of another time in your life when used a different reasoning method for an ethical situation than the one you selected for the Runaway Trolley Case?

5.) Do you agree with the book's position on Ethical Relativism and Situation Ethics? Why or why not?

Grading:

Responses will be graded based on their ability to fully answer the questions (10 points), the strength of ties to chapter topics (6 points), and proper use of spelling and grammar (4 points). Please note that students will not see any other students' posts until they make their original post.