Delicious Irony

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Kizmet, Jan 9, 2015.

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  1. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  2. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    It must seem all too easy for me to gloat now at this... erm... isolated :)rolleyes:) incident, but I've never understood the stock placed on ethics classes. Often enough, whenever business, political, medical, academic, scientific, or whatever else kind of misconduct is publicly exposed, some smarty-smart pundit or another suggests that these professionals be required to take ethics courses in college. As if studying ethics made you anymore ethical than studying fitness makes you fit.

    Now, I do think there might be an interesting discussion to have regarding the fact that it was a "sports ethics" course. Both insomuch as the possibility that we are talking about student athletes, who are often given a different set of unwritten rules to follow than the general student population, and the fact that there are competing, contradictory notions of ethical behavior that exist within the world of sports.

    That is, athletes are both expected to follow the rules of the game AND to win at all costs. They are expected to be team players AND have impressive looking individual statistics. They are expected to have supreme confidence in themselves AND be supremely humble about their abilities and accomplishments. They need to intimidate their opponents AND hold upstanding etiquette. It has to be maddening!

    Not to mention, there is a certain in-group "morality" that comes with being a part of a team. When I was in high school, my team found me morally reprehensible because I was the one guy on it who refused to participate in stealing Powerade from the stock room. I still think I was being moral by not stealing, and they probably still think I was being immoral by caring more about following the rules than sticking by my de facto brethren.
     
  3. jumbodog

    jumbodog New Member

    That was meant to be witty but it only show you don't understand the purpose of studying ethics. Few people are so naive as to think that an ethics course is going to take the devil and make him a saint. One major reason to take ethics courses is because it raises awareness, especially among those who might be decent people but don't understand what is or is not an ethical violation. Second, it raises the appreciation of ethics and helps to foster an ethical viewpoint when decision making comes along. In short, it puts ethics into the conversation. That's its point, not moral conversion.
     
  4. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Well said.
     
  5. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    In fairness, it could mean that despite understanding the purpose of studying ethics, with this particular comment MC chose to be witty instead.
     
  6. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    In this conversation it might be wise to pay particular attention to difference between Ethics and Morality.

    Ethics and morals relate to “right” and “wrong” conduct. While they are sometimes used interchangeably, they are different: ethics refer to rules provided by an external source, e.g., codes of conduct in workplaces or or principles in religions. Morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong.

    Ethics vs Morals - Difference and Comparison | Diffen
     
  7. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    People are more opt to behave ethically after studying ethics. Recognizing an ethical dilemma is the first step in making an ethical decision. Ethical dilemmas are not always easily recognizable from the onset.
     
  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Many organizations have internal training seminars related to ethics and ethical behavior. The most recent one I attended focused on conflict of interest issues and illustrated the general priciples with real life examples in hopes that attendees might learn not just from a review of the rules but the illustrations
    from the news. It was interesting and while it may not have given me a foolproof sense of what's OK and what's not, I clearly understand when I've stepped into a gray area.
     
  9. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

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