The Ethical Choice by Ian

The Ethical Choice by Ian - January 2023 Scholarship Essay

Should abortion be illegal? Should we continue to use the Death Penalty? These are all common questions and debates in our world today. These questions all concern and revolve around a common factor, ethics. I believe that Ethics should be a required class because of how important it is in our society today, and how much I enjoyed it and learned from it. Ethics as a whole is very important to understand our world today, and all of the things going on around us. To be able to study this subject, I believe everyone would be able to comprehend the world around them. Ethics is what our world balances on, the question of right and wrong. To know the ethical questions and balance, one would be able to determine how one should “ought” to act.
We experience ethical and philosophical decisions throughout our lives and can be faced with them daily. Our decisions during these times show our character, and to be better prepared for these instances, why not study these subjects? Everything going on in our country today is due to a decision, right or wrong. Whether it is the choice to abolish the Death Penalty or reinstate abortion rights in the states; it is all ethical standpoints. We must be philosophically and ethically versed to be able to make the “correct” choice when faced with a dilemma. For all to be able to do this, we must first learn what ethics is and isn’t.
Ethics is all a combination of right or wrong, correct or incorrect, moral or immoral, just or unjust, and good or bad. While ethics is all of those things, in the final analysis, ethics is about how we act in human conduct and how we reason to make choices. Simply stated, ethics is the study of “oughtness.” How a person OUGHT to act in the situations in which they find themselves. The word “ought '' implies and demands a stand. We must realize that ethics is NOT the same as feelings, religion, the culturally accepted norm, or even following the law; there is an ethical standard. People’s problem with ethical standards is if there is an absolute standard then there is an absolute truth. Now, if there is an absolute truth there is an absolute wrong, and then there is an absolute right or wrong way of doing something. People do not like an Absolute Standard because they do not like the idea of being wrong, and that is the issue in our society today!
This lesson is one I learned in my ethics class last fall. It was a great experience and opened my eyes to so much more that I was missing, not only in the world around me but in my own life. Through this class, I learned of 4 potential ethical systems: Cultural Relativism, Utilitarianism, Situation Ethics, and Biblical Ethics. As a Christian, I have always leaned towards Biblical Ethics, and what I work to follow, but I could find myself occasionally getting caught up in the world's incorrect ethical viewpoints. The biggest one in the world today is Cultural Relativism, which means the culture or society determines the norm. Another one that is prominent today is Situation Ethics, where the response is determined by the circumstances at that very moment. While all of these are issues and can lead to problems today, the last system that has been used to justify terrible things throughout history is Utilitarianism. This belief and system are stated as “the end justify the means” or “for the greater good.” Our world can get so wrapped up in all of these beliefs that they become blind to the real issues and truths. As stated before, There is an ABSOLUTE RIGHT and an ABSOLUTE WRONG.
The understanding of that is incomprehensibly vital to the people of our world today and must be remembered and protected before there is no way to tell right from wrong. We must prioritize our decision-making to save our ethical character. This is why it is so important to learn this material, to help our future, and not make the same mistakes of the past. We must move on ethically and remember what we ought to do, not what we want to do.