Ethics
COVID 19 is having an enormous impact on your college experience and daily life. During a pandemic, we become immediately and acutely aware of how our own actions/decisions have ethical consequences. How we choose to act can directly impact the health of another potentially more vulnerable human being. The pandemic is allowing us to see how we are all connected, and the ways in which people and leaders need to consider ethics in making their decisions.
In a 4-5 page essay, discuss a real situation you, your community or our nation have encountered since the start of the pandemic, which had an ethical component or dimension – that is, where you or others (including our political and economic leaders) had to negotiate your or their own interests, values and needs within the context of the needs and/or expectations of others. You can use an example taken from your own experience, current events (such as the election, racial justice or public health issues), the readings or class discussion. Do you believe the decision/action/resolution was ethical? What were the important considerations in making this decision? Analyze your example within the context of the differing approaches to ethics discussed in Mill, Kant and Gilligan? How did the readings in the ethics section help you think about the situation from a new or deeper perspective?
