Arriving at a moral judgment is not a straightforward or linear process in which ethical theories are simply applied to cases. Instead it is a process in which the formulation of the moral problem, the formulation of possible “solutions”, and the ethical judging of these solutions go hand in hand. This messy character of moral problems, however, does not rule out a systematic approach. In this article, we describe a systematic approach to problem solving that does justice to the complex nature of moral problems and ethical judgment: the ethical cycle. Our goal is to provide a structured and disciplined method of addressing moral problems, which helps to guide a sound analysis of these problems. We will illustrate the usefulness of this cycle with an example. Further, we will discuss two general issues in applied ethics in relation to the proposed ethical cycle: the role of ethical theories and the place of individual judgment versus collective deliberation.
The start of the ethical cycle is the formulation of a moral problem.A specialcase of a moral problem is the moral dilemma.There are two positive moral norms that can not be fully realized at the same time . Instead one action only relizes one moral value while another action realizes the other moral value.But in real life there are often for actions.So in the ethical cycle we will mainly just consider basic moral problems. A good moral question , problem statement must meet three conditions.It must clearly state what the problem is. It must state for whom it is a problem and it must be clear why, how it is a moral problem .However it willoftennot be possible to fully formulate the moral problem precisely when the ethical cycle is started .