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Ethical Decision Making

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Submitted By erinmcollins
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Approaches to ethical decision making at times can be made using different philosophical approaches, which was the first part of our assignment this week; the completion of Appendix B where we were to decide which course of action was to be taken based on each philosophical approach for the given scenarios. The three philosophical approaches are: consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics.
Consequentialism is the view that the value of actions is derived solely from the value of its consequences. In accounting, this approach is used to analyze which decision is most ethical based on the harms and benefits to the stakeholders; basically, it is the decision that does the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. In short, consequentialism is the decision is ethical if the positive outcome is greater than the negative outcome.
Deontology is the ethical theory that is concerned with duties and rights. Whereas consequentialism is concerned with actions consequences, deontology is concerned with the obligation or duty motivating the decision (Brooks, 2007, p. 330). Decisions are based around moral standards, rights, fairness, and principles. Virtue ethics seems to lie somewhere between consequentialism and deontology; its primary concern is with traits of character that are morally right. Virtue ethics focuses on an individual’s integrity and character in relation to the moral community, such as professional communities (Brooks, 2007, p. 332).
Scenario 1 The consequentialism approach is in favor of economic prosperity; the most favorable consequence for the greatest amount of people. This approach would demolish the senior citizens nursing home and recreation center, displacing the elderly citizens in favor of the developer’s plans for a mall and resort. In this case, the consequentialism approach is not the most ethical because this will

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