Evaluate
Call to Action
Studying ethics can help students arrive at clearer positions and arguments on real life issues — and can help students apply them, too. We conclude our modules with final considerations to share with students in how they think about ethics, and ultimately practice them:
Consider how we interact with animals. Some folks may think animals don’t ethically matter. However, most ethical theories disagree. After all, animals feel pain and suffer just like humans. Perhaps this possibility of pain and suffering entitles them to rights that you’re ethically expected to respect.
Consider how we interact with the environment. People typically see recycling or using certain kinds of household products as "neutral" lifestyle choices(not needing ethical consideration). Sawing down a tree for a Christmas decoration may seem innocuous, but when we think of trees as being parts of ecosystems, which keep living things alive, things become less neutral.
Consider how we respect and defend human rights. Ethics has a lot to say about what those rights are, who has them, and why.
Consider how we can become more ethical in our careers. Ethical professionals are better professionals.
Consider how we can engage with medical and technological advances. Some of the most contentious ethical problems of today arise in our advances in medicine and technology.
Consideration is then followed by decision-making, action and accountability. It’s not enough to think about ethics—we must act on them!
