Ethical thinking involves the intricate process used to consider the impact of individuals’ actions on others or organizations they serve. Most decisions are regular, but a sudden unusual situation may unexpectedly give rise to an ethical dilemma. The foundation of ethical decision-making involves choice (Chmielewski, 2004). Therefore, when making ethical decisions it is necessary to perceive and eliminate unethical options. Although there may be several ethical responses to a situation, all are not equal. George Cosgrove’s ethical dilemma requires complex decision-making regarding the CEO’s plan to double the price of the company’s signature device called Shot-O-Vac. In order to navigate the dilemma of this complex decision making, …show more content…
Here the recognition of moral duties is what determines one’s ethical act (Panza & Potthast, n.d.). The philosopher Kant determines that there are categorical imperatives that every person should follow, and every person should follow them regardless how it will affect the person or other. For example, one of Kant’s maxims was that people should not lie, regardless the outcome. This is a rule that applies to everyone equally and everyone should follow it (Bowie, 2002). On the other hand, Virtue ethics focuses on character, and how that can influence actions. It essentially focuses on the person's own ability to reason rather than on some set rulebook for deciding a course of action (“TERMS IN AND TYPES OF ETHICAL THEORY,” n.d.). For example, a virtuous person is someone who is kind across many situations over a lifetime because that is his character and not because he wants to maximize utility or gain favors or simply do her duty. Unlike deontological and consequential, theories of virtue ethics do not aim primarily to identify universal principles that can be applied in any moral situation. This means virtue ethics theory deal with wider questions like what kind of person he will become if he does this? or whether the action is consistent at his best? (“A Framework for Ethical Decision Making,” 2015). Finally, it explains while the hypothetical imperative may be accurate in describing the nature of our character about virtues, the categorical imperative may be accurate in describing the nature of our actions, which are two different and equally important perspectives in determining the nature of human behavior (Ludi, 2012, p.