Empathy Plays A Role In Ethical Decision Making

Empathy is the ability to experience and relate to the thoughts, emotions and the experiences of others. Having empathy for someone is to be aware of their feelings and to understand their needs and perspectives. Empathy plays a role in any ethical decision making process that affects or involves more than one person. In making an ethical decision, it is necessary to perceive and eliminate unethical options and to then select the best ethical alternative. Collaborating and discussing multiple perspectives from those affected with different experiences will help in the process of deciding which options are unethical, and eventually the most accepted ethical decision.

An ethical decision is one where someone chooses how to respond to a given situation based on their values of “good or right” and “bad or wrong”, as opposed to what would would be the most efficient or self benefitting. Empathy directly affects an individual's “good” and “bad” values. For example, John is half an hour late and walking to his work. On his way, he encounters an unconscious man with a severe head injury lying on the street. The man never asked John to help, although John's empathy would be aroused, as he knows

Business ethics include individual’s actions in a company, as well as the organization's actions and positions on ethical matters. An example of empathy's impact on a business's ethical decision making process is opting to play a part in helping the environment by going green. A business that offers extensive recycling programs or implements policies to reduce company waste and consumption of resources may look more appealing to customers or potential partners than a business that does not have such policies. The business that made ethical decisions based on the empathy for those who care for the environment would then benefit from making that decision based on examining the perspectives and feelings of their