Helping Molly Scenario

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Recommended: roles of education as a social institution

The moral and ethical environment determines how we react in terms of justice, fairness, right, wrong, good, evil, tolerance, care, forgiveness and so fourth to the events that shape the world in which we live. Yet the forces that influence our views on such matters go mostly unnoticed (Burgh et al., 2006).

The purpose of this paper is to develop a critical response to the Helping Molly scenario where I believe the key ethical issue is discrimination. A theoretical understanding of four ethical frameworks, more specifically the Consequentialism, Non-Consequentialism, Virtue and Care Ethics frameworks will be offered before they each are applied to analyse the scenario. From this analysis possibilities will be developed and justified and finally, arguments will be drawn upon to recommend an appropriate and justifiable course of action.

The Consequentialism framework suggests decision making is an action-based process, that is, one that determines the rightness or wrongness of an act according to the relevant outcomes or consequences. Within Consequentialism there consists a variety of perspectives including egoism, altruism and utilitarianism. Like Consequentialism, Non-Consequentialism is also an action-based perspective. This framework however, focuses on the rules and principles related to an act rather then the consequences that may follow. Decisions are made with consideration to written and unwritten rules that fall under the subcategories of Natural Rights, Social Contract, Divine Command and Deontology.

The Virtue Ethic and Care Ethic frameworks differ from those mentioned previously. Unlike Consequential and Non-Consequentialism, the Virtue and Care Ethic frameworks are agent-based and consider the person pe...

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Bentham, J. (1789). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Latest edition: Adamant Media Corporation, 2005

Burgh, G., Field, T., & M. Freakley. (2006) Ethics and the Community of Inquiry: Education for Deliberative Democracy. Thomson: South Melbourne.

Education Queensland. (2006). Code of Conduct. Retrieved 14 July 2010, from http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/codeofconduct/index.html

Queensland College of Teachers. (2007, January). Professional Standards for Queensland Teachers. Retrieved July 15, 2010, from Queensland College of Teachers http://www.qct.edu.au/standards/index.html

Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) The United Nations and Human Rights, Department of Public Information, United Nations, New York 1995. Retrieved July 14, 2010, from

http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/UN-declaration

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