Leadership & Ethics Lesson 2
Why Study Ethics?
Intro to Moral Reasoning
“People do wrong because they have not the
knowledge to do right.”
- Socrates
Today’s Assignment:
Intro to Moral Reasoning
Reading Assignment
Objectives from reading:
EMP (34 pages)
Recognize factors that make ethics hard
•
Why Study Ethics? (Lucas), pp. 3-7; On
the Eve of Battle (Lucas), pp. 9-11; Ring
of Gyges (Plato), pp. 13-14; Why Ethics
is So Hard (Grassey), pp. 15-19; A
Higher Moral Standard for the Military
(Ficarrotta), pp. 33-43; The American
Profesional Military Ethic (Hartle), pp.
63-70.
CSME (6 pages)
•
Introduction (Rubel), pp. xv-xvii;
Rescuing the Boat People (Rubel), pp.
13-15.
HANDOUT
•
USS San Jacinto Press Release
Understand the pervasiveness of the
psychological motivation of self
interest.
Questions to answer:
On the Eve of Battle
Why did Col give this pre-battle
speech?
Ring of Gyges
What would most people do with
the ring? Why?
Why Ethics is so Hard
What are the factors the author
identifies that make ethical
decision making hard?
Compare article to “Selective
Unmasking” & “Boat People” case
study
What factors were common?
Why Study Ethics???
Why Study Ethics?
It’s going to be your job…
“Exemplary Conduct Statute”
•
“All Commanding Officers and others in authority in the Naval Service
are required to show themselves a good example of Virtue, Honor,
Patriotism and Subordination; to be vigilant in inspecting the conduct
of all persons who are placed under their Command; to guard against
and suppress all dissolute and immoral practices, and to correct,
according to the laws and regulations of the Navy all persons who are
guilty of them; and to make all necessary and proper measures under
the laws, regulations and customs of the Naval Services, to promote
and safeguard the morale, the physical well-being and the general
welfare of the officers and enlisted persons under their command or
charge.
10 U.S. Code 5947
Article 1131, Navy Regs
Its our mission:
“…To develop Midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and
imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty…
Rescuing the Boat People
• What do you know?
• What does it mean?
• What are your options?
• What are your primary considerations?
• What are your official duties?
• What are your moral duties?
• What would you do?
Rescuing the Boat People
Case study
Rescuing the Boat People
• What the Captain did – he gave them:
– 300 lbs of fresh fruit
– 107 lbs of canned food
– 60 lbs of rice (uncooked)
– 50 gals of fresh water
– Navigation charts
Rescuing the Boat People
• What happened after the ship departed:
–
–
–
–
Food only lasted a few days
Boat drifted in the current for 19 more days
30 more refugees died before they reached land
As people died, their bodies were eaten by the others
• What the Captain did not know:
– The boat did have a working engine the first few days
– They had actually been adrift for 17 vice 7 days
• Captain miscalculated they went 250 miles with the sail
• Miscalculated how long it would take them to get to land
– One of the refugee swimmers actually drowned
– There were over 80 people on the junk – not 60
Rescuing the Boat People
• What happened to the Captain?
– Refused Admiral’s Mast & found guilty at a Court-Martial
– Dereliction of Duty (Failure to give adequate aid) & Given Letter of
Reprimand
Compare to USS San Jacinto
• January 2001
• Gulf of Oman – 60 miles off
coast of Yemen
• Stranded boat
– 11 passengers
– Engine problems
– At sea for 10 days
• USS San Jacinto’s response
– Provide food and water
– Towed back to port
• WHY THE DIFFERENCE???
On The Eve of Battle
• Conflict between moral/ethical values
and his mission?
• More concerned and considerate of the
enemy than his troops?
• Empty rhetoric designed to motivate his
troops or commander’s guidance?
Case: “The Ring of Gyges”
Socrates and Glaucon (Plato’s Republic)
• The myth of shepherd w/magic
ring that makes him invisible.
– How does he act?
• Version II: suppose there were
two such rings,
Socrates
479-399BC
– one worn by the “just man” (morally
good);
– the other by the “unjust man” (morally
corrupt or wicked)
– Could we discern a difference in
their behaviors?
Already an ancient myth at time of Socrates
Dr George Lucas, USNA
The “Job Variation”
Greek variation of old myth
– Imagine an unjust man who appears to everyone to
be just, and is honored
– Simultaneously, imagine a just and good man, who is
wrongly perceived to be wicked and unjust, and thus
reviled and shunned
– Let both go through life without rectification of these
errors of judgment; which would we find to have lived
the happier life?
Dr George Lucas, USNA
Merriam Webster…
Main Entry: eth·ic
Etymology: Middle English ethik, from Middle French ethique, from
Latin ethice, from Greek EthikE, from Ethikos
1 The discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with
moral duty and obligation
2
a. a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values
b. The principles of conduct governing an individual or a group
<professional ethics>
c. a guiding philosophy
d. a consciousness of moral importance
<forge a conservation ethic>
3 plural : a set of moral issues or aspects (as rightness)
<debated the ethics of human cloning>
…Good, Right & Ought to do’s…
“Why Ethics is so Hard”
DR Tom Grassey,
NWC James B. Stockdale Chair of Leadership & Ethics
• Real dilemmas involve complex, hard questions
• Historical contexts shift
– there is sometimes “moral progress” (e.g., on race and
gender) that pose problems in new ways
•
•
•
•
•
Pressure of time (Unveiling Exercise/Shoot the POW)
Limits of Knowledge (“Boat People” case)
Emotions
Self Interests
Organizational Context (Institutional
politics/practices)
Hard…got it…SO?
• Socrates: we would rather ignore than
confront hard questions; when we are
made to confront them, we get frustrated
• Hard work; requires practice and
development of sensitivity and skill.
Practice of good habits enhances
ethical decision-making
Dr George Lucas, USNA
If it is so hard…
…Why do people behave morally?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fear of punishment
Ostracism
Higher orders
Duty
Belief in doing the right thing
Good of Mankind
You tell me….
Grassey on Officers & Ethics
“Naval officers need not be
philosophers…But we are members of
a profession which has its own
distinguished ethical code, and in the
performance of our duties we are
bound to uphold that code. We are
obligated, therefore, to reflect upon its
character and practical directives.”
…similar to a Safety Stand-down
Dr George Lucas, USNA
Then let’s reflect on the readings…
• CDR Tom Grassey:
“Historical contexts shift, there
is sometimes “moral progress”
(e.g., on race and gender) that
pose problems in new ways”
• Ficarrotta versus Edney/Chiles:
Moral values seem to vary
among professions
– but should there be a different
moral standard for the military
officer and the average citizen?
Are we held to a higher standard?
Should we be?
Are we held to a higher standard?
Should we be?
Reading for Class (after next)
Relativism
Objectives from reading:
• EMP (6 pages)
– Chapter 2A: Relativity of Moral Beliefs
(Lucas), pp. 25-27; Relativism and
Objectivism (Porter), pp. 29-31;
• CSME (2 pages)
– Our Values or Theirs? (Rubel), pp. 191-2.
• Know the difference
between cultural relativism in
social science and relativism
as a normative theory of
ethics
• Questions to answer:
What is Relativism?
Are you a relativist?
Why or why not?
What is Moral Pluralism?
Can a Naval Officer really
be a relativist?