Ethical Dilemmas and Critical Thinking

During day 7 and 8 of our Critical Thinking life class, we got a chance to explore how we make ethical decisions and justify our actions. The class started with an activity “Taking a stand” . We started by examining various statements with scenarios by ranking them according to our personal morals and ethics. This exercise highlighted how individual values and emotions influence our decisions and revealed how they can sometimes differ from others’ viewpoints.

Secondly we also learned about theories like Moral reasoning , Moral relativism, Self-interest theory, Deontology , Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism. These theories were applied in real-life scenarios and discussing their implications. It was intriguing to observe how many of us tend to make decisions based on self-interest and how our ethical choices shift depending on the situation. There were diverse opinions which fostered deeper understanding rather than disagreement. Listening to different perspectives on the same scenario expanded my thinking and demonstrated how various moral theories apply in different contexts. It reinforced the idea that morality is not always absolute but rather a nuanced and evolving process of reasoning and reflection.

A key insight was that moral reasoning isn’t about selecting a single “correct” theory but about considering different perspectives to make well-informed ethical choices. However emotions come into picture while doing so and humans are influenced by self-interest theory. By challenging our assumptions and using these frameworks, we can approach ethical dilemmas with greater clarity and confidence. A valuable session indeed !