What is the Ethical Reasoning Model?
Ethics decision-making is first based on the distinction between statements that are factual and those that are value-based. Factual statements may be divided into true ones and untrue ones. It is wise to base decisions on truth, rather than build them on lies. Value statements may be divided into those involving right and wrong, and those that involve two rights, both of which can claim some influence on the decision. When you come to the later, you must decide on what basis that claim of the two rights is based, and which has precedence. Some perspectives may involve the end outcome, others rules, still others care and love. Some are a mixture of all three. The questions before the decision-maker involve the facts of the case, the persons involved in the case, and the value perspective that the decision-maker brings to the case. Ethical thinking and decision-making deals with the defense and evaluation of that value perspective that eventually decides the case. In this model, a “yes”
