Jitt

Personal ethical A personal of ethics refers to the principles that guide the choice of my decision. The exercises have shed light on the code of the ethics that I use while making a major decision. The decision to act in certain way depends very much on the consequence of the action and if the action is legal or not. However, some decisions go beyond whether the law allows it or not and depend on what offers the maximum benefit at that particular moment. For example, in the case of a person who is facing starvation, the best decision is to steal food for the family. It is wrong to hoard food while others are starving. And for the benefit of the whole society, the person should release the food. The utilitarianism shows that the society should pursue maximum happiness.
A journalist should aim to minimize the harm caused to the people. The case of Thompson should not be reported since apart from ruining the chances of him winning, there is no other good that will accrue to the society. The SPJ principle of minimizing harm should be applied (“ SPJ Code of Ethics | Society of Professional Journalists | Improving and Protecting Journalism since 1909” 1). Some decisions depend on whether we can apply the choice made universally. If a cancer patient is allowed to take away her life due to pain, what will happen if we apply this principle to all such cases? The Kant, categorical imperative principle shows that the decision will not be desirable. It will be vital for the doctor to reduce the pain but not necessarily help the patient to hasten death.
In the Kohlberg’s model of moral development, I am on the stage four. I view law as an important invention and will in most cases abide by the rules and regulation. I will not be comfortable breaking the accepted social order or going against the established legitimate authority. I believe this is right since anytime, I a break a rule it disrupts the balance in the society, and there is high likelihood someone else will suffer because of my actions. Thus maintaining law and order helps the society that I live in to have harmony and cohesiveness.
Work cited
“ SPJ Code of Ethics | Society of Professional Journalists | Improving and Protecting Journalism since 1909.” Text. N. p., 6 Sept. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.