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Ethical Dilemmas

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When pursuing a college degree, ethics is tailored to the course being taught, i.e. Accounting, Finance, and Economics to name a few. Ethics does not appear to be offered as a separate required course for all disciplines, which raises such questions as, is there a need for an ethics course? Do students know enough about ethics for ethical thinking and action? Ethics encompasses a set of principles, philosophy, or theory relating to principles. Knowing how to best resolve difficult ethical dilemmas is never easy especially when any choice violates the societal and ethical standards we have been taught to govern our lives. Ethics is important and goes beyond common sense. However, if ethics were black and white, it would be simpler for all human beings. It can be unclear and subject to personal interpretation and unfortunately once an individual has made a decision or has taken a position they tend to reject what undermines their decision or contradicts their position.
Ethics can be used to educate students regarding their own flawed cognitive and behavioral tendencies, which may lead to unethical decision making. It can identify controversy, tension, and disagreements as well as explore assumptions and biases. This paper examines the importance of ethics, discusses how teaching ethics across all disciplines can expose students to various forms of ethical dilemmas as well as give the students the philosophical tools to analyze those dilemmas when they arise.

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