Personal Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Personal Ethics - Essay Example It should also be noted that what a society may consider morally upright might not apply to other societies. This means that personal morality may vary from one society to another. In addition, an individual may go against the society ethical norms and embrace different values depending on his or her conscience and judgment (Howard & Korver, 2008). My personal code of ethics is developed from ethical relativism, which points out that what a society believes in will influence the other person either positively or negatively. In this case, individuals in most cases are influenced by society to make choices for themselves, which in the end may assist in shaping their personal ethical values. The developmental theory coming into play is the learning theory. According to this model, learning ethics values and behaviors takes place through the process of reinforcement and association. Human ethics are shaped by ones society and they define how one is going to apply them in real life situat ions. During my childhood, my society used to frown on me when I engaged in dishonest activities and so through positive reinforcement, honesty became one of my ethical values. My society shaped me positively by enabling me to learn virtue ethics (Howard & Kover,2008). The Ethical system that shapes my codes of ethics is the ethics of virtue. Basing on ethical relativism where the society shapes ones behaviors and ethical standards either positively or negatively, my society instilled virtues ethics in me as I value doing what is right basing on values that are upheld by virtue ethics. The main values that ethics of virtue has promoted include integrity, humility, honesty, respect, being responsible, trust, being principled and trust. Most of these virtues are engrained in almost every society and they form the basis of morality in the world. Upholding positive values that are promoted by ethics of virtue enhance positive human interaction, promote fairness and justice, and enabled one to appreciate and respect the society and other people. In addition, virtue is essential in minimizing perceived immoralities such as crime, child prostitution, war and other social evils. As a woman, upholding my virtuous codes of ethics has been instrumental in my positive behaviors especially when dealing with my family members, children and the society in general. As a woman, my caring, gentle and good behaviors can be attributed to the virtues that I uphold and the social norms that I was subjected to by my society (Kowalski,2012). When applying the ethical codes, I have faced a number of dilemmas, some of which threatened the basic tenets of my beliefs and moral behaviors. One of dilemma is how to handle a situation that requires sound judgment such as a criminal case involving murder. This situation requires fairness and justice without pity or mercy but according to my codes of ethics, humility and mercy are some of the major values that dictate my codes of ethics. I alw ays manage this dilemma by applying the value of principle where I make my decision basing on what I feel is right for a given situation without being dictated by other ethical values that the society may have instilled in me. Further, in solving ethical dilemmas, I consider the environment of a given situation before making any judgment. For example, if a problem occurs between family members, I use the value of