Leadership & Ethics Lesson 2

Why Study Ethics?Why Study Ethics?

Intro to Moral Reasoning

““People do wrong because they have not the People do wrong because they have not the knowledge to do right.”knowledge to do right.”

- Socrates- Socrates

Objectives from reading:

Recognize factors that make ethics hard

Understand the pervasiveness of the psychological motivation of self interest.

Questions to answer:On the Eve of Battle

Why did Col give this pre-battle speech?

Ring of GygesWhat would most people do with the ring? Why?

Why Ethics is so HardWhat are the factors the author identifies that make ethical decision making hard?

Compare article to “Selective Unmasking” & “Boat People” case study

What factors were common?

Reading AssignmentEMP (34 pages)• Why Study Ethics? (Lucas), pp. 3-7; On

the Eve of Battle (Lucas), pp. 9-11; Ring of Gyges (Plato), pp. 13-14; Why Ethics

is So Hard (Grassey), pp. 15-19; A Higher Moral Standard for the Military (Ficarrotta), pp. 33-43; The American Profesional Military Ethic (Hartle), pp. 63-70.

CSME (6 pages) • Introduction (Rubel), pp. xv-xvii;

Rescuing the Boat People (Rubel), pp. 13-15.

HANDOUT • USS San Jacinto Press Release

Today’s Assignment:Intro to Moral Reasoning

Why Study Ethics???

Why Study Ethics?It’s going to be your job…

“Exemplary Conduct Statute”

• “All Commanding Officers and others in authority in the Naval Service are required to show themselves a good example of Virtue, Honor, Patriotism and Subordination; to be vigilant in inspecting the conduct of all persons who are placed under their Command; to guard against and suppress all dissolute and immoral practices, and to correct, according to the laws and regulations of the Navy all persons who are guilty of them; and to make all necessary and proper measures under the laws, regulations and customs of the Naval Services, to promote and safeguard the morale, the physical well-being and the general welfare of the officers and enlisted persons under their command or charge.

10 U.S. Code 5947 Article 1131, Navy Regs

Its our mission: “…To develop Midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty…

Rescuing the Boat People

• What do you know?

• What does it mean?

• What are your options?

• What are your primary considerations?

• What are your official duties?

• What are your moral duties?

• What would you do?

Rescuing the Boat PeopleCase study

Rescuing the Boat People

• What the Captain did – he gave them:– 300 lbs of fresh fruit– 107 lbs of canned food– 60 lbs of rice (uncooked)– 50 gals of fresh water– Navigation charts

Rescuing the Boat People

• What happened after the ship departed:– Food only lasted a few days– Boat drifted in the current for 19 more days– 30 more refugees died before they reached land– As people died, their bodies were eaten by the others

• What the Captain did not know:– The boat did have a working engine the first few days– They had actually been adrift for 17 vice 7 days

• Captain miscalculated they went 250 miles with the sail• Miscalculated how long it would take them to get to land

– One of the refugee swimmers actually drowned– There were over 80 people on the junk – not 60

Rescuing the Boat People

• What happened to the Captain?– Refused Admiral’s Mast & found guilty at a Court-Martial – Dereliction of Duty (Failure to give adequate aid) & Given Letter of

Reprimand

Compare to USS San Jacinto

• January 2001

• Gulf of Oman – 60 miles off coast of Yemen

• Stranded boat– 11 passengers– Engine problems– At sea for 10 days

• USS San Jacinto’s response

– Provide food and water– Towed back to port

• WHY THE DIFFERENCE???

On The Eve of Battle

• Conflict between moral/ethical values and his mission?

• More concerned and considerate of the enemy than his troops?

• Empty rhetoric designed to motivate his troops or commander’s guidance?

Case: “The Ring of Gyges”Socrates and Glaucon (Plato’s Republic)

• The myth of shepherd w/magic ring that makes him invisible. – How does he act?

• Version II: suppose there were two such rings, – one worn by the “just man” (morally

good); – the other by the “unjust man” (morally

corrupt or wicked)

– Could we discern a difference in their behaviors?

Already an ancient myth at time of Socrates

Dr George Lucas, USNA

Socrates 479-399BC

The “Job Variation”

Greek variation of old myth– Imagine an unjust man who appears to everyone to

be just, and is honored

– Simultaneously, imagine a just and good man, who is wrongly perceived to be wicked and unjust, and thus reviled and shunned

– Let both go through life without rectification of these errors of judgment; which would we find to have lived the happier life?

Dr George Lucas, USNA

Merriam Webster…

Main Entry: eth·ic Etymology: Middle English ethik, from Middle French ethique, from Latin ethice, from Greek EthikE, from Ethikos

1 The discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation

2 a. a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values

b. The principles of conduct governing an individual or a group

<professional ethics>

c. a guiding philosophy

d. a consciousness of moral importance <forge a conservation ethic>

3 plural : a set of moral issues or aspects (as rightness) <debated the ethics of human cloning>

…Good, Right & Ought to do’s……Good, Right & Ought to do’s…

“Why Ethics is so Hard” DR Tom Grassey,

NWC James B. Stockdale Chair of Leadership & Ethics

• Real dilemmas involve complex, hard questions• Historical contexts shift

– there is sometimes “moral progress” (e.g., on race and gender) that pose problems in new ways

• Pressure of time (Unveiling Exercise/Shoot the POW)

• Limits of Knowledge (“Boat People” case)

• Emotions• Self Interests• Organizational Context (Institutional

politics/practices)

Hard…got it…SO?

• Socrates: we would rather ignore than confront hard questions; when we are made to confront them, we get frustrated

• Hard work; requires practice and development of sensitivity and skill.

Practice of good habits enhances ethical decision-making

Practice of good habits enhances ethical decision-making

Dr George Lucas, USNA

If it is so hard……Why do people behave morally?

• Fear of punishment

• Ostracism

• Higher orders

• Duty

• Belief in doing the right thing

• Good of Mankind

You tell me….You tell me….

Grassey on Officers & Ethics

“Naval officers need not be philosophers…But we are members of a profession which has its own distinguished ethical code, and in the performance of our duties we are bound to uphold that code. We are obligated, therefore, to reflect upon its character and practical directives.”

…similar to a Safety Stand-down…similar to a Safety Stand-down

Dr George Lucas, USNA

Then let’s reflect on the readings…

• CDR Tom Grassey: “Historical contexts shift, there is sometimes “moral progress” (e.g., on race and gender) that pose problems in new ways”

• Ficarrotta versus Edney/Chiles:

Moral values seem to vary among professions – but should there be a different

moral standard for the military officer and the average citizen?

Are we held to a higher standard? Should we be?

Are we held to a higher standard? Should we be?

Reading for Class (after next) Relativism

• EMP (6 pages)– Chapter 2A: Relativity of Moral Beliefs

(Lucas), pp. 25-27; Relativism and Objectivism (Porter), pp. 29-31;

• CSME (2 pages)– Our Values or Theirs? (Rubel), pp. 191-2.

Objectives from reading:

• Know the difference between cultural relativism in social science and relativism as a normative theory of ethics

• Questions to answer:

What is Relativism?Are you a relativist? Why or why not?

What is Moral Pluralism?

Can a Naval Officer really be a relativist?