Week 4 - Emily Trang

Emily Trang
Week 4
A01

When I read "Ethics and 'Breaking Bad': Developing and practicing ethical skills" by Amy Block Joy, I was reminded that people's ethnics are founded upon the things that they value most. Whether people value education, money, or health, it changes what they would view as ethical or not. Many times, it is hard to actually determine what is ethical, since it is all based on opinion. People who are vegan may not eat animal products for ethical reasons, but other people may just enjoy eating animal products, in which they would value that more. However, if everyone has all the same foundational ethnics, such as valuing all human life, certainly that would mean there shouldn't be any issues surrounding that topic. But that is not the case at all. People have so many overlapping ethics that even if someone values human life, such as in "Breaking Bad," where Walt makes money for his family, there are still so many ethical boundaries that can be crossed. Once people commit a crime and the reason they committed it makes it seem ethically reasonable, it makes it hard for where the line should be drawn for crime. But since the law exists, a crime is a crime no matter the reason it happened. In the example of something being stolen, their ethics of speaking up in a situation depended on how much they thought something was valued. This can be applied to any situation in life. If someone thought a certain human life that was in danger was not valuable, chances are they will not do something to help that person. But if that person was a celebrity or something, people are probably more likely to help them since they are famous.

The Significance of Ethics and Ethics Education in Daily Life

Question:
What are you supposed to do when two of your ethical values collide? How do you decide which one to follow?

References:
1. Joy, A. B. (2007). Ethics and “Breaking Bad”: Developing and practicing ethical skills. Compliance & Ethics Professional, 71-74.
2. T. (2016, April 04). Retrieved April 22, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8juebyo_Z4