Whose To Say What's Right

         The three classic categories of ethics are used to make the decisions we make in our everyday lives. After reading over the classic categories reading I realized that there are is not necessarily a right or wrong way to go about making a decision, but we all tend to make our decisions in different ways.

            The category that I feel is probably the most sensible of the three main categories is duty-based ethics. Duty based ethics is pretty much making a decision by following the rules. Making a decision using this method can come by following the rules of the bible, the rules set in place by the government or even the rules set by a university. If everyone used duty-based ethics our world be very boring, but at the same time there would not be as many problems, because a world ran by people who made there decisions based on this type of thinking would mean there wouldn’t be any laws broken which would lead to safety.

            Even though I believe that our world would be a safer place to live if we all made our ethical choices using the duty-based category I do not think that I necessary tend to make my decisions with that thought process. Whenever I am trying to make an ethical decision I tend to think about what will happen if I make a certain decision or as stated in the readings as the looking at the “end result of the action”. This decision-making may seem selfish, but that’s not how I view this category. You can make a decision based on what you think the result will be for you personally after you make the decision or you can think about the outcome of the decision and how it affects others around you.  To sum up the thought processes that I have would be summarized as consequentialist ethics, but that does not mean the decisions I make are always what is best for me. The decision may be made so that I can protect someone I care about or what may be the best for someone else.

            Overall I do not believe that there is a right or wrong way to go about making an ethical decision. Different decisions call for different thought processes to occur before making that decision.  I think that I may tend to lean to a specific category when I make my decisions, but that does not mean I always use the same category with every decision I make. For example I follow the laws such as the speed limit but if I was with someone who needed to get to the hospital, because they were injured badly or with a loved one that was going into labor I would break the law without thinking twice in order to help out that person even if that means I risk getting a speeding ticket. The safety of the person I was with would mean way more to me than following the rules.