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| What we must
guard against is not to take responsibility as a negative. Responsibility
is not a burden, a fault. a blame or shame or guilt. Responsibility
is a positive attitude which begins with the willingness to experience
one's self as a "cause," and in one's role to make decisions
or act in a positive manner. |
| |
| The
importance of responsibility in ethical decisions cannot be overemphasized.
For many different kinds of ethicists, in order to be able to reach
a proper ethical judgement, the issues of duty, obligation and responsibility
must be taken into consideration. This responsibility-based approach
is called "deontology," from the Greek deon -- that
which is binding. |
| |
| This
academic-sounding term suggests that among some of the more important
categories that need to be considered in reaching a moral judgment
are items like duties, obligations and responsibilities. For the deontologist,
any ethical analysis that fails to include these categories is an
incomplete analysis. In the deontological approach, if an action fulfills
one's responsibilities, then the action counts as an ethical one.
If it does not fulfill responsibilities, then it is an unethical action. |
| |
| Deontology or responsibility-based
ethics had as one of its greatest proponents the philosopher Immanuel
Kant (1724-1804). Kant is recognized as an outspoken proponent of
the deontological position. He recommended that people employ what
he called the "categorical imperative" to determine the
rightness or wrongness of their actions. The categorical imperative
asks us to universalize the principle that stands behind our actions
and if we can envision a world where everyone would act according
to the resulting imperative, then that action can be called ethical. |
| |
| For example, take
the act of lying. Can you envision a world where lying was the universal
principle rather than truth-telling? The results of such a universal
would be chaos, hence, according to Kant, lying is an unethical act
and responsible people will not lie. We cannot universalize such acts. |
| |
|
For a good overview of “deontological ethics” on which
the concept of responsibility is based, go to:
http://web.missouri.edu/~johnsonrn/deon.html
|
|
For more on Kant’s moral philosophy and his categorical imperative,
go to
:http://sguthrie.net/kant.htm
You can also surf the pages or look at some video
dealing with Kant that are listed on the "Ethics Update"
website at:
http://ethics.sandiego.edu/theories/Rights/index.asp
|
| |
| Using Responsibility |
| |
| The lead responsibility-based
question in a VCR analysis is: |
| |
|
|
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| The
concept of responsibility is essential in many areas of life, both
private and personal life as well as in public and professional life.
In private and personal life, every person who has attained the age
of reason assumes responsibility for his decisions, choices and actions
except in cases of incapacity, disability, insanity, etc. (This latter
consideration of exceptional cases raises the interesting matter of
how very close ethical judgment-making is to cognitive decision-making
and how dependent ethics is on the power of reason which was also
an insight held by Kant.) |
| |
| In
other words, responsibility means that people are accountable or answerable.
This responsibility may be born by the individual alone or it may
be shared by some other persons who play a part in such a decision,
choice or action. |
| |
In
public and professional life, responsibility is even more crucial
because here, you are not simply dealing with yourself alone, but
additionally, the public is involved -- there are stakeholders who
will be affected by your actions as a professional. And so, whatever
decisions or choices you make, or actions you take, will affect not
just yourself, but all others who may be involved. This may explain
why responsibility is taught to us in our childhood days, continued
into our school years and carried on into adult life in society. For
justice and peace to reign in society and in order to maintain social
order, both individuals and groups have to be responsible. |
| |
| In
professional life the situation is uniquely varied and complex. Professionals
are involved with their discipline, colleagues, clients, the government,
interest groups and other unidentified members of the public. All
these groups and individuals must be born in mind as professionals
try to carry out their responsibility to each of these. This form
of ethical consideration is referred to as "stakeholder analysis." |
| |
| The
American Council of Professional Anthropologist publishes its "Principles
of Professional Responsibility" dealing with these stakeholder
areas of professional responsibility in view. It is an excellent model
of "stakeholder ethics" in which the various responsibilities
of anthropologists are framed. This stakeholder document can be explored
at: |
| |
| http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/ethstmnt.htm |
| |
In the study
of professional ethics, the claim is often made that members of a
profession have certain special duties, obligations and responsibilities.
Put in another way, it can be said that entrance into a profession
carries with it an extra burden of responsibility that characterizes
the concept of professionalism.
|
|
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| For many ethicists,
this extra burden is a social responsibility falling on the shoulders
of professionals. The deontological approach will include questions
about how well professionals have fulfilled their special social responsibilities
as well as their particular duties to clients, to employers, to other
professionals, to third parties and so on. In applying this perspective,
one asks: "What responsibilities does a professional have in
a given context and have they met them?" |
| |
| Exercise: |
| |
| Would you
say that responsibility for cigarette-related illnesses is that of
|
| |
| (i)
the smoker |
| (ii)
the tobacco companies, |
| (iii)
or both smokers and tobacco companies? |
| |
| Read
the following position on this controversy at: |
| |
| http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/062101/opi_0621010015.shtml |
| |
| Do
you agree or disagree with the author? Give arguments base upon VCR in support of
your own position. |
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| More
on Responsibility |
| |
| Hudson's
Bay Company is Canada's oldest corporation (1670) and largest department
store retailer. See its statement on Social Responsibility at: |
| |
| http://www.hbc.com/hbc/socialresponsibility/ |
| |
| International
corporate responsibility is also becoming an important consideration.
Read about the conferences and other activities that are conducted by the Center for International
Corporate Responsibility at CMU: |
| |
| http://wpweb2.tepper.cmu.edu/cicr/activities.htm |
|