A634.9.4.RB - A Reflection of Our Learning

Selecting just three key lessons from this course certainly proves to be a challenge as I felt that I ad gleaned a great deal of lessons during the course of this class. But if I had to narrow it down I would begin by highlighting the lesson on psychological egoism and its application. Our text highlights the theory that everyone’s actions are completely self-interested, and this was something I had not thought about before but makes perfect sense (LaFollette, 2007). By keeping psychological egoism in mind many conflicts and dilemmas, either in the workplace or in the personal life, become clear and without this realization I would not have a deeper understanding how to solve many issues and dilemmas.

My next key lesson learned was out of Benjamin Franklin's self-improvement program and 1 of the 13 virtues that Benjamin Franklin highlighted. The specific principal was living daily life is moderation (“Ben’s 13 Virtues”). As I expressed I tend to go into waves of extremes when I engage in an activity, whether it is online shopping, watching Netflix, or even working. So with the recognition of my working in excess, I can work to better balance my days.

The last lesson that I especially cherish surrounds the learning on the deontologist way of thinking. I learned that I believe that I have a moral duty to follow the rules and guiding principles and there are few times that I stray away from following them. In this lesson I was able to recognize how much of a rule follower I am, I discovered this while gleaning that deontology emphasizes that you should choose to do the right thing no matter the consequences good or bad ("Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Duty-based ethics").

Ultimately, I learned a great deal about ethical theories, and their applicability to my own ethical reasoning. And I am thankful for each and every lesson collected along the way, as these lesson are sure to be applied and grown over a lifetime.

Reference

Ben’s 13 Virtues. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html

Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Duty-based ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/duty_1.shtml

LaFollette, H. (2007). The Practice of Ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell.