ETHICS &

GOVERNANCE

U12

SELF-GOVERNANCE
AND RESPONSIBILITY

Unit 12: Self Governance and Responsibility

12.2

Study organiser
Before you begin this unit, please check through your study organiser. It shows the topics that
well be covering, the skills you need to acquire (the learning outcomes) and the activities youll
do to help you acquire these skills.
Topics
12.0 Self-governance
12.1 Personal
relationships

Learning outcomes
At the end of unit12, you
should be able to:

12.2 Professional ethics

12.3 Leadership and
ethics

12.4 Ethical decisionmaking

highlight the importance

of self-governance;
explain how an
understanding of ethics
is useful in a personal
and professional
context;
establish a link between
ethics and leadership;
demonstrate a clear
understanding of ethical
decision-making
processes; and
develop your own
ethical decision-making
model

Activities
Reading: chapters 4 and 14
from your
textbook
Refer to online readings
listed in Moodle
Activity 12.1
Activity 12.2

Study time
You should be able to complete this section by the end of week 12.
To complete this unit you will need to complete the readings and the questions that
appear at the end of the unit 12.
Note: Remember to login to your online course page to:
access additional online resources, including short films;
contact your course coordinator to ask questions;
clarify your understanding of the ideas and concepts we cover in the
course; and
discuss matters relating to this course with other students.

Unit 12: Self Governance and Responsibility

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Readings/ Resources

Noel Preston, Chapter Four: Responsible Ethical Decisions, in Understanding Ethics,

Federation Press, 1997, 59-74.
Noel Preston, Chapter Fourteen: Sustaining the Good Life, in Understanding Ethics, Federation
Press, 1997, 223-233.
Pre-Recorded Lecture: View the pre-recorded lecture for unit 12. This lecture has already been
uploaded onto your Moodle page.
You need to complete the prescribed readings and view the pre-recorded lecture before you
attend the fortnightly face-to-face tutorial.

12.0 Self-governance
In this unit, we will focus closely on personal or self-governance. Our aim is to redirect the
spotlight onto you. By now we hope that you have acquired a critical perspective on a range of
issues relating to ethics and governance. It should also be clear to you that there are no set right
or wrong answers when it comes to ethics. This is because we all bring to the world sets of
values that sometimes differ. Some questions that need to be posed here are: how do we live
with each other despite our many differences? How do we acquire a double consciousness (the
ability to step outside our bodies and see the world from the perspective of someone else)?
Remember, the ethical life is one of interconnectedness. We each depend on other people
around us (for example, our families, friends, colleagues, business partners and leaders) for
moral, emotional, spiritual, financial and other forms of support.
Do you remember what self-governance is?
We defined self-governance as the process of managing ones personal affairs with the
assistance of a set of codes of acceptable behavior or values. This is called a moral
compass. Self-governance or personal ethics is about how we relate to those around us and the
world at large. It is about the decisions we make and why we make them. At the heart of self
governance are the concepts of liberty, autonomy, independence and self-determination.
Everything you have learnt in this course (corporate and business ethics, environmental ethics,
medical ethics, animal ethics and other social justice issues) all draw inspiration from personal
ethics.
This unit is divided into four sections. Section 1 will explore the way we relate to people on a
daily basis, especially intimate relationships. Section 2 offers some guidelines that you may like
Unit 12: Self Governance and Responsibility

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to follow when you venture out into the professional world or the world of work. If you are
already employed, you may want to stop to reflect on your personal work ethic. In section 3, we
will delve into the importance of good leadership and its close association with ethics. The final
section is a reflective one. It urges you to think about approaches to ethical decision-making and
to come up with your own moral compass.

12.1 Personal relationships

Preston argues that our expression of sexuality has ethical consequences (2007: 91). If we adopt
a religious or a more conservative view, we may argue that sexual activity should be restricted to
marriage. According to this view (which is supported by the theory of Natural Law), the purpose
of sex is to procreate. However with advances in reproductive technology, couples can choose
whether to have children or not. Think also how bioethical interventions like In-Vitro
Fertilization can complicate this position further. Now it is possible to have a child clinically
made in a test-tube without any sexual activity whatsoever. Other ends of sex (aside from
procreation), is that it can bring about pleasure or be seen as an expression of love.
If we adopt a liberal approach to sexual relationships based on pleasure alone (whether they be
heterosexual or homosexual relationships), a moral guideline that may be followed is: Any
sexual relationship is alright providing you are honest with your partner and dont use or
manipulate them (Preston, 2007: 98). It is important to reveal any history of sexually
transmitted diseases to any person you engage in a sexual relationship with. It is also crucial to
be honest about ones current marital status or involvement in other relationships with a
prospective sexual partner. In fact, in some parts of the world (for instance, Middle Eastern
countries) adultery is against the law.
With the increasing number of AIDS cases around the world (including the Pacific), abstinence
until marriage or responsible sex (depending on your personal values) is vital. In 2009, it was
estimated that some 33.3 million people are living with AIDS globally (Averting HIV and
AIDS). In the Pacific, the number of HIV cases (including AIDS), has been particularly high in:
Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji, Guam and French Polynesia. According to the HIV
diagnoses report of 2008, there have been twenty nine countries with 629 reported cases of
people living with HIV in the Pacific, and five countries with 162 new cases of women battling
HIV (UNAIDS, 2009: 1). Let us turn briefly to a young Pacific island womans battle with HIV.
Maire Dupont was a journalism student at USP in 1998 when she was diagnosed with HIV. She
has since taken her story to the media in an attempt to raise awareness about HIV.
View the link below to read Maire Bopp-Duponts story:
http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=3130
What have you learnt about personal relationships from Maires testimony?
What stance may a deontologist, consequentialist and virtue ethicist take in relation to
HIV?

Unit 12: Self Governance and Responsibility

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Clearly Maires testimony reflects the need to be honest and responsible when engaging in
sexual relationships. Her partner at the time did not share knowledge of his HIV status with her
and as a result the virus was passed onto her. A consequentialist would draw attention to the
outcomes of engaging in sexual activity that is unsafe. Comparatively, a deontologist like Kant
may stress that we should respect persons as ends not means (in Preston: 93). A virtue ethicist
may stress values or virtues like love, respect, care and honesty. Therefore, this notion of an
ethical interconnectedness discussed in unit 1 is useful to reflect on when we establish a link
between sexual relationships and ethics.

12.2 Professional ethics

Moral responsibility is also crucial in the professional world. Ethics in a professional setting is
based on rules and values. Quite often professional people have to make choices for the general
public. Take for instance the example of a doctor. A doctor is required to use his/her judgment
to a make a medical decision in the best interests of the patient. The relationship the doctor has
with the patient is a critical one. Some values we may expect of a doctor include: trust, honesty,
reliability, respect, efficiency and dependability.
Most professions are guided by what is called a code of ethics. These internal guidelines aim
to preserve the integrity of the profession but also to protect the interests of the client. They
provide a framework for right or acceptable and wrong or unacceptable behavior. Integrity is
a critical word for the professional world. It comes from the Latin word integritas and means
reliable or following high moral principles and professional standards. Integrity involves being
true to your beliefs, values and convictions. In the professional world, a person of integrity is
one who displays a good work ethic.
The idea that we should work because it has intrinsic value (worth for its own sake) is a recent
view. Work for much ancient history of the human race was seen as demanding, tiring and
degrading. In classical or medieval cultures (for example, Greek and Hebrew cultures) one was
forced to work hard. The Greeks saw work as a curse and used the term (ponos) which meant
sorrow or pain to describe it. Aristotle believed that work was a waste of time and would make a
citizens pursuit of virtue more difficult. He argued that manual labour was for slaves.
This view towards work shifted around the 1990s. The modern view stressed skill, challenge,
autonomy and recognition. Now an emphasis was placed in the quality of work produced and
the satisfaction of attaining a high standard. Autonomy was also seen as important to worker
satisfaction within their jobs. Trust, self-knowledge, challenge, responsibility and opportunity
for personal growth and dignity were perceived as important values. Motivation to work now
involved trust, caring, meaning, self-knowledge, challenge, being responsible, opportunity for
personal growth and dignity (Maccoby, 1988).
Describe the work ethic or professional codes of conduct that may be expected of an
employee by his/her employer.
Describe the work ethic or professional codes of conduct that may be expected of an
employer by his/her employee.
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A list of work ethics expected of an employee might include: being punctual; tending to the
company business for the whole time at work; to treat the companys resources, equipment and
products with care; to give respect to the company and demonstrate honesty and integrity. A list
of work ethics expected of an employee might include: providing a safe work environment for
staff and employees; treating employees with dignity and respect; providing a fair wage for the
services rendered and handling all business transactions with integrity and honesty.

Short film 1
Watch this short animated film on work ethics. It is available online at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGviXZqpQjU

12.3 Leadership and ethics

Some of you may become important leaders in a company or a nation in the years to come. It is
therefore important to understand the intricate connection between leadership and ethics. Let us
begin by asking: what is leadership.
Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants
to do it. (Dwight D. Eisenhower Former US President)
Leadership means different things to different people around the world, and different things in
different situations. For example, it could relate to community leadership, religious leadership,
political leadership, and leadership of campaigning groups. The word "leadership" can bring to
mind a variety of images. For example: an army officer, charging forward to meet the enemy; an
explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his party to follow; or an executive,
developing her company's strategy to remain ahead of the competition.

Are all leaders good?

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were leaders but were they good leaders?
Clearly, good leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build
an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need
to go to win as a team or an organisation. Leadership is dynamic, vibrant, and inspiring
The ethics of leadership rests upon three pillars:
1. the moral character of the leader;
2. the ethical values embedded in the leaders vision, articulation, and program which
followers either embrace or reject; and
3. the morality of the processes of social ethical choice and action that leaders and followers
engage in and collectively pursue.
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From the deontological point of view, intentions are the morally relevant aspects of an act. As
long as the leader acts according to his or her duty or on moral principles, then the leader acts
ethically, regardless of the consequences, as was the case in the first moral luck example. From
the consequentialist perspective, what really matters is that the leaders actions result in bringing
about something morally good or the greatest good. We need both deontological and
consequentialist theories to account for the ethics of leaders. Just as a good leader has to be
ethical and effective, he or she also has to act according to duty and with some notion of the
greatest good in mind.
Virtues form a fundamental part of moral philosophy and provide a useful way of thinking about
leadership development. What is important about virtues are their dynamics (for example, how
they interact with other virtues and vices) and their contribution to self-knowledge and
self-control. The properties of a virtue are very different from the properties of other moral
concepts such as value. Virtues are things that you have only if you practice them. Values are
things that are important to people. I may value honesty but not always tell the truth. I cannot
possess the virtue of honesty without telling the truth. As Aristotle mentioned, virtues are good
habits that we learn from society and our leaders. Aristotle wrote quite a bit about leaders as
moral role models, and much of what he said complements observations in research on
transformational leadership. He noted, Legislators make citizens good by forming habits in
them (Aristotle, 1984). Whereas virtues come naturally to those who practice them, they are not
mindless habits. People must practice them fully conscious of knowing that what they are doing
is morally right.
Perhaps the most striking thing about the Greek notion of virtue (aret), which is also translated
as excellence, is that it does not separate an individuals ethics from his or her occupational
competence. Both Plato and Aristotle constantly used examples of doctors, musicians, coaches,
rulers, and so forth to talk about the relationship between moral and technical or professional
excellence. Aristotle wrote, Every excellence brings to good the thing to which it is the
excellence and makes the work of that thing be done well. . . . Therefore, if this is true in every
case, the excellence of man also will be the state which makes man good and which makes him
do his work well (1747). Excellence is tied to function. The function of a knife is to cut. An
excellent knife cuts well. The function of humans, according to Aristotle, is to reason. To be
morally virtuous, you must reason well, because reason tells you how to practice and when to
practice a virtue. If you reason well, you will know how to practice moral and professional
virtues. In other words, reason is the key to practising moral virtues and the virtues related to
ones various occupations in life. Hence, the morally virtuous leader will also be a competent
leader, because he or she will do what is required in the job the right way. Virtue ethics does not
differentiate between the morality of the leader and the morality of his or her leadership
(Adapted from National Initiative on Civic Education Project, 2009).
Ethical leadership entails the ability of leaders to sustain fundamental notions of morality such as
care and respect for persons, justice, and honesty, in changing organisational, social, and global
contexts.

Unit 12: Self Governance and Responsibility

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12.4 Ethical decision-making

It is important to stress here that we are not naturally ethical or born ethical. Moral or ethics
education is a life-long process. It should be clear to you by now that ethics and morals are
learnt by examples from others, from our lived experiences, religious teachings and various other
sources. In this final section, we will explore the following questions:
How can we cultivate an ethical life?
What values, attitudes and behaviors should we strive for?
What are some questions or guidelines that can assist us when we are confronted with
ethical dilemmas?
Scholars have suggested various approaches to ethical decision-making. The Ethic of Response
Approach is a useful one. It stresses three principles: the respect for life principle, the justice
principle and the covenantal integrity principle.
The respect for life principle urges us to care for ourselves and all life forms around us. This
would include other human beings, the environment and other sentient beings (such as animals).
This principle highlights the importance of not treating other living forms as a means to an end
but to respect their rights and dignity.
The justice principle stresses the notion of the common good. It enjoins us to be fair, loving
and neighbourly in public and private relationships within our communal and societal life
(Preston, 2007: 64). Remember ethics is all about striving for justice and fairness in a society.
The covenantal integrity principle highlights the need to be truthful, honest and consistent in
all our relationships. A covenant is a pledge or a promise to oneself to act with integrity and
honesty in all situations.
These three principles are closely related. Preston points out that the third principle is dependent
or subordinate to the first two. When we are acting with integrity, we should also serve the
purpose of respecting life and seeking justice (2007: 64).
On page 67 of your textbook Preston presents a diagrammatic approach to ethical
decision-making. We can modify this approach somewhat and from it extract a set of basic
questions one may pose when challenged with an ethical dilemma:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What is the ethical dilemma in this situation? (Assessing the situation)

Clearly outline both sides of the dilemma: option A and option B.
What are the consequences of taking option A?
What are the consequences of taking option B?
Will this decision conflict with universal values such as the respect for life, justice and
covenantal integrity principles?
6. What would a virtuous person do in such as situation?
7. What if the decision I make was universalised? Will it serve the common good?
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8. Are there any other factors that deserve consideration here?

9. What is the final decision to make?

Short film 2
Watch this short film that drammatises the decision-making process and highlights the
need to choose carefully. The URL details are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrKnhOJ-R80
Would you choose the black button or the key?
Why is the choice difficult?
What did you learn about choice, decision-making and ethics from this short film?

When seeking to fulfill our basic needs (physiological, psychological, social, spiritual and so
forth) we must be careful to strive for balance. The ability to weigh up options and to choose
wisely is essential. Our actions should be guided by the capacity to exercise choice in making
independent decisions. More importantly, factors such as peer pressure should not dictate our
actions.
In an intricately connected world, how we relate to others is crucial. We should aim to treat
others as persons each with their own intrinsic worth. It is also important that we strive to build
strong relationships personally and professionally. Consider this quotation by Mackay:
Even when we share the same values and try to live in harmony with the same
virtues, we wont always agree with each other about whats right and wrong in
particular cases. But wise moral decisions will always consider our
interdependency: our moral choices are ours alone, but they bind us to all those
who will be affected by them. So deciding for yourself what is right or wrong
does not mean deciding in isolation. Though we may sometimes feel like
independent little boats bobbing about on the surface of some crackles ocean, we
are more like the strands of a vast, evolving web. We depend on our connections
with each other for our sense of identity, morality, emotional security and
psychological well-being; in that sense we belong to each other.
(Mackay, 2006, 283)

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References
Adrian Bishop, Celebrating Our Common Moral Compass, available online at:
http://www.themoralcompass.co.uk/moral_compass_06.html
Averting HIV and AIDS, available online at: http://www.avert.org/
Mackay, Hugh, Right and Wrong (2006) Sydney: Hodder Headline Australia.
National Initiative on Civic Education (NICE) Project. 2009. Civic Education Resource Manual.
UNDP, Suva, Fiji (Unpublished Paper).
Pacific Islands Aids Foundation, HIV in the Pacific, available online at:
http://www.pacificaids.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&Itemid=111
Preston, Noel (2007) Chapter Four: Responsible Ethical Decisions in Understanding Ethics,
Sydney, The Federation Press, p. 59-76.

Please attend the face-to-face

tutorial this week.

Your tutor will spend 10 minutes going over the lecture notes and discuss the format and venue
for your final test. Use this time to ask any questions you may have about the notes, the readings
or the test format.

Activity 1 2.1
Debate: Love, Sex and Morality
Your tutor will divide the class into debate groups (3 per group). You will be assigned a topic
and allocated a side, either FOR or AGAINST. In groups discuss the points you would raise.
This is an informal, fun debate that aims to provoke critical thought on a range of issues relating
to love, sex and morality. Some possible topics are:
1.

Sexual expression is purely a private affair, it only raises questions of morality when it
involves harm to others (Preston: 106).

2.

Same sex couples should be allowed to have children.

Unit 12: Self Governance and Responsibility

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3.

The ethics of sexuality hinges on the quality of relationships no on the nature of acts
(Preston: 107).

4.

Pornography may be described as the right to sexual pleasure.

5.

There is no difference in the moral stance of fashion models and prostitutes.

Activity 12.2

Design and Ethical Decision-Making Model

1.

Read Chapter Four from your textbook, Understanding Ethics. Pay particular attention to
the ethical decision-making models on pages 67 and 68.

2.

Now discuss what you feel is lacking from these models or explain how you think they
could be changed. In other words, what are some important steps required to make ethical
decisions?

3.

Your tutor will give each group a sheet of vanguard or newsprint paper. After you have
spent some time talking about the steps involved in ethical decision-making, present these
diagrammatically on the newsprint/vanguard sheet in front of you. Your diagram should be
exciting and original. You can also include drawings, cartoons and other exciting images.

4.

After you have completed your diagram, each group will be asked to paste up their diagram
on the whiteboard and explain the steps they consider essential to ethical decision-making.

Unit 12: Self Governance and Responsibility

12.12