If Ethics Can Be Learned, it Can Be Taught

Someone I interact with online and an internet buddy, Archie Carroll, who is world renowned for his work in ethics, CSR, and more, once responded to a blog I wrote years ago that addressed the question, “Can Ethics Be Taught,” with what I think is as astute an observation as I have ever found. It’s direct and to the point”: “If ethics can be learned it can be taught.” He ‘hit the nail on the head.’

Can we teach students to be ethical? This is something I’ve thought and blogged about a lot during my 40+ years teaching ethics at the university level. On the one hand, I know that I can teach it. I do it all the time. Whether students learn the lesson is another matter. Perhaps Archie’s comment should read: If Ethics Can Be Taught Effectively, it Can Be Learned. Of course, the problem here is how do we define effectively. Is getting an ‘A’ in an ethics course indicative of effective learning? Perhaps this issue is best side aside for now and addressed in a future blog.

Do the Ends Justify the Means?

Still, I find myself going back to the question of teaching students to be ethical frequently these days as I observe widespread unethical behavior in society--i.e., government, politicians, business, entertainment, sports, and on social media. In many situations, decision-makers first decide what to do when a conflict exists, or competing interests are present, and then worry about the outcome later. The problem is they have it backwards.

To “begin with the end in mind” is the second of the seven habits that New York Times bestselling author Dr. Stephen R. Covey addresses in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. By beginning with the end in mind, you can train yourself to become more goal-oriented and create a clear vision for yourself or your students/work-team.

Intentionality in Ethics

I have previously blogged about the concept of intentionality. We need to act with intentionality when teaching ethics to students. Being intentional about everything in life means focusing your attention on building an environment that enables you to reach a goal through your behavior including how you treat others—with respect, kindness, empathy and compassion.

Being intentional means to talk/act in a way where the end goal is known, and actions are taken to pursue the goal with clear-mindedness and dedication to the task. Being intentional about teaching ethics means to actively and deliberately incorporate ethical considerations in deciding what to teach and how to do it. It means to create a classroom environment that encourages critical thinking about moral dilemmas, discussing real-life scenarios, and actively modeling ethical behavior, with the goal of developing students’ ethical decision-making skills and moral awareness.

Using Decision Making Models

I like to use decision-making models to teach ethics. It provides a framework students can relate to. Like many of you, I’m always curious about what AI would say in response to a question. I went online to see what would come up by asking: What is an ethical decision-making model according to the “Ethics Sage.” I actually got two different responses from Google/AI.

-----":According to Ethics Sage, a robust ethical decision-making model involves identifying the ethical issues, understanding the stakeholders and their interests, considering the potential benefits and harms of each course of action, evaluating the situation through different ethical frameworks like utilitarianism, rights-based ethics, and justice, and ultimately choosing the option that aligns best with ethical principles and minimizes negative consequences for all involved parties." 

------"According to the Ethics Sage, an ethical decision-making model is a structured process that involves identifying an ethical dilemma, gathering relevant information, considering different alternatives, evaluating the potential consequences of each option, and ultimately choosing the most ethical course of action, all while adhering to ethical principles and considering the impact on stakeholders."

Each description has value and mostly represents my thoughts. Kudos to AI.

Virtue Ethics

In teaching ethics to college students, I like to start with the concept of ‘virtue.’ I use it in accounting ethics courses mostly because accounting students need to internalize certain traits of character (i.e., objectivity, honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, and so on) that enable accounting professionals to act in ways that protect the public interest and provide the moral courage to ward off pressures to do otherwise. It is the ethical value of integrity that underlies ethical behavior for accounting professionals and creates a pathway for ethical behavior. Integrity means having the courage of your convictions, an essential value for accounting professionals to ward off potentially unethical behavior by superiors and/or clients.

One challenge I have encountered in the classroom is that many students have a relativistic view of right and wrong. This means what’s right for one person may not be right for another. Ethics become situational. The problem is we sacrifice consistent (ethical) behavior for one’s own feelings at a given time, and for one’s own unique reasons. The result is the teaching of ethics becomes muddled. It can be massaged to accommodate the thought process in particular circumstances rather than using a consistent process of reasoning to resolve relevant ethical dilemmas.

Choosing the "Right Method" of Ethical Reasoning 

It's not that one method of ethical reasoning is better than any other. I ask my students to support their action with solid reasoning of why the method they have chosen in an assignment is better than the methods they dismissed. I find this kind of learning enhances critical thinking skills. It’s how they reached a conclusion that is most important.

Ethics education often ends with developing moral thinking. We need to go beyond teaching students the “why” of ethical decision making and focus on how to get it done. We need to give them the tools to act ethically, especially when pressures exist to do otherwise. In other words, there is a difference between knowing what the right thing to do is and having the moral courage to do it.

Giving Voice to Values

I also use the “Giving Voice to Values” methodology of decision-making, which can provide the confidence in students to act ethically. GVV was developed by Mary Gentile and its curriculum is now housed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. GVV is a values-driven leadership methodology built around preparing for and practicing values-based action, and answers the following questions:

• How do I learn to act on my values?
• What would I say and do?
• How can I be the most effective in acting on my values?

Mary Gentile puts it this way: “Giving Voice to Values (GVV) is not about persuading people to be more ethical. Instead, GVV starts from the premise that most of us already want to act on our values but also want to feel we have a reasonable chance of doing so successfully. It raises the odds for success, by drawing on the actual experiences of business practitioners, as well as cutting edge social science and management research, and focusing on questions such as: “What if I were going to act on my values? What would I say and do? How could I be most effective?”

One of the most important ways to teach ethics to college students, in my experience, is through the use of actual situations to make it real. There is never a shortage of bad actors and bad actions to draw from. We can find good videos that address the key issues in a meaningful way by using You Tube videos, documentaries streaming on line, and movies.

I also like to assign students to a case study in a group setting. Active learning is a great way to be exposed to different points of view that can then help to develop one's own thoughts and conclusions. At Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I used to teach, the motto is: "Learn by Doing."

We make choices in everyday life that reflect our true character. Our choices say a lot about who we are and why we do what we do. As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said: “Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become."

Posted by Dr. Steven Mintz, aka Ethics Sage, on June 2, 2025. You can learn more about Steve’s activities by checking out his website at: https://www.stevenmintzethics.com/ and signing up for his newsletter.