On Being an Ethical Person “Actions speak louder than words.” – It has been reported that this phrase dates back as far as the 1550s, when the French writer Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) said, “Saying is one thing and doing is another.” There are a variety of definitions of actions... Read more →

Should You Keep Extra Money From an ATM? A good philosophy to live by is stated as follows: “Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching." This partial quote from Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), an American author and philosopher, instructs us to act in ways that... Read more →

Rest’s Model of Ethical Behavior How do we make ethical decisions? James Rest[1], a well-known cognitive-developmental researcher, developed a model of ethical behavior that is based on the presumption that there are four steps in moral development that lead to ethical action. Rest asserted that ethical actions are not the... Read more →

How to Know What the Right Thing to Do Is The Moral Point of View suggests that sometimes people have to set aside their own interests and act in the best interests of others. This notion of doing what’s best for others – at least some of the time –... Read more →

Virtue + Practical Wisdom = Human Flourishing We gain practical wisdom through the choices we make in life. Aristotle refined the idea of practical wisdom in his classic book, Nicomachean Ethics. Ethics, said Aristotle, was not mainly about establishing moral rules and following them. It was about performing a particular... Read more →

Do You Value, Values? Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. They help us to determine what is important to us. Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions; the sort of person we want to be; the manner... Read more →

Words of Wisdom from the Ethics Sage Do you care about others or are you a selfish individual? Do you accept responsibility for your actions or blame others for bad things that happen to you? Do you love others unconditionally or expect something in return? These are some of the... Read more →

The Moral Challenge of Choosing Between Right and Wrong Integrity is an often misunderstood value and that’s the reason it is reasonable to ask whether it is always a moral value. The dictionary defines it as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” That’s fine... Read more →

On Being an Ethical Person When your moral compass is headed true North, you will know you are on the right path to ethical decision-making. By placing moral in front of compass we create a clear vision of the mental processes that point us in an ethical direction. Using the... Read more →

Rational Egoism Underlies College Students’ Beliefs Rational egoism is a particular brand of ethical egoism that claims the promotion of one’s own interest is always in accordance with reason. Rational egoism, also called rational selfishness, is the principle that an action is rational if and only if it maximizes one’s... Read more →