ENGR 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Consequentialism, Whistleblower, Rights

• School: Concordia University
• Department: Engineering
• Course: ENGR 201
• Professor: Govind Gopakumar

Document Summary

Engr 201 - lesson 4 - ethical reasoning. Ethical theories focus on different aspects of human behavior. Happiness is achieved by developing virtues, or qualities of character, through deduction and reason. An act is good if it is in accordance with reason. This usually means a course of action that is the golden mean between extremes of excess and deficiency. Theory suggests that a better guide to ethical action is the character of the person performing it. Character and virtue are more immediate guides. People seek to lead virtuous and balanced lives. Moderation is key, try not to make drastic decisions. Actions are only as ethical as the nature of the action chosen. The ends do not justify the means chosen to accomplish them. However good consequences may be, if the actions are wrong, they do not justify the action.