Morality and Ethics Essay Example for Free

Morality and Ethics Essay As two members of our group are children of sea captains, the case of Exxon Valdez oil spill was extremely interesting for our team. It demonstrates that irresponsible behavior of people can lead to the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters of the past century. Multiple factors have been identified as contributing to the incident. In our group’s opinion, the most important are: the captain was drunk being on duty, the third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue or excessive workload and finally, the Raycas radar system was broken, because the company found it too expensive to fix it. To begin with, we think that due to the restricted responsibilities of the crew comparing to the captain, its commitment was relatively low. Therefore the main motivation was their salary and working conditions didn’t play a role. Probably that is why sailors were ready to work overloaded shifts in order to earn as much as they could, to our mind, despite the fact that physically it was impossible. Thus the responsible sailor had to assess his ability to steer the ship before beginning the watch – in this case he had no right to do that being too tired. Talking about the captain of the ship, our group found him being the most irresponsible person in this situation. He did not act according to the ethical norms. Firstly, captain is the person, who is fully responsible for the ship and the crew, but he dared to exceed the allowed norm of the alcohol. Secondly, he had to insist on the radar repair. Finally, he is the one who is responsible for the crew’s adequate performance. Nevertheless, Exxon is fully liable for this disaster and the subsequent oil spill being the owner of the tanker. Hence, in our opinion, the company had to pay for the cleaning up the oil spill. To sum up, our group sees the ethical dilemma only concerning the crew. They had two choices only. On the one hand, when signing the contract they automatically agree to fulfill their duties, that is why no one can afford to skip the watch even if he fills tired. On the other hand, the third mate had no right to expose to danger the ship and the rest of the crew by taking the watch in unacceptable condition. We would like to add, that despite the fact that this was the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters, it pushed the government to develop new laws in this industry and turned to be a good lesson for the human beings overall.

Anti-Christianity :: essays research papers

Believe in Nothing The depiction of Jesus we see all around us. We see him in books, we see him in churches. We see him on the internet, we see him on television. We see what is an assumption of Jesus' appearance. One man made a guess of what Jesus looks like based on the appearance of an average Jewish man. Since then, we have been using a mask to portray a man, if not a woman, that did not exist. We are always told of his existence, but not how we come about that conclusion. The Bible in fact, is our only proof of Jesus’ existence. Many simply rely on their faith, without need for evidence. However, knowing Christianity is not based on facts, it cannot be certain that those who follow are following the correct path. Actually it is certain that the belief in Christianity is the wrong path, for it causes more harm than good. Centuries ago, as Christianity gained an increasing amount of believers, the believers started thinking beyond the traditional beliefs. Many supposed great followers of the Christian religion, became betrayers of their religion. If one believes in a religion, they must obey its rules, commandments or such. Instead of for example Martin Luther, who formed a new type of Christianity, to satisfy his own will. His desire was for the people to worship God and Christ directly, instead of having a middle man such as the Pope. Later he was to create Lutheranism. Those who create and follow new forms of Christianity have betrayed their true religion. Believing in the Christ is bad enough, betraying Christianity and still believing in a new type is even worse. Throughout history and to the present day, the belief in Christianity has been the cause of many evil scams and tragedies. A perfect example would be the indulgences and fake relics sold during the Catholic Reformation. About 300 years ago, the church was selling false hope to satisfy their lust for money. Many believers however disagree and claim that churches improve communities. They create a true community where help is plentiful, and joy is most common. But is religion truly necessary for improving communities? The Priests and such could continue, but without religion. The goal for a better community is not only a religious goal, but also one in life. One thing that religion does to one's mind, it give a false sense of hope.

Middle Childhood and Adolescence

Changes in Peer Relationships in Middle Childhood and Adolescence Statistics say that in the stages in middle adolescence 30% of the child’s social life and interactions there are a great stage of peer pressure. These results were compared to the 10% that is experienced during the early childhood. They show that they are competent by demonstrating their behaviors in these peer groups. During the elementary years in school, children have to prove to others that they understand and that they are capable of handling the different situations they find themselves in. They must keep a certain criteria in order to have friends. The main concern during these peer groups is to be accepted and most of these concerns are experienced during middle childhood. Researchers have been focusing in the friendship among the children. Friendship is one of the most important parts of the social group between early stages of childhood. Friends fill that special need we have inside and for a child’s development that is one of the most important parts. They fulfill the special needs and they help with communication, interaction, acceptance, companionship and social skills. Peer is more related to the social and popularity status and its acceptance and friendship represents more that relationship that is built on appreciation, respect and most importantly being liked. When the child has reached its adolescence stage, they will experience support from their friends and this will help in their social skills. When they are younger, they don’t experience this as much. So, the more friends they have, the more acceptances they will feel from the larger peers. Adolescent Egocentrism Jean Piaget theory of cognitive development derived from concept of egocentrism. Adolescents Egocentric explains how a teenager feels about him or herself. During the development of adolescence the human body experiences several mental and physical changes. According to Elkind (1967), adolescent’s mental abilities heighten his or her self-consciousness. Adolescent egocentrism actually reflects a weakness in their thinking that is distinctive of early formal operations. Egocentric thoughts develops in two aspects which includes the awareness that an individual sees things in a different perspective and doesn’t seem to understand that others may hold thoughts, emotions, and views different form his or hers. Egocentric is a complex concept that encompasses a wide range of questions of early cognitive development. Studies have shown that female’s egocentrism is more prevalent during their early adolescent period and gradually slows down during their later period of adolescence. The main aspect of egocentrism is both social and cognitive because it reflects o more of how individuals want others to perceive them (Sanrock 2007). For example, many teen spend more time grooming themselves than any other factor in his or her lives. According to Elkind (1967) transitions of the formal operations stages involve its own differences about egocentrism. Personal fables also encourage the adolescent egocentrism that reflect on how an individual relates to others. Adolescence experiencing egocentrism is often seen as a non-positive aspect part of their thoughts because adolescents become taken in with who they are and are unable to function properly in society due to their bias translation of reality. Formal operational thinkers view things in greater complexity and to perceive many different aspects of a situation. Studies today have explained that egocentrism is not always present in the late stages of adolescence. However it depends a great deal on the environment whereas he or she was raised. Peer Pressure Adolescents are faced with a plethora of pressures during this crucial stage in their lives. They are exposed to the difficulties of peer pressure including drugs, alcohol and sex. Peer pressure comes from several different directions. It can come from the media, parents, other family members and friends. An adolescent’s self-esteem plays a critical role in peer pressure and often will set the stage for whether a teenager will succumb to their nagging peers or abstains. At this age, one of the greatest influences comes from older peers and their â€Å"experiences† with life. Older siblings and friends tend to pressure younger adolescents into indulging in activities that may be detrimental to their well-being, often using status to gain their trust. Status quo and acceptance are important to a young mind. If an adolescent does not have the much needed support from their parents and a positive self- image going into this stage of life, they may be more susceptible to peer pressure. Pressure to use drugs and alcohol are two of the most common forms of peer pressure hat an adolescent will experience. At this stage, when a child is coming into their own, they are very impressionable beings. When another peer offers up what sounds like an amazing experience many adolescents will follow suit and give in. Even with the knowledge that drugs and alcohol have a profound effect on the human body, some adolescents will still relinquish their better judgment to â€Å"look cool† in front of their peers. Again, status quo comes into play with substance abuse. Most youth aren’t really interested in the taste of cigarettes or alcohol, but because their friends are doing it, they ill at least try it. Just trying any substance can lead to addiction as the chemicals in the brain become heightened and the impressionable being indulging in them begins to feel a sense of â€Å"euphoria† or finds the substance allows them to â€Å"let loose†. It is very important that parents are aware of the dangers that face adolescence today. As with anything, communication is key. Parents must warn their children of the risks associated with substance abuse while also being compassionate and understanding to this stage of development.

The Ethics Of The Enron Case - 1407 Words

The Enron case is a very popular case to show how the profession of accounting is vital to make the corporate world of business flow reliably. Enron was recognized as one of the world’s major electricity, natural gas, communications and pulp and paper’s company. However Enron was found to record assets and profits at inflated, fraudulent and non-existent amounts. Debts and losses were found to be excluded from financial statements along with other major transactions between Enron and other companies to make their company’s book look better. This unethical behavior along with loopholes in the accounting standards and regulations allowed this massive scandal to occur. I believe with proper governance and more ethical management this scandal†¦show more content†¦I believe this is an excellent example to show the requirement of accounting profession in the corporate world and the consequences of not unethical management accounting. Section 2: Introduction – in this section: (i) provide the overall summary for the case and background information about the case organisation; (ii) describe the environment/context of the case organisation, major players, its accounting auditing practices, its corporate governance culture, and ethical foundations within the case organisation; (iii) describe the specific issues/challenges you identified which arose within the case organisation. You may include tables, figures, sidebars, charts and graphs to highlight key points. There are a number of beliefs that led to the fall of Enron. Some say it is the lack of ethical corporate behavior that led to Enron’s bankruptcy. Some say, it was due to the management’s inability to update themselves consistently with capital related information during its corporate gluttony. Some blame their accounting practices such as the mark- to- market that led to their downfall. Others pointed out on mismanagement of their risks as well as stretching out of their capital reserves as well as the various forms of management that were applied by the various company leaders were among the primary reasons to as why the company was led to bankruptcy as well as moral responsibility. (Prebble, 2010). ). Despite this various analysis