What is the relationship between ethics and critical thinking? Did ethics play a part in the example of critical thinking you discussed in Week Four? If so, how? If not, how could it have?
The relationship between ethics and critical thinking is the principle of moral values. Although critical thinking in some circumstances does not absolutely require the individual to think of the moral or ethical implications, in order to successfully critically assess a situation the ethical and moral values that come into play must be considered.
An example of this is what we spoke about in week four. Although a criminal may have to think critical to develop a plan to break the law, the ethical and moral factors where obviously not considered when he made the decision to commit the crime. This could make you believe that there was not a lot of critical thought into this decision. Crime is often spontaneous too- this supports the fact that critical thinking is often not utilized in when making the decision to break the law.
In my personal situation I discussed in week four, critical thinking came into play when deciding how to market a product or service to a consumer. The ethical relationship to this decision must always be considered as any advertising should not be deceptive and art used be demeaning or stereotypical to any group or individual. This can be often very tricky and when communicating with mass media it is often hard to hit a balance that is amusing, attention getting and non offensive to everyone- but that’s what we try to do.
Recently the company produced a commercial which showed a dog with 3 legs and his owner chatting to an attractive woman who obviously felt bad for the dog. As the lady walks away, the dog puts its other leg down- it was just pretending to have 3 legs, trying to help its owner meet girls. Silly commercial, but never meant to be racy. A week after the commercial began airing, the customer care team passed along a complaint from a...