Duty and The Moral Circle

1. Duty and The Moral Circle Ethics LTP E 1-1(Rev. 8/17) Facilitator Note: Print a copy of small group dilemmas prior to session start.

2. Training Objective • Task • Evaluate personal level of ethical preparation for life after graduation • Consider the challenges that arise from our recognition of duty to others and how these challenges influence our decisions • Examine the core value of duty and how it relates to the moral circles • Condition • Given a block of instruction taught by company TAC or designee, followed by group scenarios and processing questions • Standard • Cadets successfully resolve dilemmas in small groups consistent with their instruction in Ethical Fitness and Moral Courage seminars

3. Taking ethics beyond The Citadel • Being ethical is a lifelong exercise—you will be challenged to act ethically in many different environments ranging from everyday mundane experiences to professional and extraordinary ones. • To help us understand how far ethics extends, let’s consider the ethical value of duty.

4. Duty • First and foremost duty means to accept and accomplish the responsibilities assigned to me. • At The Citadel, my primary duty is to perform academically and then to perform as a member of the Corps of Cadets and the campus community. I accept the consequences associated with my performance and actions. Once I have held myself accountable for my actions, then I will hold others accountable for their actions. • Finally, duty means that others can depend on me to complete my assignments and to assist them with their assignments. Duty is also a call to serve others before self.

5. Duty Discussion Discuss the following questions as a group of the whole: • What will duty be when you leave The Citadel? • To whom do I have a duty? • What determines whether or not I have a duty to someone or some entity?

6. Duty Discussion Discuss this dilemma as a group of the whole: • You are driving to your new job and see that a person has slid off the road and hit a tree. Though you cannot be sure, the driver is likely injured. If you stop to help the person, you will be late for work. Should you stop and help the driver? • Now assume that there are many other drivers on the road besides you who could also stop and help. Does your answer to the above question change given this extra information?

7. Expanding Duties • Does technology (e.g. online banking, the ability to ship and order supplies to and from almost anywhere in the world, national and international news, social media, etc.) affect our duties to others? • How?

8. Professional Duties • While one’s immediate duties within a profession are usually clear, one’s less-immediate duties may be hard to discern. • Professionals will be asked to extend their sense of duty beyond their immediate tasks, or may find that it is morally imperative that they do so—even when no one has asked.

9. Small Group Dilemmas Divide into small groups by discipline/profession (as much as possible) and address the following questions: • What values are at stake? • What duties are being expanded? • What might the benefits be for expanding one’s duties? What are the risks? How does this influence our decisions? • Why might it be important for individuals to go beyond their immediate duties in their respective profession? • How would you resolve the dilemma (what would you do) and why? Then, small groups summarize their dilemma and its resolution for the whole group. Facilitator Note: After showing the dilemma slides, come back to this list of questions.

10. Dilemma 1 – Criminal Justice John is a new officer on the local city’s police force. During a normal week, he often puts in more hours on the job than he is payed for, but he feels this is expected of all new officers. While on the street walking his assigned area, a woman who works with a local children’s group invites John to visit their festival on Saturday, when John is usually off. This festival will involve many of the children and families the force would like to build better relationships with. He wonders whether he should make a uniformed appearance at the festival, or even volunteer in a more substantial way.

11. Dilemma 2 - Business Pat is an accountant at medium-size, local firm. She has been asked to serve on the audit committee for a local non-profit agency, which would require several meetings during the year. The audit committee reviews the organization’s financial statements and makes a report to its board of directors. It’s imperative the report is accurate. About the same time she is asked to serve, Pat is considering going to night school to earn a Masters in Accounting, which would help her move up in her firm. A promotion could mean more money to support her family. Now she wonders what she should do.

12. Dilemma 3 – The Sciences Sarah is a pharmacist. One of her customers, William, is 86 years old and needs to take several medications regularly. William lives alone, but has a caretaker who takes him places, including the pharmacy. However, William’s caretaker has been sick for the last several days. William phones the pharmacy and explains to Sarah that he needs a refill on his prescription, that he is out of medicine, and that if he does not find a substitute caretaker, he will miss a day of medication. Sarah knows that missing one day should not have any long-term negative consequences, but that it may leave William feeling lousy for a day. She also knows that William’s house is on her drive from the pharmacy to her home. She wonders whether she should drop off William’s refill on her way home.

13. Dilemma 4 – Engineering Mike is a civil engineer who works for the local county government inspecting dams and bridges. While attending an outdoor event with his son that was hosted by a local civic club on its property, he notices that the dam for a small pond appears to be weak. He would need to take further measurements to be sure if there is need for concern, however. He wonders whether to notify the state, which has jurisdiction, or bring his concern to the attention of the civic club and possibly volunteer to do the additional analysis.

14. Dilemma 5 – Humanities & Education Alex is a teacher at local middle school. Recently an op-ed has been published in the town’s newspaper that criticizes the school system’s educational results. Alex recognizes that several of the facts quoted are wrong and other information, that would be of relevance, has been omitted. Alex considers writing his own letter to the editor to present a contrasting point of view and supply accurate information, but wonders if that is better left to the administration.

15. The Moral Circle

16. The Moral Circle • “The ‘moral circle’ is the boundary drawn around those entities in the world deemed worthy of moral consideration” (Laham, 2009, 250). • It is thought that even as the moral circle has “expanded over the course of history, it also expands from birth through to adulthood. Bloom (2004) argues that children begin with an egocentric conception of the moral, but proceed to draw boundaries around larger and larger sets of entities over the course of development” (Laham, 2009, 250). Discuss as a Group: • What is included in your moral circle? • How does the notion of duty relate to your moral circle? Laham, S. M. (2009). Expanding the moral circle: Inclusion and exclusion mindsets and the circle of moral regard. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(1), 250-253. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.08.012

17. Application to Life after Graduation • How does thinking about the moral circle help us think about our duties beyond the Lesesne Gates? • To whom do we have moral obligations? What are those obligations at the different levels or circles?

18. After Action Report • If you have comments about what you liked during today’s LTP, or suggestions for improvement, please submit those to the Assistant Commandant for Leadership Programs.