Tough Choices

The difference between most philosophical approaches to ethical reasoning and real-time ethics can be seen in the idea of tough choices. When making a tough choice there is a down side to any avenue of resolution a person makes. An "outside observer" is not always in a good position to moralize on the decision acted upon. Political and business leaders make decisions based on years of experience. In that time a system for making good choices is worked out. Thus, when the time comes to make a tough choice the decision is affected not only by reasons in the context of the present but also by a system of ideas worked out in the past. There is a science called "mathematical game theory." One of the earliest puzzles mathematicians worked on was the "prisoner's dilemma." The problem with an analysis such as this is that it is shortsighted and lacking in detailed information concerning real-time decisions. In other words mathematical game theory oversimplifies the complexity of real-time decision making. When a professor is sitting in his or her office they have nothing to lose pronouncing on ethical decision-making. The business leader, on the other hand, has their career at stake, their reputation, their financial future and so forth. They have a duty to their business to reasonably produce a profit putting idealism aside in tight situations. Simply because a decision is a tough one does not give licence to abuse idealism. So, when analyzing a business it is best to draw up a profile of decision making instead of basing the ethically of a business on one decision. It is very evident in an evaluation weather or not a business tends to be ethical in its decision-making. Most-people occasionally weigh in on the side of self-interest, but it is not a habit of reasoning.

• Toleration