Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Human Needs And Ethics

Introduction

The definition of ethics; “Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity” (Definition of ethics in English by Oxford Dictionaries, n.d.). We carry out ethical decisions every day of our lives, and as free persons we are constantly faced with making choices. Through the use of ethics, while taking into account our values and priorities and the possible consequences, we pave the way through our society and create the right and wrong of human behavior and conduct. There are three types of ethical theories; Deontological, Consequentialist, and Care-Based. Deontology focuses on the significance of the action itself; such as “never lie”, “never steal”, or “give to the poor”. Consequentialism determines and encourages actions based on what the outcomes will be after making the decision. Care-Based encourages you to empathize with others by putting yourself in their situation to see how your choices will impact them, then making your decision based as if you were them. In my ethical dilemma I was faced with making my decision to speak up or stay silent using the Care-Based ethical theory and Consequentialism.

Situation

It was in the evening after a busy day on our family vacation when my mom, brother, and I finally had the chance to sit down and talk. Throughout the conversation the topic of evolution and religion came up. My brother is very logic based; always speaking with evidence and facts to back up his viewpoint, while my mother is a devoted catholic who is very spiritual and speaks through her faith and beliefs. My mother, being a very religious person, immediately shot down the idea that evolution is real; while my brother kept stating evidence that evolution is real. As I was sitting there, listening to the conversation, I realized that though I agreed with my brother’s beliefs on evolution; I did not want to say anything for the fear that my mother would get upset or that I would hurt her. I could’ve spoken up and shared my thoughts and feelings, that were similar to my brothers; but I chose to stay quit because of the fear of hurting my mother’s feelings because then both of her sons would be going against what she know and what she taught us growing up.

Resolution

If faced with the same problem today I would choose to speak up. But instead of just siding with my brother I would express my views and facts on evolution then try and tie them together with my mothers views on religion. For example, there have been a fair amount of Popes in the catholic church who have not disagreed one hundred percent with evolution. According to Pewresearch, “Pope John Paul II went a bit further in 1996, calling evolution ‘more than a hypothesis’”

Actions

Actions speak louder than words. If our verbal and nonverbal actions contradict each people will likely believe the actions over what was said. Verbal commitments and actions should converge, not conflict each other. Whatever actions taken, will show you core beliefs and prove that you are trustworthy. It is easy to talk a big talk, but it takes a moral and ethical person to match their actions with their words. If you only talk but never take any action to back it up, nothing happens, but when you do the actions you are taking steps towards participating in the behavior. As humans we must regularly access our actions as to make sure that they are corresponding with what we say. The actions you take hold much more substance over what you say. Actions prove who we are at our core while words only show who we wish we could be.

Conclusion

Being fair, honest and ethical is one the basic human needs. Our society and conduct is based off of ethics, and they shape us into the kind of people we will become. Through having good ethics we create a rapport with ourselves and others by; establishing credibility by the way of showing that we are reliable and dependable in our actions and decisions, and improving our decision making because ethics helps give us the ability to weigh the pros and cons of life.