Questions for Ch. 12

1. In chapter 12, Woodward and Denton discuss the two types of ethical behavior: Discerning, which is knowing when something is right or wrong, and commitment, which is being devoted to doing the right thing. However when you think about influences in our society and the many cultural differences from around the world, who is to judge what is the right or wrong thing to do? It is so easy for us to judge people based on our own personal values, but what if our ethics are wrong? Can you think of an instance of when you had to put your own personal bias aside and try not to judge someone for believing in something contrary to your views? Is there an example from your personal life when you had to exercise "commitment"--where you had to do the right thing even in a tempting situation?

2. Also in Chapter 12, Woodward and Denton goes on to talk about how easily students nowadays are able to justify cheating. Due to the competitiveness in school and jobs, the temptation to cheat in order to get ahead gets the best of many people. Since being successful and obtaining a good job is so important in our society, do you think the high societal standards and the expectation to be the best is to blame for students cheating? Do you think there is anything parents and teachers can do in order to try to lessen the pressure to do well for students, so they don't end up cheating but rather doing well on their own?

3. Woodward and Denton also bring up the fact that in news media, though information is presented to the audience, we as receivers need to take responsibility in listening to the messages. Just because something is presented to us, doesn't mean we should believe it right away. As receivers of the information, we need to be smart in decoding the messages and do our own investigation before jumping to conclusions and believing the first thing we see. When you listen to the news, do you believe what is being said right away? Are you likely to take the time to look at other news sources and other types of media to make sure the information is correct?