Our Individual Decisions Create Adventure

No matter who we are or where we come from, each of us at some point on our journey will be faced with decisions to make. Some decisions will have a greater impact on our lives than others, but all still require us to tap into ourselves to evaluate what we believe is morally and ethically right. Everyone makes decisions differently. Some people rely solely on their own judgment and some people get the opinions of many people before making their final choice. Taking a look at normative ethics and how this plays into our ultimate decision is very interesting and can be the reason that each person’s decision-making process appears very different.

The most sensible to me of the three different classic categories is duty-based ethics. This seems the most sensible to me because it is based on the responsibility of each of us to follow the laws and guidelines set out for us. It is the most black and white of the three classic categories and is the easiest to decipher which option will be morally or ethically correct. This category is not always beneficial to us, but from an outside perspective, it is the decision making process that appears most clear and correct.

However, in my own life, I most frequently find myself making decisions based on my virtues. Everyone gets that feeling in their subconscious when making decisions of which option feels right. However, in a situation, two or three different options could feel right depending on a person’s background and upbringing. This concept is very interesting to me because often people will force their own decisions and opinions on others and simply cannot fathom how someone else believes that a different opinion is ethical or morally right. Depending on our virtues and how we were raised, our understanding of right can be different from someone else’s. This was most evident to me when I came to college. People in college come from all different backgrounds and walks of life and at Belmont especially; there is a wide range of individuals who hold different morals and virtues. So, when it comes to drinking, the optimal time for marriage, how to spend your time in college, skipping class, where to spend money, etc. each individual may make completely different decisions because what feels right to them may feel very wrong to someone else. At first, I did not understand this, but I have begun to realize that it is okay and ethical for people to make different decisions based on what they feel is right. Different does not always mean wrong.

Ultimately, virtue ethics feels the most right to me because it is what feels best for our individual selves. As I said, if we all made decisions based on the same book or set of rules, there would be no development of courage or evidence of risk taking. Making decisions with the foundation of our virtues, allows for individuality and adventure.