Worldview, Leadership and Ethics

1. Do you think every person on Earth has a worldview? Explain your answer.

In short, yes. We all observe the world around us and how it affects us, and we affect it. We all have a totality of beliefs and a philosophy about life, whether we realize it or not.

Some persons may have a negative view because of what they have been taught. Others may have a more positive view because they have extended themselves to learn more about what is around them. We all have a belief about the world that surrounds us. Some of us are just more cognitive about it.

2. How has your background (family, culture, education, life events) influenced your worldview?

My past has played a big role on how I see the world today, for the better or for the worse. For example, having lived through three divorces as a child I am more careful in my choice of persons I date. I am sure I will be a little more hesitant about marriage.

My religious background is deeply seeded in family, culture, education, and life events. Because of my religion I would say I am who I am. It has been the light in the dark parts of my life. Without it, I am not sure who I would be today. I have been given many opportunities to become a better daughter of God and a more able servant in His hands because of His gospel.

3. How does your worldview influence your life? Your leadership style or perhaps existence in an organization? How you respond to ethical problems?

My worldview influences my life everyday. Being an educator, I work to educate my students about the world that is beyond the walls of the high school. I encourage them to take advantage of the opportunities I never had.

In some ways, it is frustrating to view the world as I do and see my students disregarding the valuable information. Some days I wish I could pound it into their heads and force them to "get it." But I cannot, so I have to find ways to help them understand and desire better than what they have. This has taught me to be a better "leader" in not necessarily forcing people, but helping them to find the desire to be better. It's a little trickier than I thought it would be.

Because of my worldview, I see a lot of potential for me. I work everyday to become a better example of what I believe a leader should be. Some days I am successful, and other days I fail miserably. But I believe it is all a work in progress.

One of my biggest struggles is pressure to pass all the students I can. In my heart I don't believe it is right to give a student a grade and / or credit they haven't earned. But pressure from up top begs that I do. In order to avoid the dilemma, I need to become the kind of teacher who does everything in her power to instill a sense of desire to succeed in her students. How this is done, I am still working on. But sometimes we have to work harder in order to avoid the ethical questions.

My Worldview

1. How would you describe your “worldview” – your philosophy of life and reason for living? How does that impact your personal and professional life? Who/what is at the center of your worldview?

My philosophy of live is to live every day to its fullest. You never know when it will be your last day, when it will be the last day for a person with whom you associate with, or if you could have made a difference in someone's life had you been more kind and less selfish.

Today I attended a funeral and they always give me great cause for reflection on my personal life. Am I living my life in such a way that people will say the things I would hope they'd say when I'm gone? Will I live my life in such a way that people from all walks of life would want to come pay their respects? Am I living my life in such a way that I am prepared to meet God whenever He calls me home?

I live every day to make a difference, to help create light where there was none. I live every day because that is what my Savior would have me do. He never once shrunk from a challenge, he loved every one, and he did good continually. I live every day to one day become and emulate the perfect example He set forth for me.

My view impacts my personal and professional life greatly. Lately I have been praying to see people around me as God sees them. It has helped me to be more kind and less short of temper when things don't turn out how I want them to. We are all children of God and we need to feel that; and sometimes, we feel that through other people.

Because of God I have what I have in my life. He is the center, my life, and my light. This last week has been a growing experience for me as I have ruminated on these very questions. Being a teacher has taught me that even though my students struggle behaviorally, they need compassion in their lives too. That doesn't mean I give away grades, but it means that we all struggle and we all need some kind of connection to love.

2. This series considers two "diametrically" opposed worldviews. What are your initial impressions of the secular, or “scientific,” worldview? The “spiritual” worldview? Explain how these impression contribute to or mediate your worldview?

I learned some interesting things watching these videos. Actually I watched them a few times because I caught something new every time. I believe in science, but I don't believe it all came from a "big bang." There are so many things that point to a Higher Being.

Science fascinates me quite honestly. There are many things that have been pigeon holed into scientific equations. At one point a man talks about an "Orderer" because science contains order. Another points to "Naturalism" and says things exist because of nature.

I was not aware that Freud was actually raised a Jew. He also had some Catholic and Christian influences. His mother called him her "Golden Child." Religion, family and education consumed his life. His life was associated with many sharp changes; none of which were really explained. It makes me wonder if her turned to science to try and explain change because it was never explained to him.

C.S. Lewis on the other hand took everything for face value. He too was raised with family and religion as a center in his home. Lewis too had a bit of a rough go as a child with the loss of his mother and his father threatening to ship them to the Americas. He even prayed to God to save his mother but nothing happened. However, he held on to the "joy" that he had found one day in the garden.

I believe that sometimes the "joy" we find in our lives serves as an anchor for hard times. All of us have hard times in life, and we feel that God has not heard our cries. However, it is the times of happiness that help to keep us going from day to day.

Science is intriguing, but I believe in the Divine more than the secular. I am interested to learn more and to watch the remainder of the program. The more we know, the more tools we have in order search to find the answers we have been seeking.

Like Lewis, sometimes we feel faith has failed us. So we turn to science that never seems to fail. But is that the best thing to do? Do we really believe Science will outperform the Divine?

Ethical Ruminations

Week two questions at hand. Here we go! I would be interested to know what your response would be ...

Several years ago Phillipa Foot drew attention to an extraordinarily interesting problem:

Suppose you are the driver of a trolley whose brakes have just failed. On the track ahead of you are five people; the banks are so steep that they will not be able to get off the track in time. The track has a spur leading off to the right, and you can turn the trolley onto it. Unfortunately, there is one person on the right-hand track. You can turn the trolley, killing the one; or you can refrain from turning the trolley, killing the five.

Question:

1. Is it morally permissible for you to turn the trolley? Why? Explain.

A.

I am not sure what my response would be. In my head would be running the questions: How old are the people at stake? Are there children involved? Aged persons? Would I run more risk to the people on my trolley by taking the right turn which could potentially kill more than the five or one persons ahead of me? Are there potentially more people ahead of me that I would kill before I could get the trolley stopped, either direction? Does the track veering to the right loop back around, thus costing me six lives instead of five?

In reality I would have perhaps seconds, if not less, to run through the scenarios. Of course, my conscious would go for the situation that would be the least deadly. Honestly, I am not sure what I would actually do because I am not experiencing all of the variables. My right turn could be so sharp at the speed I am going down the hill that I could cost not only the life of the person ahead of me, but potentially everyone on board. Heading straight could potentially put me in the path of even more people thus costing me my passengers plus five ahead of me.

Argh! I am not sure... Perhaps I would head straight in the hopes that the hill levels off and I could save all of my passengers. If the turn were not very sharp, I would take the turn knowing it was a safe turning speed for as fast as I were traveling.

I know this doesn't provide a concrete answer to the question. But like I said, I am not experiencing all of the variables and thus cannot make a correct assessment of the situation.

Now consider this:

You are a great transplant surgeon. Five of your patients need new parts - one needs a new heart, the others need, respectively, liver, stomach, spleen, and spinal cord - but all are of the same, relatively rare, blood-type. By chance, you learn of a healthy specimen with that very blood-type. You can take the healthy specimen's parts, killing him, and install them in your patients, saving them. Or you can refrain from taking the healthy specimen's parts, letting your patient's die.

Questions

2. Is there a moral difference between the two cases? Explain.

A. Situation 1 is an accident, an unforeseen failure of the brakes. Situation 2 is consciously taking a live to save others. I believe Situation 2 would be a failure of the moral compass to take one persons life to give to others. The only way I could see pulling the plug on someone in Situation 2 is if the healthy specimin were on life support with no hope of having a quality of life (loss of brain function). I would speak with the family and hope they saw the benefit of giving up one to save many. But I am not sure I could purposely sacrifice one to give to others.

3. What are the distinction between the two? Explain

A. Like I mentioned earlier, one is an accident and the other is not. There are times when you are subject to the nature of the beast, and there are other times when you can consciously choose with time to ponder on the situation.

4. Why is it that you may turn that trolley to save five, but may not cut up one healthy specimen to save five lives? Explain.

A. This question reminds me of Seven Pounds. He took five or six lives, and then turned around and essentially "gave back" those lives through unethical use of a federal ID and then suicide. Was what he did an ethical way to repay his "debt"?

Thinking about the organs at hand, I wonder if taking the whole organ is necessary. One can donate part of a liver and stomach; You don't really need a spleen; And a spinal cord transplant is not even possible right now. There has been transplantation of embryonic spinal cord, but that's it.

Turning, or not turning, the trolley is an "accident." Purposely sacrificing someone is considered murder in the justice system (unless the previous situation were true, see A2). I would still struggle living with myself no matter the situation, however the justice system looks at the outcomes differently.

Do I worry about me? Yes. Do I worry about my family, as a result? Yes. Whether it's right or not, I would also calculate into the risk my public appearance. Both would certainly get media attention and affect me for the rest of my life.

5. Does the solution to the trolley problem lie somewhere in the theory of rights, utility, justice, consequences, virtues, good will, egoism...

A. I believe the solution, or lack thereof, does lie in the afore mentioned words. Right now I cannot say to what extent because I have not completed all of my reading. But I hope to have an answer by the end of this course :)

Foot, P. (1978). The problem of abortion and the doctrine of the double effect. Virtues and Vices and Other Essays in Moral Philosophy, 19.