Why Should We Be Moral - Assignment Example

We now often hear ethics in class and to put it in proper perspective it was defined by Kant’s deontology which posits that the best way to act morally is to act from duty with the consideration of the highest good, that is, acting through the moral determination of the will.

Kant’s acting through the moral determination of will meant that the motivation of one’s action must be to pursue the good without condition which is intrinsically good by itself (Kant 30). He formulated his deontological ethics in a categorical imperative of doing good for the sake of good regardless of its consequence (Kant’s Ethics). Considering the number of corporate scandals from Enron to WorldCom that helped slid this country into a financial crisis, I am more inclined to believe that it is still better to be moral or ethical.

Many people may disagree with my position as impractical which will make me finish last but I prefer to be moral and ethical. I can however rebut that as we can see in the experience, the gains that were garnered with the lack of morals or ethics are short-lived and temporary. We all see it on national TV when corporate executives were arrested for fraud. Criminals also lack morals and while they can get away with their crimes, it is again temporary and sooner or later, they too will be arrested.

On a personal level, I believe nobody would disagree that we all want to deal with the people we trust. And earning trust requires a great deal of integrity and honesty such as keeping one’s word, and not taking advantage of others etch all of which are the realms of morals and ethics. In the same vein, we also avoid dealing with people who cannot be trusted or we feel will cheat us. In business, we also would like to deal with or buy from companies we trust and shy away from companies and products that have poor business practices. In sum, I prefer to be moral because the gains earned by being ethical or morally upright are more durable and long-term albeit they cannot be earned right away.