Tests to Determine Ethical Decisions
On the basis of various ancient and modern philosophies, various tests to determine the ethical decisions have been proposed such as smell test, utility test, rights test, exceptions test, choices test, justice test, common good test, character or virtue test etc. A brief idea about each of them is as follows:
Smell Test
This test focuses on what is considered good in society. It prevents the actions which don’t smell good in public. Thus, getting nude in public is not a good idea and not ethical also, because it is against social norms in almost all civilized society. The weakness of this test is that social norms are dynamic and keep changing with time. For example, the practice of Sati in India was prevalent since early medieval India but we took a lot of time to smell it as a bad practice. Similarly, even today, most of us don’t smell bad of caste discrimination in the society.
Utility Test
This test is based on utilitarian approach. It focuses on best results or consequences. The ethical decisions give happiness, benefits; justice {social, economic and political} to society and individuals. For example, following constitutional ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in action leads to ethical decisions that pass the utility test. This test needs correct assessment of the outcomes. And, in complex situations, it becomes rather difficult or impossible to judge a decision on utility test.
Rights Test
This test is based on rights approach. Likewise social norms, rights are also not empirical truths of human life and keep changing from time to time. This test focuses on intrinsic value of each human regardless of their physical, mental and social status. For this test, Universal declaration of Human Rights has become a powerful tool in modern world. Similarly, almost every democratic nation including India, give some basic fundamental / legal rights to every individual. The test determines if these basic rights are violated.
Choice Test
This test focuses on choice of the people to decide what is good for them. It gives due importance to their preference. People should be able to choose what they value. However, this test needs the rationality in individuals while making their choices. A person of unsound mind and children may not define what they value.
Justice Test
This test ensures that the particular action ensures social and economic justice for all. It follows the maxim – Treat equals equally and unequals unequally. However, the problem is – how to define the equal treatment? There are no single criteria for that.
Common Good Test
This test focuses on common goods such as social institutions, natural and technological environments, and ways of understanding etc. This test is against the individualism.
Virtue Test
Virtue test or mirror test focuses on the question – If I do this action, will I be able to face myself in mirror? Thus, it is based on human virtues and character and action taken are as per personal character of the individual.
The above discussion makes it clear that some tests focus on individualism while others on community as a whole. Each test is different in its approach but outcomes are almost similar. Thus, while arriving at an ethical decision, we should try to follow multiple tests.
