Individual Reflection Paper

Individual Reflection Paper

Applied Ethics – Fall 2021

Your assignment is to write a paper that analyzes and reflects on your approach to taking ethical action.  I would like your paper to include the following:

1. Provide a summary of your values
   1. Take me to the end of your career (i.e. retirement), describe the career goals that you would like to have accomplished at that point in your life.
   2. Discuss how pursuing these career goals will have brought you happiness and provided meaning in your relationships?
   3. Discuss the key values (at least 3) that you would like to be known for over the course of your career. Provide at least 3 pieces of evidence (e.g. comments from friends/relative, anecdotes, feedback from others, experiences, inventories, etc.) that support your belief that these are the right values for yourself.

2. Provide a summary of your own personal approach to ethical decision-making
   1. What perspectives to ethical decision-making from Ch.1 of the textbook do you prefer? Include at two in answering this question (e.g. utilitarianism, Kant’s categorical imperative, etc). Why these ones?
   2. What fixed points (pre-determined standards) will guide you as you apply these perspectives toward ethical problems? Provide justification (at least 2 pieces of support) for why these are the best standards for you.

3. Provide an assessment of the ethical challenges that you will have in your career and how you can deal with them
   1. Do some research about the areas that you expect to work in and give me at least two examples of the types of ethical challenges that you expect. Please cite and/or explain your sources
   2. What motivations / weaknesses do you think will most likely interfere with your ability to act ethically. Why these ones?  Support your opinions.
   3. What strengths and/or skills do you feel that you have that will enable you to confront ethical situations and stand up for your values? Explain why and how these are an asset to you?
   4. What steps can you take over the few years to develop your capability to take ethical action? Why these steps?

Papers will be graded on the basis of:

• Accurate and thorough discussion of each of the items listed above in points 1 thru 3 (and their respective subpoints).
• Demonstration of effort toward truly understanding yourself and being self-aware.
• Writing in a clear and concise style and using proper grammar.
• Following the assignment logistics (next page). It’s possible to lose points on formatting and file naming …

Assignment Logistics

• Due Friday, October 1, 2021 at 11:59 pm. You should submit a digital copy in PDF format on Canvas in this Assignment area. You will not be submitting a printout copy!

• Four to eight pages (do not exceed eight), not including cover page, bibliography, or appendices. However, you do not need to have a cover page.

• Save you file with a filename that follows this model: <your lastname, firstname> Individual Paper. Example: Doe, John Individual Paper.

• Double spaced, Times New Roman Font, 12-point type,

• 2 inch top margin
• 2 inch bottom margin
• 1 inch side margins

• Write in prose, no bullet points.

• There must be a Header and a Footer:
  • In the Header, enter your full name at the RIGHT margin.
  • In the Footer, choose the footer format that tells us that a page is x of y total pages.

• Include a bibliography of cited materials. You can use any format you want (footnotes, MLA, APA, etc.), but please cite specifically by detailing the pages in the textbook, pages in articles(s), or slide numbers in lecture slides that you are referencing.