Ethics in Action; A philosophy
The philosophy of the Chair is inspired by Socrates’ immortal phrase, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” One conversation at a time, Socrates inspired the youth of Athens to question how they ought to live and to examine how they were, indeed, living. He, like Aristotle, held that all knowledge, all choices should be directed toward the “good.” We believe that this “good” lies in the pursuit of the “good life” experienced in relationship within a “good community.” To give its philosophy traction in the daily life of the campus, the Ethics Chair has used the following construct to advance a greater ethical culture in the university community:
Invitation places emphasis on the community’s becoming more aware and taking ownership of fostering an ethical climate. It is on this level that the Ethics Chair’s theme, “one conversation at a time” finds its meaning. The Faculty Conversation Series was the first initiative that reflected the Chair’s conviction that each member of the community has a critical role in the creation of a more ethical environment.
Involvement requires trust among members of the community and is assured only through greater transparency, a priority that four years ago gave rise to The Transparency Series, a week long, university-wide program of classes, debates, films and public presentations centered around a specific theme.
Integration calls on the community to give recognition and resources to incorporating the following major requirements:
Critical thinking skills/rigor: a focus on critical thinking skills and heightened rigor in the way students are educated to evaluate choices and review their decision options. Wisdom derives from deliberation and discernment based on thoughtful analysis. The freshman seminar and core curriculum are now in revision and critical thinking components are being integrated in significant, identifiable ways.
Humility/learning – The beginning of wisdom is our openness to learning and true learning requires humility, a recognition that we may have to abandon old mindsets and construct new world views. The ethics initiatives of the Chair are aimed at encouraging new mindsets and new world views.
Dialogue – An ethical community is a community in dialogue. The hallmark of an ethical culture, is a climate that invites dialogue about both the easy and the difficult things in life.
Resolve – The Ethics Chair’s mission is to foster ethics in action, translating ethical sensitivity and deliberation into purposeful decision making.
- (Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1 Chapter II).
Ethics concerns relationships. From its inception, the Ethics Chair has recognized that creating a culture of ethical sensitivity is a communal engagement. To use Adam Smith’s well known idea, it is the need to belong and the concern for staying in community, that provides the “invisible hand of correction” to our otherwise self-interested actions. Our goal in developing the Ethics Chair has been to identify the various kinds of relationships that comprise the SNHU community and encourage a spirit of ethical inquiry in those relationships. Our intention is to create a community of truth understood as a rich complex of relationships in which we both speak and listen and make ourselves accountable to one another. In order to inspire a sense of community, we engage faculty, encourage attention to ethics within the classroom and beyond, and develop partnerships with and sponsorships of on-campus and external organization initiatives.
Ethics concerns presence. Presence credibility to our dedication to ethics across the community as well as ethics across the curriculum. It derives from respecting the dignity of each person. It is the expression of intentional living. Presence also calls attention to the fact that each moment is ours to use to its fullest. Being fully present to one another helps us understand that, at its core, ethics is about the way we conduct ourselves in relation to others. We believe it is people, not the projects or programs—however impressive they may be—who create an ethical environment. The more we meet one another in an atmosphere of respect, the greater the possibility that we will grow in the “wisdom to make right choices.”