Read each thread and apply with 250 words minimum.
Thread 1
“The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.” (Jung, Aion, 1951)
Carl Jung wrote the above statement among many other perspectives on human “darkness” or “shadow”. For the Western-Christian perspective, this darkness could be called the sin-nature. For the non-religious, perhaps simply recognized as immoral or unethical. Regardless of one’s particular positioning of morality within an ethical framework of thought; Jung’s “shadow” is a concept well understood by anyone with a sense of conscience and who has considered themselves and their fundamental (often unspoken) motivations.
While internal, psychological self-work certainly doesn’t have anything to do with an aviation or an airplane, it remains obvious that ethical actions as aviators operate as markers of quality in decision making and the results proceeding such decisions can be monumental in result. This is why ethics are constitutional in forming consistent, positive outputs into the world. In a sense, the ethical boundaries an individual, company or society maintains is the functional basic code for one’s life.
That said, the positive effects of shared-ethics within a culture are clearly beneficial. This is why I believe it is important for virtually any institutional education to be completed, a sense of ethics must be introduced. In fact, it is known that even teaching ethics increases the likelihood that individuals will act ethically. Consider our courseworks material: “Disagreements between Greek philosophers on some aspects of knowledge of ethics and behavior were indicated by Irwin (1995); however, general agreement that the individual who is more knowledgeable on the subject of ethics tends to demonstrate more virtuous behavior…”
Ethics, as a psychological function in the mind and heart, obviously remains something belief based, often tied to circumstance, the individual, and the strength of the general social contract that the individual feels they are in contingency with. Ethics, or the lack thereof, could even be seen as a form of individual identity and values expressed in actions. It is fundamental to who people are, and the cornerstone point of judgment for an aviator or anyone forced to trade in high-stakes work where the realities of life or death are at a singular decision’s manifestation. These concepts tie into the given course work details concerning Behaviorism Ethics Systems and Evolutionary Ethics System.
For reference, evolutionary ethics systems seek to correlate ethics as adjacent or stemming from evolutionary systems like natural selection. Behaviorism on the other hand traditionally refers to the study of human behavior and why humans make decisions, in this case the context is ethics. Our course work takes the concept a step further in the following.
“Behaviorism rejects the idea of a mind or soul at the outset, because it seeks to adopt a strictly scientific approach to human existence. This approach considers only what we can confirm with our senses.” (Wilkens, 2011)
While arguments can be made for the connections and motivations of natural selection at play for aviation students (desire for survival while flying, avoidance of pain and injury, etc). A more nuanced reality presents itself in the practice of education. Considering that possible death, pain and loss are not the natural occurrences of foolish or unethical decision making when attending to ones education (unlike the natural selection of flying), punishment and reward must be manufactured so that motivation remains intact. In this sense the aviator experiences some degree of the theory of evolutionary ethical systems and behavior.
Consider the biblical story of Ananias and Sapphira. Their death was not a natural result of their actions, but rather a decision and judgment by a higher power for their actions. This decision to end their lives struck fear in those around them and clearly manufactured a reward and punishment boolean. It is for similar reasons children are punished and rewarded for their actions. At some point in their lives they will be faced with higher-stakes natural ethical issues, or social-ethical elements that will deeply inform their behavior. Adherence to an ethical code generally positions individuals and societies for positive outcomes in all walks of life making reward and punishment systems necessary.
Thread 2
Although I find the variation of ethical theories to be somewhat confusing and often contradictory to their own core claim, I think the efficacy of each ethical approach hinges on the theory’s determination of morality; what and who determines right from wrong. For behavioral ethics, the moral standard is defined by the “processes of environmental influence” (Wilkins, 2011) dictating acceptable behaviors within society, not from God. Evolutionary ethics suggests morality hangs on the idea that instinctual choices are aimed specifically for survival derived from genetic encoding in every living thing (Wilkins, 2011). When considering these two ethical systems as applied to aviation students’ attitudes and practices, studies show students are not immune to the problematic aspects of both moral views (R.Cole, 1988).
As an aviation student, I can testify to the level of dedication and discipline that it takes to become a well-rounded and respectable pilot. Although there are many study guides and tools for guaranteed success in testing available to student pilots, I can understand the temptation to cheat because it was incredibly difficult to become a professional pilot. However, falling into the trap of temptation, cheating, is likely to cost the individual their license, career, and possibly their lifelong dream (R.Cole, 1988). This example is why higher levels of academic programs have begun integrating ethical training (a form of expressed behavioral ethics) into the school’s curriculum, setting a moral standard of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Since behavior ethics has been adopted into aviation academics, aviation students are fully aware of what is determined to be right and wrong and understand that their peers are likely to exercise and exhibit compliance to the prescribed acceptable behavior. Knowing so, other students are willing to follow suit, ultimately reducing unethical behaviors like cheating (Ramón-Osvaldo, 2011). Academic programs without the adoption of behavioral ethics applied to their curriculum experience a higher level of cheating among their students; the lack of thereof fails to enforce honesty and integrity among its students (Ramón-Osvaldo, 2011), along with other factors that influence the student’s behavior such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, and financial support (Ramón-Osvaldo, 2011).
What can be learned from the example found in the life and biblical account of Ananias and Sapphira is that leaders do not cheat and do not follow to gain success or advancements. Leaders act in ethical ways that would support the evolutionary ethics system; they are often self-sacrificing for the benefit (or survival) of others so that those followers can carry on. Ananias made a mistake that cost him and his wife their lives; as stewards of property sales, they knew and willingly mismanaged the profits, which were not theirs to reap. This behavior is unacceptable in the moral environment of its time and now. This behavior is also inappropriate from the perspective of evolutionary ethics because Ananias and Sapphira’s actions did not promote survival, at least not for themselves. However, their actions influenced others in their community to fear repeating such behavior (Biblegateway.com).
