English EAP / Business |
The Moral Maze

  • The company is considering outsourcing jobs to a lower-wage country, potentially resulting in job losses. Do you support this decision? (consider: economics, social responsibility, employee welfare, job creation abroad, alternative solutions, long-term strategy)
     
  • The company relies on unpaid interns to perform essential tasks. Is it ethical to continue this practice? (consider: fair compensation, diversity / inclusivity, exploitation, cost savings, talent pipelines)
     

  • Should you hire a family member or friend for a position even if there are better-qualified candidates? (consider: personal connection, trust, meritocracy, team dynamics, transparency)
     

  • The company asks employees to work overtime without pay to meet deadlines.  Is this acceptable? (consider: meeting client expectations, cost savings, employee well-being, fair compensation)
     
  • Should your company implement affirmative action policies to promote diversity in hiring and promotions? (consider: merit vs. diversity, employee morale, reputation, long-term impact)

Warm-up | Company Dilemmas

  • You know another student has cheated during an exam or assignment. Do you report them? (consider: your relationship, institutional policies, impact on grades, student progress, fairness, academic honesty, long-term impact)
     
  • An individual applying for a prestigious university doesn't meet admission criteria. His parents are wealthy, however, and have donated large sums of money to the school. Should the school admit the student? (consider: merit-based admission; improved facilities, research opportunities and better access to scholarships; the university's reputation)
     
  • Some of your colleagues are using ghostwriters to produce research publications or academic papers on their behalf. Is this ethical? (consider: increased output, time savings, intellectual theft, publication quality)
     
  • Your PhD advisor puts his name on one of your papers as co-author despite having little involvement in the research and writing. How should authorship of a research paper be determined when multiple contributors have different levels of involvement?

 

  • Your colleague manipulates research data to support their hypothesis, do you report them? (consider: misrepresentation and false conclusions, impact on policy decisions and future research, colleague relationships, whistleblower protection)
     
  • Should universities prioritize diversity (racial, gender or otherwise) in admissions, even if it means admitting less academically qualified students? (consider: inclusivity, historical inequalities, broadened perspectives, academic achievements, potential student success rates)

Warm-up | Ethical Dilemmas in Academia

  • “I avoid intentionally saying or doing things that are likely to hurt other people.”
  • “I take steps to prevent harm to others in every situation I’m in.”
  • “I make things better for others and myself throughout the day.”
  • “I keep the promises I make and avoid making promises I’m not likely to keep.”
  • “I tell the truth every time when it is appropriate to do so.”
  • “I keep confidences.”
  • “I treat people fairly.”
  • “I care.”

 

  1. All of the time
  2. Most of the time
  3. Some of the time
  4. None of the time

Warm-up | Are you ethical-ish? Take the Forbes Quiz

  • Do you know people who seem/claim to conduct themselves perfectly, but in private act differently?
    • Have you ever witnessed a situation where someone needed help, but people around didn't assist? Did you assist?  Are you a bad person?
  • Do you believe we are born moral, that our behaviour is driven by internal traits, or is it something we learn?
    • Which factors do you believe influence our ethical decison making the most?
      • Parenting
      • Media and Entertainment
      • Societal Expectations
      • Economic factors
      • Religion
      • Fear of consequences
      • Empathy
      • Chemicals in the brain
  • If you believe empathy plays in moral decision-making, do you believe empathy can it be cultivated or enhanced?
  • If parenting is to blame for children learning to make bad ethical decisions, should parenting styles be enforced? If religion is to blame, should it be eradicated? If chemicals imbalances are to blame, should those pre-disposed correct them with medication or be punished?

Pre-Reading | Are We Ready for a "Morality Pill"?

  • Which method in the diagram represents the way you normally read in English? In your own language?
  • When would you use each of these strategies?
  • Which do you agree with?
    • The title can help you with the general content and organisation of a text.
    • To understand a text completely, you must read every word.
    • You can skim a text using just the "content words".
    • If you know the purpose of a text, it helps you to read more efficiently.
    • Efficient readers jump around a text and do not always start at the beginning.

Pre-Reading | Reading Strategies

Pre-Reading | Phrasal Verbs (Walk past, Run over, Step over)

  1. What incident in Foshan, China, is mentioned at the beginning of the article, and why did it cause an uproar?

  2. According to the article, what are some examples of extreme kindness and compassion displayed by individuals?

  3. What did John Darley and C Daniel Batso's research reveal?

  4. What is the significance of the experiment involving rats that the University of Chicago conducted, and what does it suggest about empathy?

  5. It is suggested that humans, like rats, may vary in their readiness to help others. What factors might influence these variations?

  6. What ethical objections or concerns are raised in the article regarding the idea of a "morality pill"?

  7. How does "A Clockwork Orange" relate to the discussion about modifying behavior through medical intervention?

  8. How does the article relate the discussion of a "morality pill" to the concept of free will and personal choice?

Reading | Are We Ready for a "Morality Pill"?

  1. Would you be willing to take a "morality pill" if it would make you more inclined to help others and make more ethical decisions?
    • Is it a good idea for convicted criminals, to help them make better decisions for the collective society?
  2. Do you believe individuals have the moral responsability to help others, even if they may put themselves at risk of harm?
  3. Do you trust the interpretation of the studies presented in the article?
  4. Do you agree that it is sometimes impossible to make ethical decisions, even though we may wish to?
  5. If individuals choose NOT to take a "morality pill", they are choosing to cause more potential harm to others. If they put their free will before the well-being of others, aren't they the cancer of society?

Opinion | Are We Ready for a "Morality Pill"?

Vocabulary 1/3 | Phrasal Verbs

Vocabulary 2/3 | Phrasal Verbs

Vocabulary Practice | Phrasal Verbs

  1. What's one specific change you've made in your life to cut down on waste or reduce your environmental impact? How has it affected your routine?
  2. Have you ever attempted to live on a minimalistic lifestyle?
  3. Have you ever consciously made unethical choices (e.g. going for products from non-socially-responsible brands because they are cheaper, exploiting foreign labour to save money, etc.)?
  4. Have you ever made up a story to protect someone's feelings or save yourself?
  5. If you ever come down with an illness, do you make sure to stay at home?
  6. Have you ever experienced a time were it was difficult or inconvenient to keep to your ethical values?
  7. Are you trying to cut down on your unethical habits (e.g. excessive consumerism, lying, cheating, gossiping, bullying, animal cruelty, having children)? How is that going?
  8. Have you ever felt pressured to put on a facade of acting ethical?

Vocabulary 3/3 | Idiomatic Expressions Relating to Honesty

Vocabulary 3/3 | Idiomatic Expressions Relating to Honesty

English EAP / Business |
The Moral Maze. PART TWO.

  • Is there a situation where you thought it acceptable to lie?
    • Have you ever done these "bad or immoral" actions? Can you do the mental gymnastics to justify it?
      • Downloading copyright material, such as movies, books, music, etc. or streaming illegally.
      • Drinking under the age of 18, or allowing another child to do so.
      • Exceeding the posted speed limits, or running amber traffic lights (speeding up before red)
      • Leaving a restaurant without paying
      • Using products or services where child labour may have been involved.
      • Consuming tobacco or alcohol
      • Eating animal meat
      • Lying about your secual health
      • Stealing office supplies, hotel rooms, extra samples, etc.
      • Using another person's streaming account
      • Underreporting your income to the Tax Office.
  • Who or what could influence you to do something which is bad or immoral?
  • Are there any situations where you lie to or cheat yourself? Why?
  • Are you more likely to forgive yourself for bad behaviour than others?

Pre-Listening | Are you corruptable?

Pre-Listening | Vocab

  • To scrutinise, to cheat, to get away with, forgiveness,  conflict of interest, be biased

Listening | The (Honest) Truth

  1. Which two contradictory actions do humans try to do simultaneously?
  2. How does rationalization affect our honesty?
    • If  we can rationalise to a higher degree,...
    • if we rationalised less, ...
  3. Dan Ariely explains research he did about cheating in society. Fill in the chart below.







     
  4. What is funny or ironic about the joke the speaker tells about Johnny, who stole a pencil from school?
     
  5. According to the author, why do people almost never leave a restaurant without paying, but have no problem downloading books or music illegally?
  1. What gets people to cheat less?
    a)  Reminding of morality and values
    b) Going to church
    c) Being optimistic
    d) Asking for forgiveness or opening a new page
  2. How can conflicts of interest make us biased?

3:40 - 5:23

0:00 - 3:40

5:23 - 9:25

Listening | The (Honest) Truth ANSWERS

  1. Which two contradictory actions do humans try to do simultaneously?
    • We want to feel good about ourselves and see ourselves as honest.
    • We want to beneFIt from dishonesty.
  2. How does rationalization affect our honesty?
    • If  we can rationalise to a higher degree, we can be more dishonest and still feel good about ourselves.
    • if we rationalised less, we would be less dishonest
  3. Dan Ariely explains research he did about cheating in society. Fill in the chart below.






     
  4. What is funny or ironic about the joke the speaker tells about Johnny, who stole a pencil from school?
    • Father disciplines child for stealing, then steals from workplace.
  1. According to the author, why do people almost never leave a restaurant without paying, but have no problem downloading books or music illegally?
    • We can rationalise downloading illegally more easily
  2. What gets people to cheat less?
    a)  Reminding of morality and values
    b) Going to church
    c) Being optimistic
    d) Asking for forgiveness or opening a new page
  3. How can conflicts of interest make us biased?
    • Motivation influences how we see reality, then view of reality is biased.

 

 

 

Listening | Reaction

  1. According to the author, Dan Ariely, “we all have the capacity to be quite bad.”
    • Explain his opinion.
    • Do you agree with him?

Writing | Formal Letter

You are a pharmaceutical lobbyist. A company you represent has recently developed a "morality pill". Write to a parliamentary representative to persuade for the legalisation and subsidisation of such a drug.

 

Write about:

  • Social harmony
  • Law Enforcement
  • ____________ (Your own idea)

 

You are a concerned citizen/scientist conducting studies on behalf of the company. Write to the company  CEO to halt research into the 'morality pill'.

 

Write about:

  • Ethical slippery slope
  • Social tension between "Morality-Pillers" and "Anti-Morality Pillers"
  • ________ (Your own idea)

Upper-Intermediate | Navigating the Moral Maze

By Adam Wyett

Upper-Intermediate | Navigating the Moral Maze

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