Decisions – some questions probing ethical dimensions of

When considering thorny or problematic decisions the following are some ways to try to assess how well the decision might meet one’s own ethical standards:

n	Role exchange ‘test’:	Focuses on how the consequences of one’s decision will act upon other people – an attempt to see the situation from the point of view of the people affected by the decision. Also poses the question of whether it would be right for one of these others to take the same decision if one were to experience these same consequences?
n	Universal Consequences ‘test’:	A variation on the role exchange ‘test’, one imagines anyone else in this decision situation making the same decision now in view – if we would find it unacceptable if everyone else in these circumstances acted in the way proposed, should then the contemplated action be rejected?
n	New Cases ‘test’:	This asks the decision-maker to consider whether the anticipated action is consistent with other actions which are in the same category. Would one take the same decision in other such same-category cases?
n	Higher Principles ‘test’:	Seeks the decision-maker to identify whether the principle upon which the intended action is based is really consistent with much more fundamental principles which one already clearly accepts.