Ethics & dilemmas · Lesson 2 of 5

Four lenses: consequences, duties, character, fairness

Looking at a hard choice through several lenses shows more than any one alone. Each asks a different question about the same decision.

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People and traditions across history have offered different ways of thinking about right and wrong. Four lenses capture many of them. Consequences: which option leads to the most good and least harm? Duties: what promises, rules or obligations apply here? Character: what would a good person, the person I want to be, do?

The fourth lens is fairness: would this choice be acceptable if I were in the other person's place? Would I be comfortable if everyone acted this way? Many religious and philosophical traditions express some version of treating others as you would want to be treated.

No lens gives the final answer on its own, and they sometimes disagree. Their value is in widening your view. If all four point the same way, you can act with confidence. If they disagree, you know exactly where the difficulty lies, and you can weigh it honestly with your own values and beliefs.

See it happen

Farah runs a small shop and learns that a supplier she relies on uses unsafe working conditions. Switching would cost more and might force her to raise prices for her regular customers.

The first reaction

Her customers and her own family depend on the shop staying affordable, so keeping the cheaper supplier seems the responsible choice.

With the idea

She runs the four lenses. Consequences: harm to workers against higher costs. Duties: to her family and customers, and to not profit from harm. Character: she wants to be someone who does not look away. Fairness: she would not want her own children working there. She switches gradually and explains why to customers.

What changed

She looked at the decision from several angles instead of only one.

Easy to take the wrong way

These lenses are not a formula that produces the right answer. They are questions to think with. Your own values, faith or philosophy will shape how you weigh what they reveal.