Checking Your Ethics at the Door

Essay

Checking Your Ethics at the Door?
A significant difference in the DRAFT model between pragmatism and philosophy lies in what happens when one walks into work. Does one "check his or her ethics at the door" when one goes to the office, or does one continue to draw upon the moral knowledge one has in other aspects of life and bring that knowledge to bear? You may or may not have had an instance in your work life when you have been asked to check your ethics at the door, but if you have, how did doing so make you feel? Some students, for example, have worked at a checkout counter in a retail store and were instructed to try to get a customer to sign up for a credit card when checking out. Sometimes the pressure was so great to do so that one was encouraged to manipulate the customer, especially if he or she did not speak the worker's language. Or perhaps you have played sports where a player does things (a pitcher hitting a batter with a pitch) that one would never consider doing outside the lines of the ballfield. Again, what does this do to you psychologically to undertake a role that challenges your own sense of ethics?