Applied Ethics · Chapter 1

Where the Chain Breaks

James Rest argued that ethical action needs four separate things, each of which can fail on its own: noticing, judging, prioritising and persisting. Most professional failures are not failures of judgement — people usually know. Load a real case, move the situational pressures, and find the gate that actually gives way. Then try to fix it.

1 · Load a case, or build your own

2 · Change the system, not the people

Design, not exhortationIf harm mostly comes from ordinary people inside systems — Arendt’s point about careerists processing paperwork — then designing better systems matters at least as much as producing better individuals. Switch one on and watch which gate moves.

Where the Chain Breaks

1 · Load a case, or build your own

2 · Change the system, not the people

Rest’s four components

The case in the record