Self-assessment · Ethics

Are You Officially Ethical?

"When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion." — Abraham Lincoln

Is it possible to desire the bad? The answer may seem obviously to be yes. We desire many things that are bad for us, and others of the planet: long-haul flights, too much sweet food, sex with inappropriate people, perhaps in inappropriate places, or in inappropriate ways. Yet as Plato realized, there is something odd about this. If we want something surely it is because in some sense at least we think it to be good. You just wouldn't want that triple chocolate muffin unless you thought it tasted good, for example. And if you really, truly felt that the bad side outweighed the good, surely you wouldn't want it anymore?

The conundrum has no easy solution. But it raises an important issue that manifests itself in many ways: how do we know that what we think is good is really good, or whether what we think is bad is really bad? It is this area of moral uncertainty that we are now entering.

Take the test — all you need to do is complete a simple questionnaire that comes in two parts. Complete Part One before looking at Part Two. Bear in mind that we are not going to make any judgements about what really is right or wrong. We're not trying to find out if you have the 'right' moral values.

1
Part One
Beliefs

Rate your agreement with each statement. Complete this part before scrolling to Part Two.

Question 1 of 10
Buying organic food is in the best interests of both people and the planet.
Question 2 of 10
Frequent flyers who pay for CO₂ reductions to offset their emissions are taking as moral a stance on global warming as people who never fly for environmental reasons.
Question 3 of 10
It is always better to buy local produce than food which has been flown in from hundreds or thousands of kilometres away.
Question 4 of 10
It is not in principle wrong for powerful Western nations to use their military forces, without UN support, to overthrow tyrannical regimes.
Question 5 of 10
Every country should sign up to the Kyoto protocols, which aim to stabilize the extent of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
Question 6 of 10
Given a choice between increasing environmental damage and cutting economic growth, it is sometimes better to increase environmental damage.
Question 7 of 10
Western customers should boycott companies if any of their goods are found to have been made using child labour in the developing world.
Question 8 of 10
Genetically modified foods have a great potential to help nourish the world.
Question 9 of 10
Free trade is more important than aid or certified Fair Trade for the developing world.
Question 10 of 10
We need to do more to resist the power of supermarkets and multinational chains.
2
Part Two
Actions

Answer honestly — true or false — about your actual behaviour. Note that the statements do not match Part One exactly, but cover the same themes.

Statement 1
I buy organic food whenever I possibly can.
Statement 2
I only use a car when walking, cycling or using public transport is practically impossible.
Statement 3
I always make sure that the food I buy has not been imported from other continents.
Statement 4
It would be wrong to use military force, without UN support, to end a modern-day Auschwitz.
Statement 5
My house uses all low-energy light bulbs (fittings permitting), the household appliances I have bought all have high energy efficiency ratings and I don’t usually leave electrical appliances like TVs and video recorders on standby.
Statement 6
In the last two years I have not taken any flights which were not strictly necessary for my work.
Statement 7
I have taken reasonable steps to make sure that the clothing stores I usually buy from have sound policies on the use of child, sweated and forced labour.
Statement 8
I would rather eat non-GM foods which had been treated with four times as many pesticides than GM foods treated with a quarter of the pesticides.
Statement 9
I always buy certified Fair Trade goods where they are available as an option, and I actively seek them out.
Statement 10
I regularly shop in a supermarket.