In the beginning of the practical part, let me present some important remarks. Case study is not the same as Casual ethics. Casual ethics is a historical school of normative ethics. Case study is one of methods of descriptive ethics. We will follow methodological school, which is interested in facts and interpreting these facts for ethics. As we hope, this kind of descriptive methodology can help us to understand ethical phenomena. Normative ethics presents what aperson should do and descriptive ethics describes what people do. But descriptive way will not be effective without a method of interpreting phenomena. Therefore every phenomenon will be interpreted from the perspective of descriptive ethicsfrom normative positions as well.This chapter of the book is a workbook. Some examples and case studies can be found here. Read thewhole text carefully and try to cope with questions, problems and try to think about similar situations.
1.1 Case study
In the first part of the book, theoretical background of ethics was presented. It was really necessary for better understanding of the second part of the book, which is more empirical. It will focus on real examples and look for solutions of many ethical dilemmas. Theoretical background which was presented earlier will be used in this process of looking for solutions. All moments in human life give us many ethical choices. We may call these moments cases. Let us have a look at the theoretical background of case studies.
1.1.1 Theoretical problem of case studies in ethics
What do we really mean by a case study? We are going to find the answer in a few steps. First, we are going to find the answer in the most popular of Web lexicons. In the second step, We are going to find the answer in important books which deal with methodology of case studies. In the third step, we aregoing to find answers from the perspective of ethics.
1.1.2 Definition of case study in lexicons
There are too many definitions of case studies. Each definition approaches case studies in a different way which makes it difficult to understand. As Rolf Johansson wrote: "There are different ideas about what a case study is.” (Johansson, 2003). Let us consult some of popular lexicons first to look for their definitions.
Merriam-Webster definition: "an intensive analysis of an individual unit (as a person or community)
stressing developmental factors in relation to environment" case%20study). This definition describes case studies applied in Science with emphasis to ecology. It is interested in unique relationship between human being and its environment. In this specific way of thinking, the definition is really important for ethics, mainly for ethics of ecology. Here are some cases, which include ecological catastrophic environmental disasters like The Deepwater Horizon oil spill which began in 20th April 2010 in the Gulfo Mexico. In this specific case human responsilbility for enviroment is being described.
The open source lexicon Wikipedia gives us a few definitions: "In the social sciences and life sciences, a case study (or case report) is a descriptive, exploratory or explanatory analysis of a person, group or event. An explanatory case study is used to explore causation in order to find underlying principles.”. This is the definition Written by Well-known author of case studies Yin K. Robert. This definition describes case studies applied in sociology. It analyses people,groups and events in the Whole society.
Another definition of case study can be found in Free encyclopedia: "A detailed analysis of a person or group, especially as a model of medical, psychiatric, psychological, or social phenomena." . This definition is similar with sociological definition. But it also includes also medicine, psychiatry and psychology. This open encyclopedia gives also the answer for the case studies in economy: "A detailed intensive study of a unit, such as a corporation or a corporate division, that stresses factors contributing to its success or failure.”Collins encyclopedia describes case study as a: "the act or an instance of analysing one or more particular cases or case histories with a view to making generalizations"(Collins English Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged, Harper Collins Publishers 2003). This definition seems to be useful for our ethical analysis. In this sense We can analyze only the facts which can be described, it means only the past or historical human acts. We analyze what really happened from the perspective of descriptive ethics, we try to understand what, how and why happened. Next, We try to understand the personal motives of people's acts. Then Wetry to analyze the possibilities of people from the perspective of Normative ethics.
From the particular definitions we can extrapolate the very general definition of case study. Many times repeated Word in this partial definition is analysis. What we can say is, that the most frequently used Word is analysis with the connection another Word individual, group or people. The case studies in this meaning looking for any man as a social, medical, technical or corporate phenomena. The problem is, that we still have no any idea what is the focus of the analysis. Or, better to say, what we would like to discover. Also, the great question is about the methodology of the case study. Now we try verify this definition and find the answer in the profession publications.
1.1.3 Definition of the case study in publication
Our solution is to find one, or two definitions with simplicity. Very easy to applicate in real use in ethics. And very clear for find a result of ethical research.We can find a few classical authors of the case study. Between many book are two authors, who are influenced the research theory in social sciences. First of both is Yin K. Robert, and second is Robert E. Stake.The classical author of the book of the methodology, Robert K. Yin, defined: "An empirical inquiry about a contemporary phenomenon (e.g., a "case"), set within its real-world context - especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident " (Yin, 2009, p. 18).We will shortly present theory Robert E. Stake, who wrote the major book about the case studies. This book is The Art of Case Study Research. In this book we can find another definition of the case study. But more complexity definition. The first sentence of this book is defining case study as a method which try describe one problem from the many perspectives: "A case study is expected to catch the complexity of a single cases". And following the sentences: "case studies is defined by the interest in individual cases.” (Stake, 1998) From this position we can understood case study as the method, which compare social cases from the contemporary phenomena and describing the cases from the interest individual cases, but trying catch complexity of each cases extracted one major phenomena.
1.2 Definition of the case study for ethics
Now, let to apply this knowledge about case studies in the special area of study, in ethics. We Would try to present definition of the case study in ethics, which is applied by the author of the book Morality Play Jessica Pierce. She understands case studies in ethics as a: "Cases serve as a way to practice reasoning and to work toward the specification of abstract principles in relation to the concrete cases.” (PIERCE, 2014). The great aspect of this definition is to compare abstract principles with concrete cases. It means that Jessica Pierce understand preciously the role of ethics as a normative function. That is the reason to compare abstract principles with real everyday life. She describes each case from the perspective of morality and ethics. She tray to preciously understood every of human act from the ethical perspective and answer the question: If We have to do right what does it mean the right or good decision?
For this reason we defined the case study in ethics as the cases which are analyzed from ethical position and we tried to describe the relationship between human act and possibilities of choices from normative ethics perspective. In the beginning there is a human act. We transferred this act to the case. It means that we will talk about this act without any personal information like name, gender, religion, nationality, etc. In the cases when the object is a company or some corporation, we also will describe it without any details about the company. The next step is comparison with the existing system of normative ethics. And then We will try to interprete this case and understand it from the position of ethics.This method can be seen in the picture:
What do we really mean by a case study? We are going to find the answer in a few steps. First, we are going to find the answer in the most popular of Web lexicons. In the second step, We are going to find the answer in important books which deal with methodology of case studies. In the third step, we aregoing to find answers from the perspective of ethics. 1.1.2 Definition of case study in lexicons
There are too many definitions of case studies. Each definition approaches case studies in a different way which makes it difficult to understand. As Rolf Johansson wrote: "There are different ideas about what a case study is.” (Johansson, 2003). Let us consult some of popular lexicons first to look for their definitions.
Merriam-Webster definition: "an intensive analysis of an individual unit (as a person or community)
stressing developmental factors in relation to environment" case%20study). This definition describes case studies applied in Science with emphasis to ecology. It is interested in unique relationship between human being and its environment. In this specific way of thinking, the definition is really important for ethics, mainly for ethics of ecology. Here are some cases, which include ecological catastrophic environmental disasters like The Deepwater Horizon oil spill which began in 20th April 2010 in the Gulfo Mexico. In this specific case human responsilbility for enviroment is being described.
The open source lexicon Wikipedia gives us a few definitions: "In the social sciences and life sciences, a case study (or case report) is a descriptive, exploratory or explanatory analysis of a person, group or event. An explanatory case study is used to explore causation in order to find underlying principles.”. This is the definition Written by Well-known author of case studies Yin K. Robert. This definition describes case studies applied in sociology. It analyses people,groups and events in the Whole society.
Another definition of case study can be found in Free encyclopedia: "A detailed analysis of a person or group, especially as a model of medical, psychiatric, psychological, or social phenomena." . This definition is similar with sociological definition. But it also includes also medicine, psychiatry and psychology. This open encyclopedia gives also the answer for the case studies in economy: "A detailed intensive study of a unit, such as a corporation or a corporate division, that stresses factors contributing to its success or failure.”Collins encyclopedia describes case study as a: "the act or an instance of analysing one or more particular cases or case histories with a view to making generalizations"(Collins English Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged, Harper Collins Publishers 2003). This definition seems to be useful for our ethical analysis. In this sense We can analyze only the facts which can be described, it means only the past or historical human acts. We analyze what really happened from the perspective of descriptive ethics, we try to understand what, how and why happened. Next, We try to understand the personal motives of people's acts. Then Wetry to analyze the possibilities of people from the perspective of Normative ethics.
From the particular definitions we can extrapolate the very general definition of case study. Many times repeated Word in this partial definition is analysis. What we can say is, that the most frequently used Word is analysis with the connection another Word individual, group or people. The case studies in this meaning looking for any man as a social, medical, technical or corporate phenomena. The problem is, that we still have no any idea what is the focus of the analysis. Or, better to say, what we would like to discover. Also, the great question is about the methodology of the case study. Now we try verify this definition and find the answer in the profession publications.
1.1.3 Definition of the case study in publication
Our solution is to find one, or two definitions with simplicity. Very easy to applicate in real use in ethics. And very clear for find a result of ethical research.We can find a few classical authors of the case study. Between many book are two authors, who are influenced the research theory in social sciences. First of both is Yin K. Robert, and second is Robert E. Stake.The classical author of the book of the methodology, Robert K. Yin, defined: "An empirical inquiry about a contemporary phenomenon (e.g., a "case"), set within its real-world context - especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident " (Yin, 2009, p. 18).We will shortly present theory Robert E. Stake, who wrote the major book about the case studies. This book is The Art of Case Study Research. In this book we can find another definition of the case study. But more complexity definition. The first sentence of this book is defining case study as a method which try describe one problem from the many perspectives: "A case study is expected to catch the complexity of a single cases". And following the sentences: "case studies is defined by the interest in individual cases.” (Stake, 1998) From this position we can understood case study as the method, which compare social cases from the contemporary phenomena and describing the cases from the interest individual cases, but trying catch complexity of each cases extracted one major phenomena.
1.2 Definition of the case study for ethics
Now, let to apply this knowledge about case studies in the special area of study, in ethics. We Would try to present definition of the case study in ethics, which is applied by the author of the book Morality Play Jessica Pierce. She understands case studies in ethics as a: "Cases serve as a way to practice reasoning and to work toward the specification of abstract principles in relation to the concrete cases.” (PIERCE, 2014). The great aspect of this definition is to compare abstract principles with concrete cases. It means that Jessica Pierce understand preciously the role of ethics as a normative function. That is the reason to compare abstract principles with real everyday life. She describes each case from the perspective of morality and ethics. She tray to preciously understood every of human act from the ethical perspective and answer the question: If We have to do right what does it mean the right or good decision?
For this reason we defined the case study in ethics as the cases which are analyzed from ethical position and we tried to describe the relationship between human act and possibilities of choices from normative ethics perspective. In the beginning there is a human act. We transferred this act to the case. It means that we will talk about this act without any personal information like name, gender, religion, nationality, etc. In the cases when the object is a company or some corporation, we also will describe it without any details about the company. The next step is comparison with the existing system of normative ethics. And then We will try to interprete this case and understand it from the position of ethics.This method can be seen in the picture:
1.1.3 Definition of the case study in publication
Our solution is to find one, or two definitions with simplicity. Very easy to applicate in real use in ethics. And very clear for find a result of ethical research.We can find a few classical authors of the case study. Between many book are two authors, who are influenced the research theory in social sciences. First of both is Yin K. Robert, and second is Robert E. Stake.The classical author of the book of the methodology, Robert K. Yin, defined: "An empirical inquiry about a contemporary phenomenon (e.g., a "case"), set within its real-world context - especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident " (Yin, 2009, p. 18).We will shortly present theory Robert E. Stake, who wrote the major book about the case studies. This book is The Art of Case Study Research. In this book we can find another definition of the case study. But more complexity definition. The first sentence of this book is defining case study as a method which try describe one problem from the many perspectives: "A case study is expected to catch the complexity of a single cases". And following the sentences: "case studies is defined by the interest in individual cases.” (Stake, 1998) From this position we can understood case study as the method, which compare social cases from the contemporary phenomena and describing the cases from the interest individual cases, but trying catch complexity of each cases extracted one major phenomena.
1.2 Definition of the case study for ethics
Now, let to apply this knowledge about case studies in the special area of study, in ethics. We Would try to present definition of the case study in ethics, which is applied by the author of the book Morality Play Jessica Pierce. She understands case studies in ethics as a: "Cases serve as a way to practice reasoning and to work toward the specification of abstract principles in relation to the concrete cases.” (PIERCE, 2014). The great aspect of this definition is to compare abstract principles with concrete cases. It means that Jessica Pierce understand preciously the role of ethics as a normative function. That is the reason to compare abstract principles with real everyday life. She describes each case from the perspective of morality and ethics. She tray to preciously understood every of human act from the ethical perspective and answer the question: If We have to do right what does it mean the right or good decision?
For this reason we defined the case study in ethics as the cases which are analyzed from ethical position and we tried to describe the relationship between human act and possibilities of choices from normative ethics perspective. In the beginning there is a human act. We transferred this act to the case. It means that we will talk about this act without any personal information like name, gender, religion, nationality, etc. In the cases when the object is a company or some corporation, we also will describe it without any details about the company. The next step is comparison with the existing system of normative ethics. And then We will try to interprete this case and understand it from the position of ethics.This method can be seen in the picture:
Now, let to apply this knowledge about case studies in the special area of study, in ethics. We Would try to present definition of the case study in ethics, which is applied by the author of the book Morality Play Jessica Pierce. She understands case studies in ethics as a: "Cases serve as a way to practice reasoning and to work toward the specification of abstract principles in relation to the concrete cases.” (PIERCE, 2014). The great aspect of this definition is to compare abstract principles with concrete cases. It means that Jessica Pierce understand preciously the role of ethics as a normative function. That is the reason to compare abstract principles with real everyday life. She describes each case from the perspective of morality and ethics. She tray to preciously understood every of human act from the ethical perspective and answer the question: If We have to do right what does it mean the right or good decision?
For this reason we defined the case study in ethics as the cases which are analyzed from ethical position and we tried to describe the relationship between human act and possibilities of choices from normative ethics perspective. In the beginning there is a human act. We transferred this act to the case. It means that we will talk about this act without any personal information like name, gender, religion, nationality, etc. In the cases when the object is a company or some corporation, we also will describe it without any details about the company. The next step is comparison with the existing system of normative ethics. And then We will try to interprete this case and understand it from the position of ethics.This method can be seen in the picture:
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