Kidder, Rushworth -How Good People Make Tough Choices Analysis Essays Example

Introduction

In the daily activities of life, we are always faced with many challenging situations that may require us to make decisions. Such situations will at times put us into a dilemma since they both have argumentative sides. For instance, one might be in such a circumstance, asking yourself whether should you take that vacation that you so much need or save that money to cater for your child’s education? As well, you can be arguing on whether you should protect the endangered owls or maintain jobs for bloggers. All these are serious dilemmas that one can find themselves struggling with on a daily basis. Such dilemmas are common to us and while others are easy others are always difficult. One side of the dilemma can be wrong while the other is right. But the problem always comes when we try to handle the tough right vs. the right. In such cases, one finds themselves in a hard situation especially when both sides have strong moral arguments. Such issues are what the book helps one to do since one gets the chance to build a strong Ethical fitness. One can develop a value-based decision-making process. The book develops a good framework for understanding and analyzing dilemmas and being able to make choices on your own.

Thesis

Life presents one with dilemmas that requires one to have the skills to handle them. These paper analyses the skills that one can get after reading this book. It tries to find out the strength in the book the weaknesses and the relevance of the book.

Golden Nudges quotes

“Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” (pg. 24) The quote requires that one acts according to the abilities that they can. In this case, one should also strive to make sure that what they are doing is acceptable helps even other people.
“If everyone in the world followed the rule of action I am following, would that create the greatest good or (in Kant’s words) the greatest `worth of character’?” (pg. 24) In this case the author is trying to urge people to act and behave according to the principles that he follows. He is try to mean that he believes in a good thing and if everyone could do the same then the world could be a better place.

“All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (pg. 35)

The quote is a from a bible verse and urges people to do what they would like others to do to them. If you have to do anything to someone then you should be comfortable if others do the same to you.
“It’s just a matter of principle. . . . My parents brought me up to be honest.” (Pg. 46)
This quote simply asks one to have some principles in life. That the principles you have should be able to guide you to act in a manner that is acceptable.

Strengths

Kidder is the Founder of the Institute for Global Ethics in Camden Maine. He is also the former columnist for the Christian Science Monitor. Kidder has conducted a number of seminars about making ethical choices for academic, corporate, professional, and governmental clients. The book has a lot of real life examples from all this experiences. This makes it an important source of information as it does not only talk about the issues that the author thinks are right, but it also talks about the real situations that happen in the normal life. A good example is when the executive has to choose between giving a recommendation to a co-worker whom he fired after he was implicated in financial irregularities, but at the same time the worker might have been dismissed unfairly. Another example is, teacher whom a student has decided to confide in, should (s) he subdue to pressure from the parents and divulge what the student told them in private? The author shows in the above examples that at times we are faced with the immediate short term needs that run counter to long-term goals. In some other cases, the individual needs might clash with the well-being of the society. Other dilemmas will always push one to choose between integrity and honesty against promises and commitments. The book helps the reader to cut through several issues so that they can focus on the core value.
It is also easy to understand the concepts that the author is driving at. While other books always complicate issues and leave somebody trying to figure out the exact issues being discussed this book does not do that. The author is skeptical since he tries to think from the reader’s perspective and anticipates the questions that the readers has. This comes out well in a way that the author provides real life and easy examples that one can identify with. In these examples, the author makes sure that the readers have a chance to think through them and find the solutions to the problems. This is ideally what makes this book just a manual for solving the day to day dilemmas.
Despite the fact that this book is simple, it is not simplistic. In this case, the author tries to deconstruct the difficult issues and makes them easy to understand. The author easily shades of the Franken speak and conveys his ideas in human accessible terms. Quite important to note is that the author does not make things too simple to understand as he tries as much to give you the chance to think before arriving at the conclusion. It is through such a strategy that the reader is driven to the author’s argument and at the end of it they all reach a conclusion that provides insights. This strategy is what makes the book simple but very informative.
Another aspect that makes this book good is that it talks about things that are in the society, about life and those things that make people reflect and ponder, groan or laugh. Ideally the book talks about the general day to day life and the intricacies that people face. The situations that the author present makes one reflect on the day to day life. Such a kind of reflection makes the reader get deeper insight into the issues at hand and makes this book a must-have guide.

Weakness

In the analysis of this book I can argue that the author has been able to reach his target audience in an easy and most well planned well. In such respect, I do not find any flaws in his writing, and thus this book does not have any weakness. The author analyzes issues in a step to step way and takes the reader through all this steps to the conclusion. As well, he uses simple language and practical examples making it even easier to understand what he is addressing. Such kind of a book is just good and strong in all aspects.

Relevance

The book provides knowledge and insight to the various life dilemmas and can be applicable in various areas of life. First it can be used by administrators for management purposes. Organization faces various challenges on a daily basis; these challenges require one to make a critical analysis in order to solve them, and it is at this point that one needs this book. With the knowledge from the book, a manager can be able to make decisions that can help to better the conditions in the workplace. As well, the book can be helpful for parents. As parents struggle to bring up their children, they are at times faced with dilemmas of whether to forgo one thing for the sake of the other. The book provides insights into such issues and can help the parents in making the right choices for themselves and even for their kids. The book can also be applicable to students. The issues addressed by the author apply to the study life of the student especially when it comes to making choices. There are choices that a student can make without a clear mind, and this can be the genesis of even bigger problems. As such the student needs this book so that they can avoid such circumstances. Ideally, this book is relevant to almost every life environments. There are no situations in life that do not force one into a dilemma. In such case, one can agree that this book is just a must have guide.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the book provides great insights to understanding what it means to make critical decision at difficult situations. The author demonstrates that with these skills one can easily solve many of the dilemmas that they find themselves in life.

References

Kidder, R. M. (2009).How good people make tough choices: Resolving the dilemmas of ethical living. Pymble, NSW: HarperCollins e-books.