January 30, 2020 – Jimena CAS Journal Entry

Ethical Journal Entry

In TOK, we’re learning about one of the areas of knowledge called ethics. There are many theories regarding ethics and justifying what’s wrong or right in certain situations. The theory I was assigned to investigate was the utilitarianism theory. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that promotes actions that will maximize the happiness or the overall well-being of individuals. In other words, it means that the right action is the one that produces the most overall “happiness” per se. 

Insofar as its relation to the learning outcome, “Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions in relation to your CAS project”, I think that it’s important to understand the ethical implications of your project and see which ethical theory to follow in order to accomplish what your goal might be. Maybe someone’s goal will be more self-related which would make them justify their actions with the self-interest theory, or maybe someone’s goal is to achieve the happiest or positive outcome regardless of the situation they’re in, this would make them follow the utilitarianism theory.

Understanding and considering the ethical implications of your CAS project help you make better moral judgment in your daily life because at least in my case I’m able to understand at a more profound way the culture I’m surrounded by and be able to not make insensitive or inappropriate comments while talking to women at the clinic or over the phone while doing the survey. For example, my CAS Project consists of implanting IUDs in women of low resources in order for them to not be worried about unwanted pregnancies. Most of the women coming to get their IUDs placed don’t even have a high school diploma which means they don’t have enough knowledge to understand that getting checked by a gynecologist is absolutely normal and is not morally incorrect.

The same thing happens with religion. Most of them come from very religious backgrounds, catholicism to be exact, and anything regarding women’s reproductive rights is considered taboo, therefore, my CAS project is a complete taboo subject in very religious households. By understanding the ethical implications of my CAS project I’m able to see the culture we live in here in Guanacaste, even Costa Rica, and be able to make appropriate comments without offending their background or religion while giving them the surveys or at the day of the clinic.