February 2026
- Feb 24, 2026ConceptsWhat Is Ethical Decision Making?Consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, and care ethics each illuminate a different part of a hard choice, and the disagreement between them is itself informative. The page walks a seven-step process from spotting the ethical dimension to reflecting afterward, then names the traps that defeat good intentions: incrementalism, ethical fading, normalization of deviance, and moral licensing.
- Feb 23, 2026ConceptsWhy Good Intentions Still Lead to Bad OutcomesGood intentions set a goal but do not deliver it, because systems adapt, incentives get gamed, and second-order effects compound. Merton's 1936 paper named five separate sources of unanticipated consequences: ignorance, error, imperious immediacy of interest, basic values, and self-defeating prophecy. Each needs a different fix: ignorance calls for research, short-term pressure for institutional structures. Cases include the cobra bounty and Wells Fargo.
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