The Role of Moral Imagination in Ethical Decision Making

This essay delves into the concept of moral imagination, defining it as the ability to envision a full range of possibilities in ethical dilemmas to arrive at morally sound solutions. It emphasizes the significance of empathy and alertness in distinguishing morally relevant aspects of situations. The essay uses the controversial case of Turing Pharmaceuticals, led by former CEO Martin Shkreli, who dramatically increased the price of a life-saving drug, as a case study to illustrate the lack of moral imagination and its consequences. The analysis highlights how Shkreli's actions, driven by greed and a disregard for patient well-being, exemplify a failure to consider ethical alternatives and the impact of decisions on stakeholders. The essay underscores the importance of moral imagination in business and organizational settings, advocating for ethical problem-solving, courage, and open communication to prevent unethical behaviors and foster trust.

Running head: MORAL IMAGINATION 1
Moral Imagination
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Moral Imagination
Moral imagination is thinking of the full range of possibilities in a certain situation so
that an ethical challenge is solved. Acting morally may require more than one’s character having
strength. It needs other factors like empathy and alertness so that one distinguishes whatever is
morally relevant in situations. In moral imagination, a person is able to be ethical in a
challenging situation by coming up with alternatives which will not compromise ethics. People
should be able to look beyond money and think of the impact of how some decisions can bring a
negative effect to other people (UT McCombs, 2014). Moral imagination is combined with
creativity and moral courage to enable people act ethically in organizations and society as a
whole.
A well-publicized ethical decision that can be considered to be faulty was that of Turing
Pharmaceuticals, which happened in September 2015. The former CEO of the company, Martin
Shkreli became one of the most hated CEOs after increasing the price of a life-saving drug from
$13.50 to $750 for one tablet. Some argued that this price gouging by the CEO of the company
was the consequence of a beneficial free market. The decision saw specialists of infectious
diseases protest over the dramatic increase in price of a drug that had been in the market for 62
years. The drug is needed to treat a parasitic infection that is life threatening. Turing
Pharmaceuticals had acquired the drug, which was known as Daraprim, in August 2015. This led
to annual treatment costs of patients risking to very significant amounts (Pollack,2015). The
CEO of Turing pharmaceuticals was a former manager of a hedge fund.
Once further investigations were done, the CEO was later arrested for security fraud as a
hedge fund he had went on to lose millions and he had swindled a number of people. The CEO
raised the price of the drug so that he could use proceeds in covering up what he had previously

MORAL IMAGINATION 3
done. The decision by this CEO shows that he chose the path of being unethical so that he could
succeed. He wanted to make money quickly, it led him to swindling other people, and when it
failed, he preferred to increase drug prices without being considerate of the fate of patients
(Pollack, 2015). This CEO lacked moral imagination and there were no mistaken assumptions
when he was making the decisions that he took.
Moral imagination requires one to reject false dichotomy, which is the notion that being
unethical will help one in succeeding quickly. In this case, the CEO did not reject false
dichotomy but acted on the greed he had. He was avoiding debt after losing the money of his
clients and resorted to rather unjust means of acquiring money. The CEO did not really care
about patients and think about how some of them would struggle to get the money that was
required to purchase the drug. He did not think how medical costs would run into thousands of
dollars for patients and that it may pose a financial challenge to some people (Schwartz &
Hoffman, 2017). He also failed to value human life by not thinking about the fact that some
patients may die because of missing the life-threatening pill, as they could not afford it.
Moral imagination means that one accepts ethical problem solving. Ethical problem
solving also leads to trust within the organization and among an organization’s stakeholders. The
CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals did not take ethical decision making as an option that he would
use. He failed to consider reputational risk and the organization’s stakeholders when he took the
decision to drastically increase drug prices. He failed to look at the possible ethical alternatives
that he could take to solve his personal issues and instead opted to use his company in making an
unethical decision (Krumholz, 2014). Price gouging in this case was not justified, as the CEO
should have first made a consideration of the patients who needed the drugs.

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Moral imagination means that we speak with other people with the aim of finding ethical
approaches to difficult decisions. The CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals kept his problems to
himself and chose not to speak with anyone concerning what he was going through and also on
the decision, he wanted to make concerning the Daraprim drug. Speaking to other people before
making the decision to increase drug prices would have led to brainstorming of alternatives and
coming up with a better decision (Niebuhr, 2013).
Moral imagination also means that people have the courage to do the right thing. In this
case, the CEO lacked courage needed to make the right decision. He instead chose to look at his
own needs without considering other people (Whitaker & Godwin, 2013). This made him make
selfish decisions, which in turn gave the company a bad reputation.
Overall, the CEO would have found ways of sorting out his initial issues in an ethical
manner rather than make decisions that would lead to the downfall of both his businesses. Moral
imagination is very important especially in business and organization settings. In the process of
making unethical decisions, drastic mistakes can be made that may make the lives of many
people very difficult. Moral imagination should therefore be embraced in all spheres of life.

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References
Krumholz, L. (2014). Toni Morrison: Writing the Moral Imagination by Valerie Smith. African
American Review, 47(1), 219-221.
Niebuhr, R. (2013). Moral man and immoral society: A study in ethics and politics. Louiseville,
Westminster John Knox Press.
Pollack, A. (2015). Drug goes from $13.50 a tablet to $750, overnight. New York Times, 20,
2015.
Schwartz, M. S., & Hoffman, W. M. (2017). Ethical Decision Making Surveyed through the
Lens of Moral Imagination. Business and Professional Ethics Journal.
UT McCombs School of Business. (2014, January 31). Moral Imagination. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=j6EsLpZNgC4&list=PLzSEbSKjmJsFsP7FWBNBz_fdP-ZsEkUOM&app=desktop
Whitaker, B. G., & Godwin, L. N. (2013). The antecedents of moral imagination in the
workplace: A social cognitive theory perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(1), 61-
73.