"Back in 2018 I found myself in an interesting spot. I had decided to leave academia and education to pursue something new in my working life. Despite the downsides, it's easy to feel morally comfortable with being a teacher, but many other jobs can give pause. The timing and my background placed me in a near perfect position to think about how ethics factors into choosing a career. So on what criteria does one base the moral legitimacy of a job? I realized that:"
"I suspect most people don't look at the job market this way, probably due to personal preference - "I don't judge others, but I wouldn't feel right doing that for a living." But in the interconnected world, one's work can affect an enormous number of people. So if a job is immoral, performing that job could do quite a lot of harm."
"One might think that the subject simply reduces to a more general consideration of moral theory, in that I'm really asking on what criteria we correctly judge right and wrong at all. But there are relevant particulars to employment that weigh in on making a moral evaluation there. The fact that most people must work and each worker is often just one player in a large industry complicates matters."
Many people take jobs they find morally uncomfortable. Some legal jobs are truly immoral and should be avoided. People employ common justifications to rationalize morally questionable employment. Work choices matter because of the interconnectedness of modern society and potential for widespread harm. Employment ethics must consider that most people must work and often function as single players within large industries. Illegal activities are excluded from this moral evaluation. Personal background and timing shape how individuals assess ethical aspects of careers. Clarifying what counts as employment is necessary for a focused moral analysis.
Read at Philosophynow
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