What is the potter box model

Introduction

Potter’s model of ethical decision making was introduced by Ralph Potter, a Harvard philosopher. It is a tool for making an effective ethical decision, which guides a decision maker towards a decision. It is also known as Potter Box. This model helps a decision maker to make a good decision following four quadrants of Potter Box. It is often used by communication professionals. It is based on the idea that ethical dilemmas result from conflicts that arise between the values we hold, the principles we use to make our decisions, the duties we have to others.

To make a decision, one have to follow four steps also known as four quadrants. The first quadrant is to define the situation it is also known as facts. In this step, you have to collect as much information as available about how the situation arouse and how the situation is now. You have to list all the facts for better understanding. You should not hide any of the facts without making any judgment so that we you find what exactly the ethical dilemma you are trying to solve.

The second quadrant is values. Values are the aspects that are considered to be important to you personally. This helps to find out what is wrong/right, good/bad to you. For instance, if you value both truth and privacy, then you may be willing to give up some truth to attempt to preserve someone’s privacy. Values are helpful in rationalizing or defending your behavior. When you reach a conclusion, your decision should not go against your values. In addition to personal values, there are professional values, moral values, logical values, etc which sometimes you have to keep in mind.

The third quadrant is principle. It helps to think about what serves the greatest good. What we would want others to do in this situation is considered. Principles are the ethical philosophies or modes of ethical reasoning. There are several ethical philosophies which helps a decision maker to understand the situation better. Some of the ethical philosophies are:

  • The Golden Mean (Aristotle)
    It is virtues that lie at the middle between extremes of excess and deficiency such as mean of cowardice and silliness is courage. It involves the correct quantity, correct timing, correct manner, etc.
  • Categorical Imperative
    Act so that your choices could become universal law. It dictates what we must never do. It defines your duties such as strict duties (not to harm), meritorious duties (to render aid), etc. it dictates that any genuine moral obligation can be universalized. There is existence of higher truths.
  • Principle of Utility
    An act’s rightness is determined by its contribution to a desirable end. Consider what course will yield the best consequences for the welfare of people. It explains that we must seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. For example, while publishing an article of investigative reporting, the results may harm people in the of providing a greater societal benefit.
  • Communitarianism (Amitai Etzioni et al)
    When issues are political and social, community trumps individuals but does not crush them. Social justice is the predominant moral value.

In brief, this step involves identifying your principle or philosophy that suits you. But while choosing the principle, you should be sure that it is applicable to you situation. Your decision should not oppose what you identify in this step.

The last quadrant is loyalties. It determines to whom you must be loyal in the situation. it concerns who you have support or loyal to. The four important loyalties are to your employer, your profession, society and yourself. In this step, you have to decide to whom you should be loyal to. Discussion of loyalty may lead to new facts that necessitate following the four steps again.

Potter Box model of ethical decision making makes you easy to make a good and ethical decision of any dilemma. You have to first collect all the facts. Then as per your value, state and compare the merits of different values to acknowledge the influences on decision making. Then go to the next step where you can choose the principle that suits your situation and finally think about to whom you should be loyal.

If there goes something wrong in one of the steps of decision making then you have to go through the box again. When two different people analyze the same situation using the potter box, they can come to different conclusions. Whereas, single person can reach to different conclusion at two different time and space.

Potter’s Model of Ethical Decision Making was introduced by Harvard philosopher, Ralph B. Potter, Jr. It is a tool used for making effective ethical decisions. The model, also known as Potter’s Box, helps individuals make decisions by guiding the decision maker towards the decision with a series of universally applicable steps. 

Potter’s Box deals with ethical dilemmas resulting from conflict of values, principles used to make one’s decision and the duties one has to another. Potter believed that moral thinking should be a systematic process and the decision that we make should be based on some reasoning. 

To make one’s decision using the Potter Box, one has to follow 4 steps. They are also known as Four Quadrants. Potter believes these steps to be universal to all ethical dilemmas. 

What is the potter box model
Fig 1.1: Potter’s Model of Ethical Decision Making

As shown in Fig 1.1, the first step towards making the decision is to collect as much Information as possible. According to Potter, the decision maker must lay out all the facts without making any prior judgement. The individual needs to show all variables and they should not hide any information pertaining to the dilemma. 

The second step is Values. The individual in a dilemma needs to confront their own values. Potter defines six types of values, they are: 

  • Personal Values
    • These values pertain to the individual’s personal self. It is what the individual believes to be true to themselves. For example, if a person prefers privacy over information or vice versa, etc.   
  • Professional Values
    • These values pertain to the individual’s professional beliefs. For example, the willingness to put one’s company over one’s own personal needs, etc.  
  • Moral Values
    • These values are moral reasonings from an individual’s perspective. The two reasonings one can come to are whether something is right or wrong, whether it is moral to do something or immoral to do it, etc. 
  • Aesthetic Values
    • These values deal with what is aesthetic to the individual and what is not. For example, an individual’s belief on what is pleasant to look at and what is not, etc.
  • Logical Values
    • These values deal with the aspect of logic and knowledge. It deals with understanding of the information from a sound and reasonable perspective. For example, an individual’s belief on how educated a person is, etc. 
  • Socio-Cultural Values
    • These values pertain to the individual’s socio-cultural environment. It is affected by whatever is going on around them. For example, an individual’s consideration towards another individual based on their hard work, etc. 

By understanding a dilemma under these values, the decision maker can be true to their personal beliefs. 

The third step is Principle. In this step, the decision maker needs to select which ethical reasoning/philosophy they are going to apply to the dilemma. Using philosophy will help the decision maker to reach an educated conclusion. The choice of philosophy is dependent on the individual’s choice and preference of philosophy. For example, an individual choosing Stuart’s Principle of Utility may choose to maximise happiness to the greatest number whereas if they use Aristotle’s Golden Mean, they may choose a middle ground between two extremes. 

The final step is Loyalties. The decision maker has to choose their loyalties. To whom are they more loyal to. Potter has outlined four important loyalties that one must consider before making their decision, they are: Employer, one’s Profession, Society and Oneself. Their loyalty to a group will affect the ultimate decision. 

In order to properly explain the model, let us take an example from Media Ethics: Issues and Cases. Phillip Patterson and Lee Watkins. Let us suppose you are the editor of a local magazine. Your paper has just received information about the most recent sexual assault case in your area. You have names of the victims, where it happened, circumstances surrounding the attack and the description of the assailant. In order to choose how you will run the story, you decide to use the Potter’s Box. 

First things first, you have to lay down all of your facts. Collect them and lay them out without concealing any information. You will now have to choose how much information you are willing to publish. In the next step, you will use your values to make an effective decision. By considering the six aforementioned values, you will evaluate the situation. For example, do you value truth over all else or do you value the privacy of the victims. In the third step, you will apply a principle or an idea that you consider will be effective in the circumstance. Let us suppose you apply the Principle of Utility, you will think of the greater good and will probably publish the victim’s name and other relevant descriptions. However, if you use Aristotle’s Golden Mean, you will find a middle ground and not publish the victim’s information and yet provide ample information to the public. The choice of principle will definitely affect the outcome as well. And at the end, you will evaluate your loyalties. Does your loyalty of being a good journalist conflict with protecting the victim’s privacy? You will have to decide on it and then write the story. In this way, you will finally be able to write and publish the story as per your own ethical reasoning. 

There are various uses of the Potter’s Box, however, it primarily deals with moral issues of what is right and what is wrong rather than pragmatic and/or legal issues. It can also be used to reflect on other situations from an ethical standpoint. According to Potter, the order of the decision making steps cannot be interchanged, however, in recent years, practitioners and thinkers alike have made the model to be dynamic and interchangeable, hence, multiple conclusions can be made by mixing the order. Multiple people, and even a single individual, may come to different conclusions based on the choices they make in each step of the process. It is a process driven decision making tool and therefore each step must be followed accordingly.  

There are also criticisms of the model. Many philosophers consider it to be a lengthy process, one that takes a lot of time to complete because of its various steps. Multiple people, and even a single individual, can come to different conclusions, hence, it cannot be taken as a one answer model. It therefore cannot offer a single, clear-cut solution to the ethical dilemma. Many also consider it to have a rigid structure.     

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