What we clearly emphasized throughout the School of Ethics program is the fact that there are right and wrong decisions. It is not uncommon for people to seek various perspectives on a situation in which a decision must be made in order to justify a wrong or unethical choice as the correct one. However, an unethical decision remains unethical.
Within the School of Ethics program, we developed a clear system for determining the ethicality of actions, which represents an upgrade and expansion of the STAR Decision-Making Model developed at the Rutland Institute for Ethics at Clemson University in South Carolina, USA.
We further broadened the considerations of the six fundamental ethical tests of the STAR Model, always keeping in mind the core principle that right and wrong decisions do indeed exist.
Decisions can be made easily, and in everyday life we make many of them without much thought. However, there are also decisions that require deeper reflection—those we evaluate from multiple angles regarding their possible outcomes. It can happen that the outcome of such a decision depends precisely on the ethicality of our approach to it. The very process of thinking through the decision, as well as its outcome, can be complex, but this complexity reveals where we stand in terms of ethical reasoning and awareness.
Such decisions can affect many other people and can result in positive or significantly negative consequences. This is why the existence of ethical standards that will be respected is essential.
These standards are difficult to establish all at once and on the level of an entire society, but one way to ensure their broader presence is through programs and projects like the one that will take place at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade, from December 5 to 7, 2025.
Through proper dialogue and education on this topic, we move closer to establishing such standards. That process must begin with the individual.
Without these standards, a world and society governed by unethical behavior is doomed to collapse—nobody wins. A world and society in which ethical and unethical forces are in constant conflict is unsustainable, and society must make a choice. In the end, where ethically accepted and respected standards exist and are upheld by the majority, everyone stands to benefit, while those who seek to act against such standards will not succeed in doing so. The path toward such an outcome is long, but it certainly exists and is not unattainable.
We will discuss this topic in more detail during the lecture Ethics in Personal and Professional Decision-Making, and I am pleased to invite you to this and other lectures within the Second Cycle of the School of Ethics. Join us at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade, so that together we may gain greater knowledge and take important steps toward establishing ethical standards.
