Ethics and decision

Real world situations can be faced by qualitative and by quantitative approaches, by perceptions and by measurements, by feelings and by models. In this paper we first compare the management of natural real world situations and the management of human real world situations. Although there are strong similarities, there are also major differences. ‘GOD’ is keeping the laws of Nature unchanged and therefore it is not to be included in the models of physics while the ‘MIND’ of the decision-maker has to be taken into account in operational research (OR). Decision-making for human processes requires also to take into account three poles of influence: the rational, the subjective and the ethical one. Most of the basic models of OR are only considering the rational pole. No freedom is left to the decision-maker, no ethical aspects are considered. It is shown that, if well adapted, the multicriteria decision aid PROMETHEE-GAIA procedure can provide well-balanced solutions between rationality, subjectivity and ethics. Both the mind of the decision-maker and the ‘ethical conscience’ of mankind can be represented and included in the model.