'One Death or Five: Could You Decide?', with Ben Wilberforce-Ritchie.

Ethical decision-making is not reserved for compliance teams or senior leaders. Everyone in an organisation faces difficult dilemmas where the right choice is not always obvious. In this session, philosopher and ethics practitioner Ben Wilberforce Ritchie introduces ethics as a practical framework for navigating complex dilemmas with clarity, confidence, and accountability, especially in an era where businesses are increasingly expected to act with integrity and social responsibility, and yet fail to do so. Through engaging case studies and interactive exercises, participants are invited to reflect on the scenarios, revealing how different ethical perspectives can lead to very different conclusions.

Ben uses these discussions to explore major ethical frameworks, including rule-based ethics, outcome-based thinking, care ethics, and character virtues. Participants then learn how to assess decisions through a four-box ethical decision-making model based on virtues, rules, ends, and care, strengthening their integrity and accountability in both personal and professional interactions. The model helps individuals adjust and strengthen decisions by considering all ethical dimensions rather than relying on instinct alone. Ben highlights the difference between ethics and law, explaining that legality does not always equal morality, and that ethical reasoning is essential for challenging flawed systems and improving organisational policies.

Ben concludes by reinforcing that everyone can be an ethical leader, regardless of job title. The session closes with a reminder that ethical decision making requires curiosity, courage, and continuous practice, empowering individuals and organisations to act with integrity in an increasingly complex world.

Bio:
Ben is a philosopher, author, and founder of Phicilitate Ltd., an organisation helping leadership teams to reduce ethical risk and improve decision-making quality under pressure. With practical corporate experience as an Ethics Manager and Chief of Staff at the FTSE100 Aerospace & Defence firm BAE Systems, he’s worked inside complex, high-risk environments where ethical failure isn’t theoretical; it’s operational, reputational, and strategic. His approach combines a passion for ancient philosophical theory with corporate realism, and he is a guest lecturer at academic institutions such as Columbia University, Oxford University and Henley Business School. He is also undertaking a research PHD in Philosophy at the University of Bristol, specialising in business ethics.

Ben is also a published author specialising in historical-fiction and queer romance. His first novel Furze: Sweethearts and Swan Songs was published in 2021, with two further novels due for publication in 2027. An enthusiastic hillwalker and waterpolo player, Ben is most at peace at the summit of a Munroe in the heart of the Scottish Highlands.