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Sleep-Test Ethics
W
HEN PEOPLE DISCUSS MORAL DILEMMAS,
they often
refer to ‘‘sleep tests’’ and ‘‘wake-up calls.’’ These have
somehow become important metaphors for thinking
about difficult ethical problems. For example, one young woman,
working as a loan officer at a major bank, faced relentless pressure
from her boss to approve a dubious loan for a pal of his. She
described her reaction by saying, ‘‘It was a real wake-up call. I
thought, Oh my God, this isn’t theory. This is life.’’ Wake-up calls,
it seems, can shake people out of a naive slumber and signal that
something fundamental is at stake in a situation.
The sleep test appears to work differently. It is supposed to tell
people whether or not they have made a morally sound decision.
In its literal ...