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Ethics and Human Interface

24 February 2019 13:12

Essence, Determinants and Consequences of Ethics in Human Actions

Essence - Set of properties that makes an entity
○ Ethics – study of what is good or bad in that part of human conduct for which
humans have some personal responsibility. Ethics is a set of standards that society
places on itself and which helps guide behaviour, choices and actions
○ Scope
▪ Deals with human actions – Voluntary, Consciously, deliberate
○ Investigating the questions like – What is the best way for the people to live ?
▪ What actions are right or wrong in particular circumstances
○ Seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as – good
& evil, right & wrong, virtue & vice, justice and crime
○ It is the science of ideal human character
○ Story of Bandit and Sage (Later turned into Valmiki & wrote Ramayana)
○ Every Saint has a past, and every sinner has a future – Oscar Wilde
○ It is easy to become evil & fall in evil trap
○ People commit evil deeds due to their ignorance
○ Thus, knowledge of right & wrong, good & evil is important to create & become
an ethical person
○ When all the people in a society are ethical, they can live peacefully and happily
w/o any conflict
○ In public service
▪ Ethical standards should be clear
▪ For bringing transparency & accountability in PS
▪ Helps in case where there is limited/no law
○ Thus, ethics is all about putting a person into higher shelf (following the spirit, live
for the benefits of others, listening to the voice of conscience than living for the
pleasure of senses & own happiness & self-interest)

Determinants
○ 3 main influences that determine the ethical behaviour and decisions
▪ Individual personality traits – individual value system, upbringing, education,
religious beliefs, experiences etc
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▪ Culture & Nationality of an individual – Religion, Rules & Laws,

Philosophy
▪ Organisation & Industry – Schools & Colleges
▪ Time – LGBT, Arrange Marriage, Live-in
▪ Migration & Cultural influences
○ Determinants in case of governance
▪ Social, Economic, Political, Cultural, Legal-judicial, Historical contexts of
the country

Consequences
○ Development of philosophies like Means and End theory, Theory of Justice, Plato
etc – Indian Judiciary
○ Concepts like – Dharma (people started following), Niskama Karma – Workplace
○ One can differentiate the moral behaviour from immoral ones
○ One can see the two sides of a coin – Egoism (doing things to please themselves)
vs Altruism (benevolence to others)
○ Self-development & Peaceful society
○ Emergence of Applied ethics
▪ Abortion, Infanticide, Animal rights, Environmental concerns
Dimensions of Ethics
• Meta ethics – from where our ethical principles come from, and what they mean.
Focuses on the issue of universal truth (study the origin & meaning of ethical concepts)
• Normative ethics – it involves arriving at moral standards that regulate the right and
wrong conduct. It involves articulating the good habits that we should acquire, the duties
that we should follow, or the consequences of our behaviour on others
○ Virtue ethics – if you are a virtuous person, all your actions should be ethical.
(Aristotle)
▪ Focuses on inherent character of a person rather than on specific actions
○ 4 Cardinal virtue by Plato
▪ Prudence – ability to take appropriate course of action in a given situation
▪ Courage – strength, endurance & ability to confront fear & uncertainty
▪ Temperance – practice of self-control
▪ Justice – fairness & righteousness
○ Deontology – bind yourself to your duty
▪ Niskama Karma
○ Consequentialism – morality of an action depends on outcome/result of an action
▪ Utilitarianism

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• Applied ethics – involves examining specific controversial issues abortion, animal

rights, capital punishment, nuclear war
○ Medical ethics & Bio-ethics
▪ Moral values and judgement in the field of Medication & Healthcare
▪ Implications of bio-research & their applications
▪ What is right & wrong in new discoveries & techniques in biology – genetic
engineering, transplantation of organs
▪ Abortion, Cloning, Euthanasia, Eugenics
○ Environmental
▪ Moral relationship of human and environment
▪ Rights of plants & animals to eco-exist with environment
▪ Global warming, pollution, sustainable development
▪ Beyond the boundaries of nations (IR & Global Governance)
○ Human Rights
○ Business ethics
▪ Moral/ethical principles arises in business environment/economic activities
▪ Ethical questions in marketing, accounting
▪ Labour laws – child labour, abusive labour practices
▪ HR Management
▪ Political contributions
▪ Business acquisitions
▪ Production & use of toxic materials
▪ Intellectual property
▪ Information management
Ethics in Private and Public Relationships
• Public relations – relation of an administrator with public (long-term responsibility,
mutual understanding)
• Dealing with trade unions, consumer protection groups, environment protection
activists
○ Abraham Lincoln – You can fool some people all the time, and all of the people
some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time
○ Some unethical acts are
▪ Suppressing unfavourable news
▪ Misrepresenting facts
▪ Promising result that cannot be obtained
▪ Using undesirable methods towards pressuring editors for carrying publicity
materials
○ Ethical acts are
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▪ Creating awareness among public about their rights

▪ Self-regulating
▪ Careful about legal aspects of communication
• Values in Public relations – Nolan committee - "Seven Principles of Public Life"
○ Selflessness – decisions solely in terms of public interest (no financial/other
benefits, family/friends)
○ Integrity – not getting influenced
○ Objectivity – choices on merit – public appointments, awarding contracts
○ Accountability – actions & decisions to public
○ Openness – regarding decisions
○ Honesty – declaring their private interests relating to their public duties
○ Leadership – promote & support these principles through leadership
• Private – relation b/w an individual & close members
○ Self-interest – one's own well being
○ Selfishness – concerned exclusively/excessively with oneself
○ Enables person to take care of the basic needs for self & family
○ Caring for close ones for mutual benefit

Human Values
Values - are the individual principles that guide the judgement or behaviour of person/group.
Person with strong values stick to the his principles and is not swept away under pressure
• Values are concerned with character and conduct of a person and evaluate the voluntary
and habitual actions of individuals
• Both the source within and environment play role in inculcation of values
Human Value -
• These are important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture
about what is good or bad and desirable or undesirable (from the perspective of society)
• Human values are connected with ethical values because what is of higher human value
is also of higher ethical value
• Universal values – Equality, Tolerance, Fairness, Gratitude, Fairness, Peace, Justice,
Compassion
• Local values – evolve within society based on mutual agreement
○ Eating habits
○ Marriage traditions
○ Respecting elders
• Personal Values
• Cultural Values – Traditions, Customs
• Positive and Negative Values – Truth vs Lie, Honesty vs Corruption
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• Intrinsic and Extrinsic Value

• Respect, Appreciation, listening, openness, affection, empathy, love towards other
beings, Courage, Truth, Goodness
Lessons from the lives and teachings of great Leaders, Reformers and Administrators
Leader -
• Gandhi – truth and non-violence
○ Sarvodaya – Well-being of all
○ Faith in God
○ Service to society
○ Cleanliness is next to godliness
○ Self-purification – following ideals of one's own religion
○ End and Means
○ Satyagraha
○ Seven Sins
• Kalam – devotion to goal, never give-up when failed, always be humble – helps in
building good relationships with people and creates good image about you in their
minds
○ Missile Man, Pokharan nuclear test, People's President
○ Simple lifestyle – few personal possessions
○ "For great man, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a
fighting tool"
• Patel – diplomatic skills, foresightedness
Reformer -
• RRMR – Voice against social evils (Contemporary -Crimes related to women),
Passionate reasoning and Calm perseverance – Condemning blind beliefs
• SV - sense of brotherhood, self-confidence (lost due to foreign rule)
○ Acquire worldly knowledge to improve economic condition
○ RamKrishna Mission – Poor & Women, Practice Vedanta and other forms of
social service
• Tagore – education as most important element in the development of country
(Santinikaten)
○ Ekla Chalo Re
○ Bihar earthquake – 1934 – Tagore (Scientific view) vs Gandhi
○ Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark
Administrator – Integrity – An IAS officer refused to write marks with Pencil which could
have been manipulated by some local leader
• Sridharan – focus on goals not politics, courage to stand up to their convictions and take
decisions and not to leave everything to politicians, Professional competence. 'Metro

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Man'
• T N Seshan – cleaning up Indian elections as CEC b/w 1990-96. 'Legend' who enforced
model code of conduct for the first time and invoked fear in politicians for his ruthless
approach
○ Filing cases and arresting candidates for not abiding by polling rules, and
suspending officials for aligning with candidates
• Armstrong Pame – 2012/SDM - Manipur – Saw the plight of people carrying load on
non-motorable road. Government refused funding citing lack of resources. Decided to
build 100km road on his own that would link Manipur with Nagaland and Assam
• Ashok Khemka – cancelling an illegal, multi-million rupee land deal b/w Robert Vadra
and DLF during congress regime
• Chanakya – PM of Chandragupta Maurya
○ Arthashastra – oldest text on Public Administration (economic growth, justice to
people & foreign policy)
○ Governance reforms – concept of hierarchy and departments
○ Territorial divisions
○ Rule of law
○ Duties and functions – Kings, Ministers and Officials
○ 4 Policies of Administration
▪ Sama - Persuade
▪ Dama - Reward/Bribe
▪ Danda - Punish
▪ Bheda – Divide/Spy
○ Regular transfer to manage corruption
Role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values
• Family – 1st point of contact, 1st teachers and role models, values inculcated here are
long lasting;
• Some values by family – Truth, Honesty, Gender equality – if at home both girl and boy
child are treated equally in terms of food, pocket money
○ Mechanisms
▪ Inspiration – children learn values by observing parents and elders; Parents –
Role model
▪ Appreciation – when they do good work; helps in development of positive
self-image
▪ Love – creates bond of trust b/w the parents & children
▪ Understanding – every child is unique with his own quality & ability hence
don't compare with others

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▪ Support – when perform poorly don't humiliate them, provide unconditional

support
▪ Reward & Punishment for good and bad habits respectively
• Educational Institutions – Teachers – Role models, shaping their thoughts
• Values by Educational Institutions – Via Competitions – Sports (Team-spirit), Scientific
thinking (Laboratory classes), Gender equality – Equal number of girls and boys as
captains, Tolerance (when conflict happens with friends); Moral values - Prayers,
Culture – Cultural dress competition
○ Accountability – don't blame others
○ Character & Integrity – teachers must focus on building character
○ Cooperation – games, group work
○ Appreciation
○ Discipline, Punctuality
• Society – Festivals (Love, Compassion, Affection, Food sharing – Langar (Religi0us
Institution))
○ Sanctity of marriage
○ Family traditions
○ Charity & Service
○ Negative values are
▪ Casteism, Communalism, Racism
▪ Crime & Corruption
▪ Disparity & Violence
▪ Smoking and Alcoholism
○ Societal contribution to human values
▪ Honouring honest & law abiding people
▪ Boycotting and Punishing corrupt & criminals
▪ Promoting excellence
▪ Nurturing humanity
▪ Condemning violence
▪ Developing tolerance
• Negative values – Family – Conservative look, Parochialism, telling lie, Jealous of
others, corruption – when see this happening in society etc.
Miscellaneous
• Gratitude is an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has. It is a recognition of
value independent of monetary worth. Spontaneously generated from within, it is an
affirmation of goodness

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