Introduction to Ethics

• Ethics comes from Greek word “ethos” meaning “relating to one’s character”.
• Ethics as a branch of philosophy, involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behaviour.
• Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime.
• Its subject consists of the fundamental issues of practical decision making, and its major concerns include the nature of ultimate value and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.
• Ethics provides us with a moral map, a framework that we can use to find our way through difficult issues.
• Ethics covers the following dilemmas:
• How to live a good life
• Our rights and responsibilities
• The language of right and wrong
• Moral decisions – what is good and bad?

Some definitions of ethics

• Ethics is a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behaviour helps or harms sentient creatures
• Ethics is defined as a moral philosophy or code of morals practiced by a person or group of people.
• Ethics is the study of questions of morality, the search to understand what is right, wrong, good, and bad.
• Ethics is a system of moral principles and perceptions about right versus wrong.
• Ethics serve as a guide to moral daily living and helps us judge whether our behaviour can be justified. 
• Ethics refers to society’s sense of the right way of living our daily lives. It does this by establishing rules, principles, and values on which we can base our conduct.

Being ethical is not the same as following the law. Although ethical people always try to be law-abiding, there may be instances where their sense of ethics tells them it is best not to follow the law. These situations are rare and should be based on sound ethical reasons. Did Edward Snowden act from a purely ethical point of view even though he knew he was breaking the law? Was he motivated to disclose sensitive information “for the greater good?”

Origin of Ethics

According to philosophers ethics originated from-

• God and religion
• Human conscience and intuition,
• A rational moral cost­benefit analysis of actions and their effects
• The example of good human beings
• A desire for the best for people in each unique situation
• Political power

Use is ethics in Life

• Human beings often behave irrationally ­ they follow their ‘gut instinct’ even when their head suggests a different course of action. However, ethics does provide good tools for thinking about moral issues.
• Ethics can provide a moral map – Most moral issues get us pretty worked up ­ think of abortion and euthanasia for starters. Because these are such emotional issues we often let our hearts do the arguing while our brains just go with the flow. But there’s another way of tackling these issues, and that’s where philosophers can come in ­ they offer us ethical rules and principles that enable us to take a cooler view of moral problems.
• Ethics can pinpoint a disagreement – Using the framework of ethics, two people who are arguing a moral issue can often find that what they disagree about is just one particular part of the issue, and that they broadly agree on everything else. That can take a lot of heat out of the argument, and sometimes even hint at a way for them to resolve their problem.
• Ethics is about the ‘other’ – At the heart of ethics is a concern about something or someone other than ourselves and our own desires and self­ interest. Ethics is concerned with other people’s interests, with the interests of society, with God’s interests, with “ultimate goods”, and so on. So when a person ‘thinks ethically’ they are giving at least some thought to something beyond themselves.
• Ethics as source of group strength – One problem with ethics is the way it’s often used as a weapon. If a group believes that a particular activity is “wrong” it can then use morality as the justification for attacking those who practice that activity. When people do this, they often see those who they regard as immoral as in some way less human or deserving of respect than themselves; sometimes with tragic consequences.
• Good people as well as good actions – Ethics is not only about the morality of particular courses of action, but it’s also about the goodness of individuals and what it means to live a good life. Virtue Ethics is particularly concerned with the moral character of human beings.
• Searching for the source of right and wrong – At times in the past some people thought that ethical problems could be solved in one of two ways: by discovering what God wanted people to do, by thinking rigorously about moral principles and problems. If a person did this properly they would be led to the right conclusion.

Essence of Ethics

• Essence means the characteristic or intrinsic feature of a thing, which determines its identity; fundamental nature.
• The essence of ethics can be considered in the core ethical principles of beneficence (do good), nonmaleficence (do not harm), autonomy (control by the individual), and justice (fairness).

Absolute vs Relative ethics

• Absolute ethics holds that there is one universal moral code which is final and applies equally to all men of all ages, and that changing situations or changing views make no difference whatsoever to this absolute moral code.
• Relative or relativistic ethics holds that the moral standard varies with different circumstances.
• There are so many cultural and religious differences and in some circumsatnces, it may be ethically correct to do certain things but in other situations it might be completely immoral.
• For example it is right for Muslim people to have four wives but for a Christian man this would be considered immoral.

Legal ethics vs Moral ethics

• It is not necessary that something legal is obviously moral. Legal means allowed by state. For example, capital punishment, abortion etc.
• Ethics and law are not the same. An action may be legal but unethical or illegal but ethical.
• Indeed, in the last century, many social reformers urged citizens to disobey laws in order to protest what they regarded as immoral or unjust laws.
• Peaceful civil disobedience by Gandhiji was an ethical way of expressing political viewpoints.

Determinants of Ethics

Determinants of Ethics are foundations from which ethical standards develop. For example,

Time

• Historical background shape the societal ethical behaviour. For example, Code of Hammurabi, made Bribery a crime in Babylon during 18^th century B.C.
• Historical common ethical codes, such as against murder, causing injury to fellow human being, honour and reputation of an individual.

Family

• A person’s family values have great influence on his/her ethical behaviour. For example, In a joint family, a person becomes more tolerant to the views of other than person living in nuclear family.

Society

• Cultural values/traditions in society affects the ethical standards of that society. For example, in Indian culture it is common to show respects to husband by touching their feet but in western culture it can be thought as derogatory to women.

Law

• Law of the land determine at large the set of ethical standards must followed by its practitioners. For example, In some fundamental Islamic countries Women have been given 2^nd grade citizen treatment by law.

Education

• The education qualification as well as quality of education has great impact on individual & societal ethical behaviour. For example, It is common that most violent criminals have very poor education or not at all.

Life Experiences

• Life experience are the greatest effective determinants of shaping person’s ethical behaviour. For example a core xenophobe person may change his ethical belief when he himself becomes victim of xenophobia in another country.

Religion

• Most religions have an ethical component, often derived from purported supernatural revelation or guidance. Some assert that religion is necessary to live ethically. For example,
• According to traditional Buddhism, the foundation of Buddhist ethics for laypeople is the Pancasila: no killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, or intoxicants.
• In becoming a Buddhist, or affirming one’s commitment to Buddhism, a layperson is encouraged to vow to abstain from these negative actions.
• Christian ethics includes questions regarding how the rich should act toward the poor, how women are to be treated, and the morality of war.
• Ethics is called Nitisastra in ancient texts of Hinduism. Ethics are explained in Hindu philosophy as something that cannot be imposed, but something that is realized and voluntarily lived up to by each individual.
• Islamic ethics defined as “good character”. The unique feature of the Islamic ethical system is that it permeates all spheres and fields of human life. Adherence to ethical behavior is part of Imaan (faith) itself, and as such, social responsibility and justice is considered as an offshoot of a Muslim belief system.

Dimensions of Ethics

Meta Ethics or Analytical Ethics

• It is the branch of philosophical ethics that asks how we understand, know about, and what we mean when we talk about what is right and what is wrong.
• The discipline concerned with elucidating the meaning of ethical terms or the discipline concerned with the comparison of ethical theories.
• Metaethics is an analytical inquiry. Metaethics asks, “What is _____?” e.g., goodness, excellence, right, amoral, and so on.

Normative Ethics

• Normative ethics is the study of ethical action.
• It is the branch of ethics that investigates the set of questions that arise when considering how one ought to act, morally speaking.
• Normative ethics involves creating or evaluating moral standards. Thus, it is an attempt to figure out what people should do or whether their current moral behaviour is reasonable.
• Normative ethics is distinct from meta-ethics because normative ethics examines standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions, while meta-ethics studies the meaning of moral language and the metaphysics of moral facts.
• Normative ethics is also distinct from descriptive ethics, as the latter is an empirical investigation of people’s moral beliefs.
• To put it another way, descriptive ethics would be concerned with determining what proportion of people believe that killing is always wrong, while normative ethics is concerned with whether it is correct to hold such a belief.
• Hence, normative ethics is sometimes called prescriptive, rather than descriptive.
• However, on certain versions of the meta-ethical view called moral realism, moral facts are both descriptive and prescriptive at the same time.
• More specifically, normative ethics is the discipline concerned with judgments of setting up norms for …

1. When an act is right or wrong–e.g., is it wrong to liter on campus when we pay someone to pick up the litter.
2. What kinds of things are good or desirable—i.e., is knowledge to ge sought for its own sake or for money; is money to be sought for its own sake or for power? And so on.
3. When a person deserves blame, reward, or neither—e.g., a person who stole your wallet returns it intact two weeks later, how doe you judge his actions? What is appropriate to say?

Descriptive Ethics or Comparative ethics

• The category of descriptive ethics is the easiest to understand – it simply involves describing how people behave and/or what sorts of moral standards they claim to follow.
• This is the division of philosophical or general ethics that involves the observation of the moral decision-making process with the goal of describing the phenomenon.
• Descriptive ethics incorporates research from the fields of anthropology, psychology, sociology and history as part of the process of understanding what people do or have believed about moral norms.
• Those working on descriptive ethics aim to uncover people’s beliefs about such things as values, which actions are right and wrong, and which characteristics of moral agents are virtuous.
• Research into descriptive ethics may also investigate people’s ethical ideals or what actions societies reward or punish in law or politics. What ought to be noted is that culture is generational and not static.
• Therefore, a new generation will come with its own set of morals and that qualifies to be their ethics. Descriptive ethics will hence try to oversee whether ethics still holds its place.

Applied Ethics

• Applied ethics is the application of general ethical theories to moral problems with the objective of solving the problems.
• It is ethics with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations in the areas of private and public life, the professions, health, technology, law, and leadership.
• Applied ethics is also used more broadly to refer to any use of philosophical methods critically to examine practical moral decisions and to treat moral problems, practices, and policies in the professions, technology, government, and the like.
• Subsets of applied ethics include,

Medical ethics

• It is a system of moral principles that apply values to the practice of clinical medicine and in scientific research.
• Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. These values include the respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice.

Bioethics

• It is the study of the ethical issues emerging from advances in biology and medicine. It is also moral discernment as it relates to medical policy and practice.
• Bioethics are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine and medical ethics, politics, law, theology and philosophy.
• For example, the bioethics community is concerned with identifying the correct approach to moral issues in the life sciences, such as euthanasia, the allocation of scarce health resources, or the use of human embryos in research.

Environmental ethics

• It is concerned with ecological issues such as the responsibility of government and corporations to clean up pollution.
• It concerns human beings’ ethical relationship with the natural environment.
• It is an established field of practical philosophy which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resources.

Legal ethics

• It is the minimum standards of appropriate conduct within the legal profession.
• It is the behavioral norms and morals which govern judges and lawyers.
• It involves duties that the members owe one another, their clients, and the courts.

Business Ethics

• It is a study of the moral issues that arise when human beings exchange goods and services, where such exchanges are fundamental to our daily existence.
• It includes questions such as the duties or duty of ‘whistleblowers’ to the general public or their loyalty to their employers.

 Professional Ethics

• Professional ethics is defined as the personal and corporate rules that govern behavior within the context of a particular profession.
• An example of professional ethics is the American Bar Association’s set of ethical rules that govern an attorney’s moral obligations.

Neuroethics

• Neuroethics refers to the research on ethics done within the field of neuroscience.
• Neuroethics can also refer to the ethical issues that may arise in the research and study of neuroscience. Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system and the brain.
• Research in neuroscience shows that the way the brain is wired has much to do with how and why people make moral decisions. In fact, neuroscience shows that a network of various regions of the brain is consistently involved in moral decision-making.
• So, while ethics and morality were once exclusively within the province of philosophers and theologians, future research in neuroscience may contribute greatly to the resolution of key questions in these areas.
• The field of neuroethics is relatively new, and its findings are far from settled. It examines the brain in relationship to questions like “Is there free will?” and “Is the human moral sense innate, or in other words, ‘hardwired’ in the brain?”

• To summarise dimensions of ethics look for the answers of following questions,
• Descriptive ethics: What do people think is right?
• Meta-ethics: What does “right” even mean?
• Normative (prescriptive) ethics: How should people act?
• Applied ethics: How do we take moral knowledge and put it into practice?

Types of Ethics

Behavioural Ethics

• Behavioral ethics is the study of why people make the ethical and unethical decisions that they do. Its teachings arise from research in fields such as behavioral psychology, cognitive science, and evolutionary biology.
• Behavioral ethics is different from traditional philosophy. Instead of focusing on how people ought to behave, behavioral ethics studies why people act as they do. Arguably, it is more useful to understand our own motivations than to understand the philosophy of Aristotle.
• Research in behavioral ethics finds that people are far from completely rational. Most ethical choices are made intuitively, by feeling, not after carefully analyzing a situation. Usually, people who make unethical decisions are unconsciously influenced by internal biases, like the self-serving bias, by outside pressures, like the pressure to conform, and by situational factors that they do not even notice.
• So, behavioral ethics seeks to understand why even people with the best intentions can make poor ethical choices.

Intuitionism

• Intuitionists think that good and bad are real objective properties that can’t be broken down into component parts. Something is good because it’s good; its goodness doesn’t need justifying or proving.
• Intuitionists think that goodness or badness can be detected by adults ­ they say that human beings have an intuitive moral sense that enables them to detect real moral truths.
• They think that basic moral truths of what is good and bad are self­evident to a person who directs their mind towards moral issues.
• So good things are the things that a sensible person realises are good if they spend some time pondering the subject.

Consequentialism

• This is the ethical theory that most non­religious people think they use every day. It bases morality on the consequences of human actions and not on the actions themselves.
• Consequentialism teaches that people should do whatever produces the greatest amount of good consequences.
• One famous way of putting this is ‘the greatest good for the greatest number of people’.
• The most common forms of consequentialism are the various versions of utilitarianism, which favour actions that produce the greatest amount of happiness.
• Despite its obvious common­sense appeal, consequentialism turns out to be a complicated theory, and doesn’t provide a complete solution to all ethical problems.
• Two problems with consequentialism are:
• it can lead to the conclusion that some quite dreadful acts are good.
• predicting and evaluating the consequences of actions is often very difficult.

Situation ethics

• Situation ethics rejects prescriptive rules and argues that individual ethical decisions should be made according to the unique situation.
• Rather than following rules the decision maker should follow a desire to seek the best for the people involved. There are no moral rules or rights ­ each case is unique and deserves a unique solution.

Deontology or Non­consequentialism

• Deontology is an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from wrong. Deontology is often associated with philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant believed that ethical actions follow universal moral laws, such as “Don’t lie. Don’t steal.  Don’t cheat.”
• Deontology is simple to apply. It just requires that people follow the rules and do their duty. This approach tends to fit well with our natural intuition about what is or isn’t ethical.
• Unlike consequentialism, which judges actions by their results, deontology doesn’t require weighing the costs and benefits of a situation. This avoids subjectivity and uncertainty because you only have to follow set rules.
• Despite its strengths, rigidly following deontology can produce results that many people find unacceptable. For example, suppose you’re a software engineer and learn that a nuclear missile is about to launch that might start a war. You can hack the network and cancel the launch, but it’s against your professional code of ethics to break into any software system without permission. And, it’s a form of lying and cheating. Deontology advises not to violate this rule. However, in letting the missile launch, thousands of people will die.
• So, following the rules makes deontology easy to apply. But it also means disregarding the possible consequences of our actions when determining what is right and what is wrong.

Utilitarianism

• Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes. It is a form of consequentialism.
• Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. It is the only moral framework that can be used to justify military force or war. It is also the most common approach to moral reasoning used in business because of the way in which it accounts for costs and benefits.
• However, because we cannot predict the future, it’s difficult to know with certainty whether the consequences of our actions will be good or bad. This is one of the limitations of utilitarianism.
• Utilitarianism also has trouble accounting for values such as justice and individual rights.
• For example, assume a hospital has four people whose lives depend upon receiving organ transplants: a heart, lungs, a kidney, and a liver. If a healthy person wanders into the hospital, his organs could be harvested to save four lives at the expense of one life. This would arguably produce the greatest good for the greatest number. But few would consider it an acceptable course of action, let alone the most ethical one.
• So, although utilitarianism is arguably the most reason-based approach to determining right and wrong, it has obvious limitations.

Hedonism

• Hedonism is a school of thought that argues seeking pleasure and avoiding suffering are the only components of well-being.
• It is the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the highest good. It holds the view that devotion to pleasure as a way of life.
• Ethical hedonism is the view that our fundamental moral obligation is to maximize pleasure or happiness.
• Ethical hedonism is most associated with the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (342-270 BCE.) who taught that our life’s goal should be to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. In fact, all of our actions should have that aim.

Gandhism

Opposite of Hedonism because it preaches Complete control over senses, Bramhcharya.

It promotes minimalist life i.e. you should life by fulfilling your basic needs. Live by principle of trustisheep.

Virtue Ethics

• Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by Aristotle and other ancient Greeks. It is the quest to understand and live a life of moral character.
• This character-based approach to morality assumes that we acquire virtue through practice.
• By practicing being honest, brave, just, generous, and so on, a person develops an honorable and moral character.
• According to Aristotle, by honing virtuous habits, people will likely make the right choice when faced with ethical challenges.
• To illustrate the difference among three key moral philosophies, ethicists Mark White and Robert Arp refer to the film The Dark Knight where Batman has the opportunity to kill the Joker.
• Utilitarians, White and Arp suggest, would endorse killing the Joker. By taking this one life, Batman could save multitudes. Deontologists, on the other hand, would reject killing the Joker simply because it’s wrong to kill. But a virtue ethicist “would highlight the character of the person who kills the Joker. Does Batman want to be the kind of person who takes his enemies’ lives?” No, in fact, he doesn’t.
• So, virtue ethics helps us understand what it means to be a virtuous human being. And, it gives us a guide for living life without giving us specific rules for resolving ethical dilemmas.

Morality

• Morality is a set of personal or social standards for good or bad behaviour and character.
• It is the quality of being right, honest, or acceptable. For example, “ I have a question of morality of forcing old people to work in mines”.
• Both morality and ethics loosely have to do with distinguishing the difference between “good and bad” or “right and wrong.
• Morality as something that’s personal and normative, whereas ethics is the standards of “good and bad” distinguished by a certain community or social setting.
• For example, your local community may think adultery is immoral, and you personally may agree with that. However, the distinction can be useful if your local community has no strong feelings about adultery, but you consider adultery immoral on a personal level. By these definitions of the terms, your morality would contradict the ethics of your community.
• Ethics refer to rules provided by an external source, e.g., codes of conduct in workplaces or principles in religions. Morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong.
• A person strictly following Ethical Principles may not have any Morals at all. Likewise, one could violate Ethical Principles within a given system of rules in order to maintain Moral integrity.
• Ethics are governed by professional and legal guidelines within a particular time and place. Morality transcends cultural norms.

Terms related to Morality

Nonmoral

• Those areas of interest where moral categories cannot be applied.
• However, almost all examples involving human intention, volition, or behaviour are described in terms of moral categories, ceteris paribus, since such examples involve the possibility of helping or harming oneself or others.
• For example, wondering whether one should eat grapefruit, wear socks of a specific shade of color, or part your hair on the left side of the head are all usually considered nonmoral issues. Yet there are circumstances where such actions could have moral consequences.
• Generally speaking, statements in the sciences i.e. factual statements are considered to be about nonmoral.
• “Nonmoral” actions would be those actions where moral categories (such a right and wrong) cannot be applied (such as matters of fact in scientific descriptions).
• A nonintentional action such as reflex or an accident would be ordinarily a nonmoral action.
• An unintentional action resulting from ignorance is sometimes called “nonmoral” and other times called “immoral” depending upon the code of the society as to whether or not a person is morally responsible for knowledge. (The Socratic Paradox.)
• From this point of view, amoral actions would be without concern or intention as to moral consequences.

Immoral

• Those areas of interest where moral categories do apply and of are such a kind as to be evil, sinful, or wrong according to some code or theory of ethics. For example, telling a lie is an immoral action.
• An immoral action then can be defined as a violation of a rule or code of ethics.
• Strictly speaking, on the one hand, an action could be considered immoral on the basis of one rule, code, or theory and, on the other hand, be considered moral or even nonmoral on another rule, code, or theory. Such examples are common from the point of view of sociological relativism.

Amoral

• Those areas of interest exhibiting indifference to and not abiding by the moral rules or codes of society.
• An amoral action by one person could be considered nonmoral (or even immoral) by a specific society, depending upon the moral code of the society.
• If I tell a lie without concern for the moral concepts of a society of what is good and bad, then I have acted amorally. (Notice how such a view makes the use of “amoral” intentional.)
• For example, a sociopath, sometimes called a person without a conscience, and a very young child are called “amoral” because such people have no feeling or understanding of the concepts of right and wrong.
• If I tell a lie without concern for the moral rules of society and it is a “white” lie and “white” lies are permissible in that society, then I am actually acting amorally. Nevertheless, my action is considered to be by the rules of that society nonmoral or morally permissible.
• The “white” lie told in a society where such actions are against the moral code would be considered an immoral action and would be called “wrong.”
• It should be noted that “amoral” is sometimes used in ordinary language in the same way that “nonmoral” is used.
• “Amoral” is sometimes defined with reference to value-free situations (neither moral nor immoral).
• For example, physics would be an amoral discipline in this sense of the term.

Moral Absolutism

• Moral absolutism asserts that there are certain universal moral principles by which all peoples’ actions may be judged. It is a form of deontology.
• The challenge with moral absolutism, however, is that there will always be strong disagreements about which moral principles are correct and which are incorrect.
• For example, most people around the world probably accept the idea that we should treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves. But beyond that, people from different countries likely hold varying views about everything from the morality of abortion and capital punishment to nepotism and bribery.
• Moral absolutism contrasts with moral relativism, which denies that there are absolute moral values. It also differs from moral pluralism, which urges tolerance of others’ moral principles without concluding that all views are equally valid.
• So, while moral absolutism declares a universal set of moral values, in reality, moral principles vary greatly among nations, cultures, and religions.

Moral Agent

• A moral agent is a person who has the ability to discern right from wrong and to be held accountable for his or her own actions. Moral agents have a moral responsibility not to cause unjustified harm.
• Traditionally, moral agency is assigned only to those who can be held responsible for their actions. Children, and adults with certain mental disabilities, may have little or no capacity to be moral agents. Adults with full mental capacity relinquish their moral agency only in extreme situations, like being held hostage.
• By expecting people to act as moral agents, we hold people accountable for the harm they cause others.
• So, do corporations have moral agency? As artificial intelligence develops, will robots have moral agency? And what about socially intelligent non-human animals such as dolphins and elephants?
• Indeed, future philosophers and legal scholars will need to consider moral agency as it applies to these situations and others.

Moral Cognition

• Moral cognition is the study of the brain’s role in moral judgment and decision-making. As a social science, it involves understanding the rationalizations and biases that affect moral decision-making. Moral cognition also involves the scientific study of the brain that is evolving along with technology.
• Researchers who study moral cognition attempt to provide social and biological explanations for how our brains process information and make moral or immoral choices. Some scientist examine genetic and molecular influences, while others use neuroimaging to map the areas of the brain that direct people’s choices.
• Moral thinking appears to be a complicated process. There is no single seat of moral activity in the brain. However, a network of various regions of the brain does consistently appear to be involved in moral decision-making.
• So, the study of moral cognition does not aim to tell people what choices they should make. Rather, it attempts to explain how and why people make the moral choices that they do.

Moral Emotions

• Emotions – that is to say feelings and intuitions – play a major role in most of the ethical decisions people make. Most people do not realize how much their emotions direct their moral choices. But experts think it is impossible to make any important moral judgments without emotions.
• Inner-directed negative emotions like guilt, embarrassment, and shame often motivate people to act ethically.
• Outer-directed negative emotions, on the other hand, aim to discipline or punish. For example, people often direct anger, disgust, or contempt at those who have acted unethically. This discourages others from behaving the same way.
• Positive emotions like gratitude and admiration, which people may feel when they see another acting with compassion or kindness, can prompt people to help others.
• Emotions evoked by suffering, such as sympathy and empathy, often lead people to act ethically toward others. Indeed, empathy is the central moral emotion that most commonly motivates prosocial activity such as altruism, cooperation, and generosity.
• So, while we may believe that our moral decisions are influenced most by our philosophy or religious values, in truth our emotions play a significant role in our ethical decision-making.

Moral Equilibrium

• Moral equilibrium is the idea that most people keep a running mental scoreboard where they compare their self-image as a good person with what they actually do.
• When we do something inconsistent with our positive self-image, we naturally feel a deficit on the good side of our scoreboard. Then, we will often actively look for an opportunity to do something good to bring things back into equilibrium. This is called moral compensation.
• Conversely, when we have done something honorable, we feel a surplus on the good side of our mental scoreboard. Then, we may then give ourselves permission not to live up to our own ethical standards. This is called moral licensing.
• For example, Oral Suer, the hard-working CEO of the Washington D.C.-area United Way, raised more than $1 billion for local charities. Unfortunately, Suer gave himself license to divert substantial sums intended for the charity for his personal use to reward himself for his good deeds.
• So, our tendency to maintain moral equilibrium may mean that we will act unethically. Indeed, we must guard against our natural inclination to give ourselves permission to depart from our usual moral standards.

Moral Imagination

• Moral imagination, according to philosopher Mark Johnson, means envisioning the full range of possibilities in a particular situation in order to solve an ethical challenge. Johnson emphasizes that acting morally often requires more than just strength of character. For example, moral action requires empathy and the awareness to discern what is morally relevant in a given situation.
• Moral imagination, as defined by Minette Drumwright and Patrick Murphy, is the ability to be simultaneously ethical and successful by envisioning new and creative alternatives. In other words, can people look beyond the dollars-and-cents impact of a decision to see how it affects others?
• For example, consider Nestle Foods. The company refused to target young children with advertising for its high sugar, high fat products. Instead, to keep the company competitive in that market, it innovated and created new, healthier products to advertise to young children.
• Indeed, moral imagination, combined with creativity and moral courage, enables both individuals and businesses to act more ethically in society.

Moral Muteness

• Moral muteness occurs when people witness unethical behavior and choose not to say anything. It can also occur when people communicate in ways that obscure their moral beliefs and commitments.
• When we see others acting unethically, often the easiest thing to do is look the other way. Studies show that less than half of those who witness organizational wrongdoing report it. To speak out risks conflict, and we tend to avoid conflict because we pay an emotional and social cost for it.
• For example, in one study, psychologist Harold Takooshian planted fur coats, cameras, and TVs inside 310 locked cars in New York City. He sent a team of volunteers to break into the cars and steal the valuables, asking the “thieves” to act in an obviously suspicious manner. About 3,500 people witnessed the break-ins, but only 9 people took any kind of action. Of those who spoke up, five were policemen.
• Indeed, only a relatively small percentage of people who see wrongdoing speak up. But, if we wish to be ethical people, we must strive to combat moral muteness in all areas of our lives.

Moral Myopia

• Moral myopia refers to the inability to see ethical issues clearly.
• The term, coined by Minette Drumwright and Patrick Murphy, describes what happens when we do not recognize the moral implications of a problem or we have a distorted moral vision. An extreme version of moral myopia is called moral blindness.
• For example, people may become so focused on other aspects of a situation, like pleasing their professor or boss or meeting sales targets, that ethical issues are obscured.
• Organizations can experience moral myopia too, as Major League Baseball did during the steroid era. For more than a decade, players got bigger, hit more home runs, and revenues rose dramatically. But the League didn’t see it, even as evidence of steroid use was rampant.
• Societies may also suffer moral myopia, as they often have done at the expense of minorities. For instance, the treatment of Native Americans and the enslavement of African-Americans are two examples of moral blindness in the history of the United States.
• Moral myopia is closely related to ethical fading. In both cases, people’s perception of reality becomes altered so that ethical issues are indistinct and hidden from view.

Moral Philosophy

• Moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy that contemplates what is right and wrong. It explores the nature of morality and examines how people should live their lives in relation to others.
• Moral philosophy has three branches.
• One branch, meta-ethics, investigates big picture questions such as, “What is morality?” “What is justice?” “Is there truth?” and “How can I justify my beliefs as better than conflicting beliefs held by others?”
• Another branch of moral philosophy is normative ethics. It answers the question of what we ought to do. Normative ethics focuses on providing a framework for deciding what is right and wrong. Three common frameworks are deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics.
• The last branch is applied ethics. It addresses specific, practical issues of moral importance such as war and capital punishment. Applied ethics also tackles specific moral challenges that people face daily, such as whether they should lie to help a friend or co-worker.
• So, whether our moral focus is big picture questions, a practical framework, or applied to specific dilemmas, moral philosophy can provide the tools we need to examine and live an ethical life.

Moral Pluralism

• Moral pluralism is the idea that there can be conflicting moral views that are each worthy of respect.
• Moral pluralists tend to be open-minded when faced with competing viewpoints. They analyze issues from several moral points of view before deciding and taking action.
• Moral pluralists believe that many moral issues are extremely complicated. Thus, no single philosophical approach will always provide all the answers.
• For example, assume a building is on fire. A woman has the opportunity to rush inside and save the children trapped in the burning building. But in doing this she may die, and leave her own child an orphan. A moral pluralist would conclude that there is no definitive way to decide which is the better course of moral action. Indeed, moral pluralism declares that it is sometimes difficult to choose between competing values.
• So, moral pluralism occupies a sensible middle ground between “there is only one right answer” as moral absolutism says, and “there is no wrong answer” as moral relativism claims.

Moral Psychology

• Moral psychology is the study of moral identity development, or how people integrate moral ideals with the development of their own character.
• Moral psychology differs from moral philosophy in that it studies how we make decisions, rather than exploring what moral decisions we should make. It encompasses the study of moral judgment, moral reasoning, moral character, and many related subjects at the intersection of philosophy and psychology.
• Moral psychologists are interested in answering a wide range of questions such as, “What types of thinking give rise to moral judgment, and how did they evolve?” “What levels of moral development are found in children and animals?” and “What role do intuitions play in moral judgment and decision-making?”
• For centuries, philosophers have been contemplating fundamental issues such as “What does it mean to be a ‘good’ person?” without resolving them.
• So, by adding the tools of psychology to those of philosophy, we may be able to shine more light on such difficult questions.

Moral Reasoning

• Moral reasoning applies critical analysis to specific events to determine what is right or wrong, and what people ought to do in a particular situation. Both philosophers and psychologists study moral reasoning.
• How we make day-to-day decisions like “What should I wear?” is similar to how we make moral decisions like “Should I lie or tell the truth?” The brain processes both in generally the same way.
• Moral reasoning typically applies logic and moral theories, such as deontology or utilitarianism, to specific situations or dilemmas. However, people are not especially good at moral reasoning. Indeed, the term moral dumbfounding describes the fact that people often reach strong moral conclusions that they cannot logically defend.
• In fact, evidence shows that the moral principle or theory a person chooses to apply is often, ironically, based on their emotions, not on logic. Their choice is usually influenced by internal biases or outside pressures, such as the self-serving bias or the desire to conform.
• So, while we likely believe we approach ethical dilemmas logically and rationally, the truth is our moral reasoning is usually influenced by intuitive, emotional reactions.

Moral Relativism

• Moral relativism is the idea that there is no universal or absolute set of moral principles. It’s a version of morality that advocates “to each her own,” and those who follow it say, “Who am I to judge?”
• Moral relativism can be understood in several ways.
• Descriptive moral relativism, also known as cultural relativism, says that moral standards are culturally defined, which is generally true. Indeed, there may be a few values that seem nearly universal, such as honesty and respect, but many differences appear across cultures when people evaluate moral standards around the world.
• Meta-ethical moral relativism states that there are no objective grounds for preferring the moral values of one culture over another. Societies make their moral choices based on their unique beliefs, customs, and practices. And, in fact, people tend to believe that the “right” moral values are the values that exist in their own culture.
• Normative moral relativism is the idea that all societies should accept each other’s differing moral values, given that there are no universal moral principles. Most philosophers disagree however. For example, just because bribery is okay in some cultures doesn’t mean that other cultures cannot rightfully condemn it.
• Moral relativism is on the opposite end of the continuum from moral absolutism, which says that there is always one right answer to any ethical question. Indeed, those who adhere to moral relativism would say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

Subjectivism

• Subjectivism teaches that moral judgments are nothing more than statements of a person’s feelings or attitudes, and that ethical statements do not contain factual truths about goodness or badness.
• In more detail: subjectivists say that moral statements are statements about the feelings, attitudes and emotions that that particular person or group has about a particular issue.
• If a person says something is good or bad they are telling us about the positive or negative feelings that they have about that something.
• So if someone says ‘murder is wrong’ they are telling us that they disapprove of murder. These statements are true if the person does hold the appropriate attitude or have the appropriate feelings. They are false if the person doesn’t.

Human Values and Vices

Human Values

• Eminent sociologist Prof. R. K. Mukerjee, who defines ‘value’ as follows — “Values are socially approved desires and goals that are internalised through the process of conditioning, learning or socialisation and aspirations.”
• Definition of Values consists of three elements:
  • (i) Values are concepts, not feelings.
  • (ii) Values exist in the mind independently of self-awareness or public affirmation.
  • (iii) Values are dimensional rather than absolute categories.
• Human values are the virtues that guide us to take into account the human element when we interact with other human beings.
• Human values are, for example, respect, acceptance, consideration, appreciation, listening, openness, affection, empathy and love towards other human beings.
• It is with those human values that one becomes truly able to put into practice his/her ethical values, such as justice, integrity, refusal of violence and ban to kill – even in a crisis situation.
• Human values convey a positive and affective surge, which reinforces the rationale of moral values. They are thevalues that permit us to live together in harmony, and personnally contribute to peace.
• Human values are a tool to manage human relations and a tool for peace when the tension is high.
• Education is capable of developing strong and abiding values. At all times, education has built on value-system, conducive to the development of physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual life. In activates the latent capacities of the individual enabling him or her to recognise ‘truth’, ‘duty’ and ‘goodness’.

“If we exclude spiritual training in our institutions, we would be untrue to our whole historical development”.

— Radhakrishnan Commission of 1948.

• We need value in our lives to:
  • Guide us in the right path.
  • Learn the importance of certainty, goodness and beauty.
  • Give direction to life and bring joy.
  • Learn satisfaction towards life.
  • Attain peace in life.
  • Develop character.
  • Preserve our culture and heritage
  • Bring changes in behaviour towards positive thoughts;
  • Promote the peace and harmony in the society

Classification of Values

• Personal Values: The principles and ideologies that a person follows in personal life. Some of the personal values are beauty, morality, confidence, self-motivation, regularity, ambition, courage, vision, imagination etc.
• Universal Values: Principles that all people across the planet are expected to adhere. It is through universal values that we associate ourselves with humanity and the universe. Universal values can be experienced as life, joy, brotherhood, love, sympathy, service, heaven, truth and eternity.
• Human Values: Principles and ideologies that is basic to human nature to make their life smooth and
• Religious Values: Persons believe in a particular thought which is a guide for reasoning between good and bad.
• Civic Values: Principles, which guide in the dos and don’ts of the citizens such as, Honesty, Curage, Fairness, Repect, Caring, Trust
• Moral Values: Principles and directives, which enables us to follow the correct and right path, value others and themselves respect the authority of others, keep promises, avoid unnecessary problems with others, avoid cheating and dishonesty, thanking others and making them work Encourage.
• Spiritual Values: Principles, which gives directives to follow a faith in some philosophical thoughts. The ultimate moral value is called spiritual value. Spiritual values are purity, meditation, yoga, discipline, control, clarity and devotion to God, etc. Spiritual value education highlights the principles of self-discipline. Self-discipline satisfaction, lack of needs, general greed and freedom from seriousness.
• National Values: Principles, which encourage a person to imbibe the feelings of patriotism and national integration.
• Social Values: Principles and ideologies, which encourage us to live together. People want social values like love, affection, friendship, noble groups, reference groups, impurity, hospitality, bravery, service, justice, freedom, patience, forgiveness, coordination, sympathy, tolerance, etc.
• Scientific values: Principles and directives which force us to test, analyze, verify inquire etc.
• Cultural values: Cultural values are concerned with right and wrong, good and bad, customs and behaviour. Cultural values are reflected in language, ethics, social hierarchy, aesthetics, education, law, economics, philosophy and social organizations of all kinds.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Values

• The term intrinsic means “in itself” or “for its own sake”. Intrinsic values are those values which have an eternal property without any reference to any end. For example, happiness or peace or joy or truth is an intrinsic value.
• Extrinsic values are those whose property or value depends on how much it generates the intrinsic values. Having a family is an extrinsic value because its value depends on how much happiness or joy it creates.

Basic Human Values

• Basic human values refer to those values which are at the core of being human.
• The values which are considered basic inherent values in humans include truth, honesty, loyalty, love, peace, etc. because they bring out the fundamental goodness of human beings and society at large.
• Further, since these values are unifying in nature and cut across individual’s social, cultural, religious and sectarian interests; they are also considered universal, timeless and eternal applying to all human beings.

Factors Influencing the Learning of Values

• Socialization: becoming aware as a child of society’s and parents’ rules of conduct for being good.
• Moral judgment: learning to think reasonably about our own ethics and deliberately deciding on our own moral standards.
• Moral feelings: the internalization of our moral beliefs to the degree that we feel shame and guilt when we fail to do what we “should.”
• Empathy: the awareness of other people’s situation, feelings, and needs so that one is compelled to help those in need.
• Confidence and knowledge: knowing the steps involved in helping others and believing that one is responsible for and capable of helping.

Difference between Values and Norms

• Norm refers to a relatively specific behaviour as per social customs and it is obligatory. On the other hand, values are matter of choice.
• For example, honesty cannot be a norm because it may not be chosen to be followed.
• Further, once a particular value is internalized by an individual, it becomes a norm for him / her for making decisions, judgements, preferences and choices.

Difference between Values and Morals

• Morals are taught by the society to the individual while values can be cultivated from within.
• Morals act as motivation for leading a good life, while values act as intuition.
• Further, while morals are deep rooted, values may keep changing from time to time and as per needs.

Difference between Values and Ethics

• Ethics is a branch of philosophy that used to study ideal human behaviour and ideal ways of being.
• What is ethical and unethical is judged by social standards and vary from person to person.
• Values are the embodiment of what an individual stands for, and they are basis for the behaviour which forms the basis for ethics.
• Both ethics and values are situational and changeable in relevant circumstances.

Difference between Values and Beliefs

• A belief is an internal feeling that something is true, even though that belief may be unproven or irrational. For example, I believe that if I see a black cat crossing the road, it indicates a bad luck.
• On the other hand, a value is a measure of the worth or importance a person attaches to something.
• Our values are often reflected in the way we live our lives, for instance, we value freedom of speech, or we value our families etc.
• All of us have a constant internal battle between our beliefs and values. Sometimes, we mistake our beliefs as values or vice versa. Beliefs are internal, while the values are external.
• This implies that we can pick up a value from an external source or experience, person or thing and start living with that value inculcated in us.
• But belief is an internal energy that is created on what we absorb and then it builds itself within us further creating our thoughts, words and actions.
• Our beliefs create thoughts; thoughts create emotions; emotions create actions – actions of positive values or negative values which depend on the quality of the Belief itself. These then become internal Values.

Relations between values, morals and ethics are inextricably tied together

• The moral values in our lives hold great importance from the point of personal, social and spiritual development. Values, morals and ethics are inextricably tied together.
• The preservation of human life is the ultimate value, a pillar of ethics and the foundation of all morality.
• Values are what we learn from childhood; the ‘stuff’ we acquired from our parents and immediate surroundings.
• Values are the motive power behind purposeful action. Moral values are meant for making the quest to find the higher self an easier.
• Many amongst us may find it difficult to follow values such as truthfulness, honesty, forgiveness in our lives because we have not perceived the subtle gains that come to us by following these values. Or, maybe, we are careless to realize the importance of values in life.
• Ethics, on the other hand, are how we actually do behave in the face of difficult situations that test our moral fiber.
• Ethics are the code or principles on which one’s character depend.
• Ethics and character are closely related.
• Values are essential to ethics to develop at an early age and can be instrumental to building character.
• Whereas, morals are the intrinsic beliefs developed from the value systems of how we ‘should’ behave in any given situation.
• Moral values are the standards of good and evil, which govern an individual’s behaviour and choices.

Value Education

• Value Education means teaching and learning of ideals. The aim is for students to understand moral values and show their good behaviour and attitude towards society.
• In today’s world, there is crime increasing day by day instead of literacy rate. The benefits like patience, honesty, tolerance and sympathy are the extreme values for education. This will enhance your positive attitude instead of a negative attitude.
• The meaning of Value Education is to teach universal values like moral values, patience, honesty etc, to the students. The purpose of value education is the development of the personality of the student.
• The children should develop in all dimensions so that they can serve the nation more democratic, cohesive, socially and responsibly.
• The full development of children’s personality in its physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects.
• Development of good manners and responsibility towards citizenship.
• The way of thinking and living should be developing at the democratic level.

Purpose of Value Education

• To develop the child personality in all possible aspects.
• To develop good moral values in the children.
• To develop thinking in a better aspect and a democratic way of living.
• To develop good citizenship and standard of living and behaviour of children.
• To develop tolerance and make a kind person to the children.

Importance of Value education in schools

• Character development– The value education helps the students to develop the character. This improves the inner personality of the student. The mental level also improves by this.
• Personality development– The value education helps the student to develop the inner and external personality of the student. The physical, social and mental personality will emerge of the student.
• Citizenship education– This includes the social and behavioural aspects of the students towards citizenship. The ethical values develop towards citizenship of the student.

• It gives the students a progressive way for their future and also helps them to know the real purpose of their life.
• This makes it clear to them, the best way to live a life that can be helpful to individuals as well as people around.
• Value education helps students to become more responsive and practical.
• This helps them to better recognize the perception of life and lead a positive life as a responsible resident.
• It also helps in developing a strong relationship with family and friends.
• It changes the personality and character of the students.
• Value education changes a positive opinion about life in the student’s mind.
• In the current political climate, you can claim that it is more important than ever.
• Values education is teaching and learning about the ideals that society considers important.
• The objective of the students is not only to recognize the values but also to reflect them in their behaviour and attitudes.

The need of value education in today’s world

• Moral awareness– Moral awareness should enhance the progress in science and technology towards the latest trends.
• Shared values– This will enhance the traditional and social benefits of the person which is essential for the nation to develop.
• Consciously plan value education– This will establish formal learning as sometimes teachers pass values both consciously and unconsciously. There should be encouragement of only conscious values.
• Enhance thinking ability– The value education enhance your thinking ability and moral values. The mental and social thinking increases to enhance good value towards society.

Methods for teaching value education

• Classroom learning activities methods: This method includes direct presentation, discussions, reading, listening etc., taught by the teachers.
• Practical activity method: This method includes the practical description of the strategies. This practical knowledge enhances the learning skills and lives life by doing practical by own self.
• Socialized techniques: This includes the learner involved in the practical activities and experiences which represent the functions and problems of agents in socialization.
• Incident learning method: This gives the study of an episode or experience in the life of an individual group.

Role of teachers in inculcating value education in students

• A teacher has to function as an agent who stimulates, provokes, informs and sensitizes the learners with reference to value situations in life.
• Through involving the learners actively in discussion, dialogue and practical activities, the teacher should make them think and reflect on human actions and events.
• The teacher should also expose students to works of art, beauty in nature, and in human relationships and actions of moral worth, and develop their moral sensibilities.
• They should help in creating an atmosphere of love, trust, cooperation and security in the school conducive to the development of high ideals and values.
• They should possess the right qualities of mind and heart necessary for the pursuit of knowledge—love of knowledge, curiosity and desire to know, sincere desire to keep on learning and update knowledge, humility and honesty to admit ignorance.
• They should have a sound social philosophy, characterized by social sensitivity, concern for social justice and human rights. It is essential that they carry out their professional obligations in accordance with the highest standards and ethics of the teaching profession.
• The institutional processes in the training institution should help teachers acquire these capabilities by providing concrete situations and opportunities and actively involve them in appropriate learning experiences.
• They should develop a nationalistic feeling among students.
• Create an awareness about the problems of future specially those related to food, water, energy, environment, pollution, health and population.
• Give equal importance to all students irrespective of caste, creed, sex and money.

Human Vices

• Vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, or degrading in the associated society.
• In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhealthy habit.
• Vices are usually associated with a transgression in a person’s character or temperament rather than their morality.
• Synonyms for vice include fault, sin, depravity, iniquity, wickedness, and corruption. Typical vices include cowardice, insensibility, injustice, and vanity.
• Vices, by contrast, are negative character traits that we develop in response to the same emotions and urges.
• Traditional examples of vice include drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and gambling in card games.
• But anything can be a vice, as long as there’s someone out there who views it as bad behavior or a moral weakness. You might say, casually, “I don’t drink, smoke, or gamble. Chocolate ice cream is my vice.” Or driving over the speed limit. Or intentionally failing to sort your recycling.
• “vice offends the moral standards of the community”

List of Vices

• Anger: Strong passion or emotion of displeasure or antagonism , excited by real or supposed injury or insult to one ‘ self or others , or by the intent to do such injury.
• Arrogance: Making undue claims in an overbearing manner; that species of pride which consists in exorbitant claims of rank, dignity, estimation, or power, or which exalts the worth or importance of the person to an undue degree; proud contempt of others; lordliness; haughtiness; self-assumption; presumption.
• Bragging: Exhibiting self-importance, boastful talk.
• Cowardice: Lack of courage to face danger; extreme timidity; base fear of danger or hurt; lack of spirit.
• Disloyalty: Lack of loyalty; lack of fidelity; violation of allegiance.
• Doubt: Lack of Trust and confidence. To suspect; to fear; to be apprehensive. A feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction.
• Envy: A feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another.
• Greed: An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth.
• Injustice: The practice of being unjust or unfair.
• Impatience: The quality of being impatient; want of endurance of pain, suffering, opposition, or delay; eagerness for change, or for something expected; restlessness; chafing of spirit; fretfulness; passion
• Jealousy: The quality of being jealous; earnest concern or solicitude; painful apprehension of rivalship in cases nearly affecting one’s happiness; painful suspicion of the faithfulness of husband, wife, or lover.
• Recklessness: Wild carelessness and disregard for consequences. Insufficient consideration.
• Sloth: Aversion to work or exertion; laziness; indolence.
• Untrustworthiness: The trait of not deserving trust or confidence
• Vanity: Inflated pride in oneself or one’s appearance.
• Weakness: The quality or state of being weak; want of strength or firmness; lack of vigor; want of resolution or of moral strength; feebleness.
• Wrath: Forceful, often vindictive anger.

What are Values?

• Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. They help us to determine what is important to us.
• Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions; the sort of person we want to be; the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our interaction with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines for conduct.
• Values in a narrow sense is that which is good, desirable, or worthwhile. Values are the motive behind purposeful action. They are the ends to which we act and come in many forms.
• Personal values are personal beliefs about right and wrong and may or may not be considered moral.
• Cultural values are values accepted by religions or societies and reflect what is important in each context.
• Values are essential to ethics. Ethics is concerned with human actions, and the choice of those actions.
• Ethics evaluates those actions, and the values that underlie them. It determines which values should be pursued, and which shouldn’t, courage is one such value.
• Those who value courage are willing to stand up for what they believe, even in the face of strong condemnation.
• Courage is a moral value when it deals with right and wrong conduct.
• Value specifies a relationship between a person and a goal. It is relational in the sense that what one person values may not be what another person values even in the same situation.
• For example, a person who values honesty might blow the whistle on financial wrongdoing by a superior whereas another person who values loyalty may remain silent.
• This is an example of values conflict. The honest person may believe there are limits to loyalty and keeping quiet about a wrongful act out of loyalty might harm others.
• The loyal person may believe in the importance of keeping one’s confidence even if it might harm others because of the trusting relationship.
• Some values stand up well over the test of time; they are always good or rightful behavior. Honesty and kindness are two such examples.
• It is difficult to imagine having a satisfying relationship without them because they build trust in relationships.
• Here are always exceptions but they are rare. For example, if a criminal out to do harm to your friend knocks on the door and asks whether you have seen the friend, you’re probably not going to say yes and rationalize it out of a sense of honesty. Here, the greater good, so to speak, is to protect your friend from harm.
• Virtue ethics holds that moral values can be turned into excellences of character with practice and repetition. We become virtuous by being virtuous.
• We use practical wisdom to make decisions about what virtuous behavior is. It all makes sense — at least to me.
• From a virtue perspective, it is most important to distinguish intrinsic from extrinsic value. Intrinsic value is something that has value in its own right, such as honesty and kindness, whereas extrinsic value is doing something for another reason (i.e., wealth and fame).
• What’s missing in society today is the commitment to core ethical values that all people should strive to achieve, such as honesty, kindness, compassion, respect, and personal responsibility.
• These are values to be admired and illustrative of a person of integrity. Where have they gone???

Examples of Values in Sports

• For example, Steven Holcomb, leader of the American bobsled team in Sochi, has credited the value of hard work in helping him to overcome serious obstacles (a degenerative eye disease and depression) to succeed in his sport. Holcomb has said that Olympians “have to make a lot of sacrifices” in order to focus on working hard. “You have to love your doing and put your heart and soul into it and that only takes you to the next level,”.
• For example: Indian hockey player Sandeep Singh exemplified a graceful response to success when he made the Olympic team for India despite his poor performance in the national championships. Officials decided to give a spot to Sandeep based on his reputation as a top drag flicker at most events, rather than let his mistakes at the championships keep him out of the Olympics. Sandeep responded to his successful bid for the team with humility and gratitude, bringing to mind. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. You Can Be in the Right Place at the Right Time”.
• Twin sisters Tracy and Lanny Barnes, American biathlon athletes who share a strong friendship with each other, made news headlines when both were trying to make the Olympic team for Sochi. Lanny couldn’t participate in all of the required selection races due to illness, but she had delivered strong performances throughout the season prior to qualifying races. After Tracy earned a spot on the Olympic team, she chose to give her spot to Lanny because Tracy thought Lanny deserved it more than she did, given her stronger performance over the past year.

Characteristics of Value

• Values are different for each person.
• These can be defined as ideas or beliefs that a person holds desirable or undesirable.
• The variability in that statement is, first, what a person could value, and second, the degree to which they value it.
• Values may be specific, such as honoring one’s parents or owning a home or they may be more general, such as health, love, and democracy. ‘Truth prevails”, “love thy neighbor as yourself, “learning is good as ends itself are a few examples of general values.
• Individual achievement, personal happiness, and materialism are major values of modem industrial society.
• It is defined as a concept of the desirable, an internalized creation or standard of evaluation a person possesses.
• Such concepts and standards are relatively few and determine or guide an individual’s evaluations of the many objects encountered in everyday life.
• These are extremely practical, and valuation requires not just techniques but also an understanding of the strategic context.
• These can provide standards of competence and morality.
• These can go beyond specific situations or persons.
• Personal values can be influenced by culture, tradition, and a combination of internal and external factors.
• These are relatively permanent.
• These are more central to the core of a person.
• Most of our core values are learned early in life from family, friends, neighborhood school, the mass print, visual media and other sources within the society.
• Values are loaded with effective thoughts about ideas, objects, behavior, etc.
• They contain a judgmental element in that they carry an individual’s ideas as to what is right, good, or desirable.
• Values can differ from culture to culture and even person to person.
• Values play a significant role in the integration and fulfillment of man’s basic impulses and desire stably and consistently appropriate for his living.
• They are generic experiences in social action made up of both individual and social responses and attitudes.
• They build up societies, integrate social relations.
• They mold the ideal dimensions of personality and depth of culture.
• They influence people’s behavior and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others.
• They have a great role to play in the conduct of social life. They help in creating norms to guide day-to-day behavior.
• The values of a culture may change, but most remain stable during one person’s lifetime.
• Socially shared, intensely felt values are a fundamental part of our lives. These values become part of our personalities. They are shared and reinforced by those with whom we interact.
• Since values often strongly influence both attitude and behavior, they serve as a kind of personal compass for employee conduct in the workplace.
• These help to determine whether an employee is passionate about work and the workplace, which in turn can lead to above-average returns, high employee satisfaction, strong team dynamics, and synergy.

Sources of Values

• Sources of value are a comprehensive guide to financial decision-making suitable for beginners as well as experienced practitioners.
• It treats financial decision-making as both an art and a science and proposes a comprehensive approach through which companies can maximize their value.
• Generally, no values tend to be relatively stable and enduring.
• A significant portion of the values we hold is established in our early years from parents, teachers, friends, and others. There are so many sources from which we can acquire different values. Such as,
• Family: Family is a great source of values. A child leams his first value from his family.
• Friends and peers: They play a vital role in achieving values.
• Community or society: As a part of society, a person leams values from society or different groups of society.
• School: As a learner, school and teachers also play a very important role in introducing values.
• Media: Media such as – Print media, Electronic media also play the role of increasing values in the mind of people.
• Relatives: Relative also helps to create values in the minds of people.
• Organization: Different organizations and institutions also play a vital role in creating value.
  • Religion: Our beliefs have great impact on our values and ability to acquire new one.
  • History: Knowing, understanding our roots and others path makes is aware about us and surroundings which helps in inculcating values.
  • Books: Reading opens un whole new world of ideas and imaginations in our mind and gives us new dimensions to think on issues, things & people.
  • Traveling & Life experiences: Going to new places and meeting new people gives us new perspectives and teaches us life lessons that makes us holding and acquiring new values.

Different types of Values

Values can be classified into two broad categories:

(1) Individual or Personal values values:

• These are the values which are related with the development of human personality or individual norms of recognition and protection of the human personality such as honesty, loyalty, veracity and honour.

(2) Collective values:

• Values connected with the solidarity of the community or collective norms of equality, justice, solidarity and sociableness are known as collective values.

Values can also be’ categorised from the point of view their hierarchical arrangement:

(1) Intrinsic or Terminal values:

• These are the values which are related with goals of life.
• They are sometimes known as ultimate and transcendent values.
• They determine the schemata of human rights and duties and of human virtues.
• In the hierarchy of values, they occupy the highest place and superior to all other values of life.
• They are end in itself.
• For example, Pleasure, Gender Equality, Love, Utility, Virtue, Enlightenment, happiness, self-respect, recognition, inner harmony, leading a prosperous life, and professional excellence etc.,

(2) Instrumental values:

• These values come after the intrinsic values in the scheme of gradation of values.
• These values are means to achieve goals (intrinsic values) of life.
• They are also known as incidental or proximate values.
• For example, Ambitious, Broadminded, Clean, Courageous, Forgiving, Helpful, Obedient, Polite, Independent, etc.,

• Beck (1993) proposes his values conception which includes five categories of values namely: basic values, spiritual values, moral values, social and political values, intermediate range and specific values.
• Basic values relate to fundamental areas of human needs and include “survival, health, happiness, friendship …(and) freedom”.
• Spiritual values embody more ethereal, affective qualities such as “awareness, breadth of outlook, integration, wonder, gratitude, hope, detachment, humility, love (and) gentleness”.
• Moral values relate to ethical sensibilities such as honesty, reliability and fairness.
• Social and political values refer to sensibilities dealing with general social functioning, such as justice, participation, and citizenship.
• Intermediate range values reflect personalized sensibilities in a broad sense (shelter, entertainment, fitness) while specific values relate personal sensibilities surrounding almost any personal thing.
• Examples of Professional values are
• Autonomy: Fostering the right to control the direction of one’s life.
• Nonmaleficence: Avoiding actions that cause harm. Beneficence: Working for the good of the individual and society by promoting mental health and wellbeing.
• Justice: Treating individuals equitably and fostering fairness and equality.
• Fidelity: Honoring commitments and keeping promises, including fulfilling one’s responsibilities of trust in professional relationships.
• Veracity: Dealing truthfully with individuals with whom counsellors come into professional contact.

Significance of Values

• Values are the enduring beliefs that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable.
• These are more difficult to change or alter.
• As ethical conduct receives more visibility in the workplace, the importance of values is increased as a topic of discussion in management.
• Values are general principles to regulate our day-to-day behavior. They not only give direction to our behavior but are also ideals and objectives in themselves.
• They are the expression of the ultimate ends, goals or purposes of social action.
• Our values are the basis of our judgments about what is desirable, beautiful, proper, correct, important, worthwhile and good as well as what is undesirable, ugly, incorrect, improper and bad.
• Value is the foundation for understanding the level of motivation.
• It influences our perception.
• Value helps to understand what ought to be or what ought not to be.
• It contains interpretations of right or wrong.
• These influence attitudes and behavior.
• It implies that certain behaviors on outcomes are preferred over others.
• These allow the members of an organization to interact harmoniously. These make it easier to reach goals that would be impossible to achieve individually.
• These are goals set for achievements, and they motivate, define and color all our activities cognitive, affective add connective.
• They are the guideposts of our lives, and they direct us to who we want to be.
• Values and morals can not only guide but inspire and motivate a person, give energy and a zest for living and for doing something meaningful.
• Actually, values are important to the study of organizational behavior because they lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motivation.
• Individuals enter an organization with preconceived notions of what “ought” or what “ought not” to be. Of course, these notions are not value free.
• These are part of the makeup of a person. They remind us as to what is important in our lives, such as success or family, but also, by virtue of their presence, they provide contrast to what is not important.
• That is not to say that, over time, values cannot change.
• As we grow and change as individuals, we will begin to value different aspects of life.
• If we value- family when we are younger, as our children get older, we might start to value success in business more than the family.

Values in contemporary times

In contemporary world, it may seem our society doesn’t practice many values. We have a rise in discrimination, abuse of power, greed, etc. What are we leaving behind for our future generations? Maybe it’s time society takes a hard look at its values.

Some of the most important values we need to adhere in contemporary times

Freedom

• People want the freedom to lead a life of purpose, to select freely a lifestyle in which they and their children can grow healthily and can flourish through the work of their hands, heads and hearts.
• Freedom can be understood mistakenly to be a vast and unlimited umbrella, which gives permission to “do what I like, when I like, to whomever I like.” That concept is misleading and a misuse of choice.
• True freedom is exercised and experienced when parameters are defined and understood. Parameters are determined by the principle that everyone has equally the same rights. For example, the rights to peace, happiness, and justice regardless of religion, culture, or gender -are innate.
• To violate the rights of one or more in order to free the self, family, or nation is a misuse of freedom. That kind of misuse usually backfires, eventually imposing a condition of constraint, and in some cases, oppression – for the violated and the violator.
• Full freedom functions only when rights are balanced with responsibilities and choice is balanced with conscience.
• Inner freedom is to be free from confusion and complications within the mind, intellect, and heart that arise from negativity.
• Freedom is an ongoing process. How can we create and maintain it?
• Self-transformation begins the process of world transformation. The world will not be free from war and injustice until individuals themselves are set free.
• The most potent power to put an end to internal and external wars – and to set souls free – is the human conscious. Any act of freedom, when aligned with human conscience is liberating, empowering, and enabling.

Peace

• Peace is more than the absence of war.
• Peace begins within each one of us.
• Peace is an energy, a qualitative energy, it is a pure force that penetrates the shell of chaos, and by its very nature automatically puts things and people into balanced order.
• The self is a reservoir of vital resources, one of which is peace.
• Peace is inner silence filled with the power of truth.
• Peace consists of pure thoughts, pure feelings, and pure wishes.
• To stay peaceful requires strength and compassion.
• Are human beings by nature violent or non-violent?
• Authenticity of action depends on authenticity of persons
• Peace is the prominent characteristic of what we call ” a civilized society.”
• Serenity is not the absence of chaos, but peace in the midst of it.

Respect

• Every human being has innate worth.
• Part of self-respect is knowing my own qualities.
• Respect for the self is the seed that gives growth to confidence.
• When we have respect for the self, it is easy to have respect for others.
• To know one’s natural worth and to honuor the worth of others is the true way to earn respect.
• Those who give respect will receive respect.

Happiness

• Give happiness and take happiness.
• When there is a feeling of hope, their is happiness.
• Having good wishes for everyone gives happiness inside.
• Happiness naturally comes with pure and selfless actions
• When one is content with the self, happiness come automatically.
• Happiness of mind is a state of peace in which there is no upheaval or violence.
• The warmth and comfort of happiness is hidden within the self.
• When my words “give flowers instead of thorns,” I create a happier world.
• Happiness follows giving happiness, sorrow follows giving sorrow.
• Happiness cannot be bought, sold, or bargained for.
• Awareness and application of universal truths provide a true source of happiness.

Honesty

• Honesty is telling the truth.
• When I am honest, I feel clear inside.
• A person worthy of confidence is honest and true.
• Honest means there are no contractions or discrepancies in thoughts, words, or actions.
• Honest thoughts, words, and actions create harmony.
• Honesty is the awareness of what is right and appropriate in one’s role, one’s behaviour, and one’s relationship.
• With honesty, there is no hypocrisy or artificiality which create confusion and mistrust in the minds and lives of others.
• Honesty makes for a life of integrity because the inner and outer selves are a mirror image.
• Honesty is to use well what has been entrusted to you.
• There is a deep relationship between honesty and friendship.
• Greed is sometimes at the root of dishonesty.
• There is enough for man’s need, but not enough for man’s greed.
• An honest person knows that we are all interconnected.
• To be honest to one’s real self and to the purpose of a task earns trust and inspires faith in others.

Humility

• Humility is based on self-respect.
• Humility removes insecurity and allows acceptance of the self.
• A person with humility will listen to and accept others.
• Humility is staying stable and maintaining power on the inside and not needing to control others on the outside.
• Humility is to let go and let be.
• Humility eliminates possessiveness and narrow vision which builds walls of arrogance.
• One word spoken in humility has the significance of a thousand words. Humility allows one to be great in the ears of others.
• Humility creates an open mind and recognition of the strengths of the self and others.
• Arrogance damages or destroys valuing the uniqueness of others, and hence is a subtle violation of their fundamental rights.
• The tendency to impress, dominate, or limit the freedom of others in order to prove yourself actually diminishes the inner experience of worth, dignity, and peace of mind.

Responsibility

• Responsibility is doing your share.
• Responsibility is accepting what is required and carrying out the task to the best of your ability.
• A responsible person fulfills the assigned duty by staying true to the aim.
• Duties are carried out with integrity and a sense of purpose.
• If we want peace, we have the responsibility to be peaceful.
• If we want a clean world, we have the responsibility to care for nature.
• When one is responsible, there is the contentment of having made a contribution.
• As a responsible person, I have something worthwhile to offer – and so do others.
• A responsible person knows how to be fair, seeing that each gets a share.
• With rights there are responsibilities.
• Responsibility is not only something that obliges us, but is also something that allows us to achieve what we wish.
• Each person can perceive her or his own world’ and look for the balance of rights and responsibilities.
• Global responsibility requires respect for all human beings.

Simplicity

• Simplicity is natural.
• Simplicity is learning from the earth.
• Simplicity is beautiful.
• Simplicity is relaxing.
• Simplicity is staying in the present and not making things complicated.
• Simplicity is staying in the present and not making things complicated.
• Simplicity is enjoying a plain mind and intellect.
• Simplicity teaches us economy – how to use our resources keeping future generation in mind.
• Simplicity is giving patience, friendship, and encouragement.
• Simplicity is appreciating the small things in life.

Tolerance

• Peace is the goal, tolerance is the method.
• Tolerance is being open and receptive to the beauty of differences.
• Tolerance recognizes individuality and diversity while removing divisive masks and defusing tension created by ignorance. It provides the opportunity to discover and remove stereotypes and stigmas associated with people perceived to be different because of nationality, religion, or heritage.
• Tolerance is mutual respect through mutual understanding.
• The seeds of intolerance are fear and ignorance.
• The seed of tolerance is love; its water is compassion and care.
• Where there is lack of love, there is lack of tolerance.
• Those who know how to appreciate the good in people and situations have tolerance.
• Tolerance is also an ability to face difficult situations.
• To tolerate life’s inconveniences is to let go, be light, make others light, and move on.
• Through understanding and open-mindedness, a tolerant person attracts someone different, and by genuinely accepting and accommodating that person, demonstrates tolerance in a practical way. As a result, relationships bloom.

Cooperation

• Cooperation exists when people work together toward a common goal.
• Cooperation requires recognizing the value of everyone’s part and keeping a positive attitude.
• One who cooperates creates good wishes and pure feelings for others and the task.
• When cooperating, there is a need to know what is needed. Sometimes we need an idea, sometimes we need to let go of our idea. Sometimes we need to lead and sometimes to follow.
• Cooperation is governed by the principle of mutual respect.
• One who cooperates receives cooperation.
• Where there is love there is cooperation.
• By staying aware of my value, I can give cooperation.
• Courage, consideration, caring, and sharing provide a foundation for cooperation.

Unity

• Unity is harmony within and among individuals in the group.
• Unity continues by accepting and appreciating each person and his or her contribution.
• Unity is built from a shared goal, hope ,or vision.
• Unity makes big tasks seem easy.
• The greatness of unity is that everyone is respected.
• One note of disrespect can cause unity to be broken.
• Unity creates the experience of cooperation, increases enthusiasm for the task, makes the atmosphere enabling.
• Unity creates a sense of belonging and increases well -being for all.

Empathy

• Empathy is defined as understanding and sharing the feelings of another.
• People need to understand who others are and accept who they are.
• Focusing on how we can grow together should be our ultimate goal.

Respect

• Mutual respect is needed for all of us. This is what makes us human.
• Having respect for everyone, despite the differences between us, is vital in order for a society to function well.

Love 

• Having love in our hearts keeps us from feeling the need to harm others. Love helps us acknowledge the similarities we all share rather than the differences of color, religion or sexual orientation. In a better world, the natural law is love.
• When there is lots of love inside, anger runs away.
• Universal love holds no boundaries or preferences; love emanates to all.
• Love is not simply a desire, a passion, an intense feeling for one person or object, but a consciousness which is simultaneously selfless and self-fulfilling.
• Love is caring.
• Love is sharing.
• Love is being kind.
• Love makes me feel safe.
• Love means I want what is good for others.
• Love can be for one’s country, for cherished aim, for truth, for justice , for ethics, for people, for natures.
• Love is the principle which creates and sustains human relations with dignity and depth.
• Love is the basis for a belief in equality and goodwill towards all.
• Love is catalyst for change, development, and achievement.
• Love is viewing each one as more beautiful than the next.
• Real love ensures kindness, caring, and understanding and removes jealousy and controlling behaviors.

Loyalty

• Loyalty is a value that binds us to a person, thing or sentiment. With loyalty, we do not betray.
• If we all shared loyalty, it would help us build the strength needed to stand up against something that would harm our society.

Honesty 

• One form of honesty in society is accepting yourself. With honesty, you can admit your flaws and take the necessary steps to improve yourself.
• When we can admit to our flaws it can help someone else admit theirs. Ultimately, we can all help each other become better people.

Global vision of better world

In a Better World :

• All people celebrate the joy of life.
• Human Rights are respected and upheld and the dignity and integrity of all people is assured.
• People live in ways that preserve natures ecological balance in an environment that is beautiful and clean.
• The planet’s natural and abundant resources are shared equitably and the basic human needs of all people are provided for.
• All people have equal opportunities to realize their potential through an educational process that has human, moral and spiritual values at its heart.
• Life within the immediate family is loving, caring and fulfilling and is the foundation for harmony within the broader human family.
• There is respect, understanding and tolerance in all human relations.
• People communicate openly and in a spirit of equality and goodwill
• Social, economic and political justice is ensured through honesty responsibility and respect for the rule of law.
• Governments, as representative of their people, are committed to their well-being. People participate co-operatively in efforts for a secure and peaceful world.
• Science serves humanity and appropriate technology is applied to ensure sustainable development and enhance the quality of life.
• All people enjoy freedom of expression, movement and belief while respecting the liberties and rights of others.

Values can be contagious; if you practice them, many others will also, including our children. Hopefully more practice from all of us will leave the world a better place for future generations.

Variations in Values

Can values change?

• Over a period of a few decades, new ethical issues have arisen and values have changed. From this analysis it is suggested that there are a series of core values around which most people would agree.
• These are unlikely to change over long time periods. There are then a series of secondary or derived values around which there is much more controversy and within which differences of view occur.
• Values have changed over time from primitive societies to the present.
• Mechanism of these changes is not genetic, but is modified by a different process.
• For example, meaning of value of freedom was different 40 years ago, it was about political and economic freedom but now it is about sexual preferences, social rights, privacy, etc.,
• Initially HIV infection was seen as something related to gays, and not to “ordinary” people. Apart from some important players it was not taken very seriously. As a problem it had little consequence for the population. That began to change as the epidemic developed and the result has been a significant shift in behaviour, namely in the practice of “safe sex”.

If we accept for the moment that values can and do change (and many other examples could be used) what is it that causes the change?

1. Changes in the knowledge base

• This is the most obvious, and comes in two forms. The first is new knowledge about existing problems or techniques, and the second comes from completely new areas of work.

2. Social values and attitudes

• These have changed very considerably over the years, and continue to do so.
• They are reflected in how we dress, how we use our increasing leisure time, how we view authority, and in many other ways.
• Part of this process has been our changing views of major social and ethical issues. Examples of this might include:
• Public views: There is now, quite properly, greater questioning of the role we play and the way in which the profession operates and regulates itself. Example, Dancers, Actors, Public Views about Homosexuality.
• Role of authority: Less credence is now given to the role of the church and other sources of authority.
• Increasing interest in human rights, and now animal rights. The human rights movement has been growing and there is greater awareness as to what these rights are and how they can be used.
• Religious intolerance, racial hatred: In spite of greater internationalisation, racial and religious intolerance is a major source of conflict across the world. It can be a significant barrier to change.
• Rise in single issue groups—for example, environment, and health issues. Almost all illnesses and diseases have pressure groups whose function is, again quite properly, to fight for the rights of their own members.

This can sometimes change the decision making process based on core values in a way which disadvantages other groups, and in particular those patient groups who are less able to get organised and put their case.

• Role of information technology (IT) and the internet: The ready access to information will also be a significant source of change. Patients already come to the clinic with their printouts, and the numbers of them doing so is likely to increase. The quality of information may be a major problem. As a vehicle for changing the medical profession, however, it is likely to be very powerful.
• Changing attitudes to the family and to sexual relations. Over the last 30 years we have seen very significant shifts in family life and attitudes to sex. Contraception, abortion, and the care of the elderly all fall into this category.

3. Personal experience gained over time

• There is little doubt that we all change with time. Our tastes, hobbies, political views, and friendships all change.
• These are a result of experiences, some good and some bad. We learn through stories and real events what matters to us, and what does not.
• The personal nature of these experiences is important, can affect each of us profoundly, and can cause us to completely change our minds.
• There are therefore many ways in which our views, and those of society, can change, and the implications of this are part of a more universal phenomenon. This raises the question as to whether any values are fixed, social or professional?

Values in Public and Private life

Values in Private Life

Family

• Whomever you consider to be your “family” may be a primary value to you because they provide you with support and companionship. Family is often a core value in people’s lives and influences decisions such as where to live and how to celebrate holidays.

Creativity

• If you value creativity, you enjoy using your imagination to solve problems or generate new ideas. Valuing creativity supports your ability to make a change in society that other people find significant.

Achievement

• Accomplishing something in your life or work that is noteworthy could be something that adds a unique sense of value to your life. Your achievement values impact your motivation because your incentive to work outweighs the cost of doing so.

Self-Confidence

• Having this value involves being successful in such a way that you recognize your skills are making a positive contribution to your community or those around you.

 Structure

• Valuing structure involves having a sense of control over your surroundings and exercising discipline to maintain an acceptable level of restriction.

Decision-Making

• Taking personal responsibility for initiating a course of action may be of high value to you. This means that you find it fulfilling to act according to your own conscience without having to be prompted by an external force.

Education

• Aside from achieving a certification of educational accomplishment, valuing education involves the process of being a lifelong learner and continuing to gain understanding through perceptive insight.
• Those who value education know that it is never too late to learn–even in a formal learning environment.

Talent

• Your talents are your abilities, skills, and competencies that govern what you can do. With a growth mindset, you work on developing your talents over time because you know that you can.
• When you value talent in yourself and in others, you can optimize your time by working in line with your realized value.
• If you happen to have true talent in a specific area–either personally or professionally–you also possess a great amount of intrinsic value that can have a strong positive impact on your life.

Perseverance

• People who become very successful have undoubtedly failed more often throughout their lives than many others have even tried. It is easy to quit, but perseverance pays off.

Consistency

• Consistency often gives people reassurance in the decisions that they make because they can rely on a certain process that they’re used to.

Confidence

• Being confident often helps people trust you and your decisions. When you value confidence, it suggests you also value competence.
• Your confidence is the sense of value that you place on yourself and the faith you have in your own capabilities. It gives you the strength to pursue what you want in life.

Happiness

• While this may seem obvious, many people don’t take the time to truly find what makes them happy to then be able to plan their lives around those things.

Imagination

• Valuing imagination can be a huge advantage to anyone in our fast-paced society. Being able to come up with an idea that no one else has thought of before can be a huge part of being successful.

Intelligence

• Valuing intelligence isn’t just acknowledging your natural born ability to understand concepts. It involves constantly yearning to learn more.

Inner Peace

• This personal core value refers to the ability to be comfortable with yourself, the people around you, and being accepting of the life you’re living.

Fitness

• Valuing fitness will help you give energy toward the other values in your life. If your body is healthy, your mind can be healthy as well.

Self-Awareness

• This is a very important core value to have, as it lets you realize when you’ve messed up and pinpoint how you can fix your mistakes in the future. Having self-awareness also means you know why you react to certain situations in the way that you do and recognize triggers that may lead to certain emotions.

Persistence

• As a runner, persistence is a personal value of mine. Persistence is the determination to keep going, regardless of how you feel. Even if you feel like quitting, you keep working because you know success doesn’t come without a cost.
• Valuing persistence is a motivating factor in continuing to take action on the days that you want to quit, which allows you to keep accumulating results. With persistence, you press on until you achieve whatever goal you’re working toward.

Wisdom

• Valuing wisdom isn’t just about putting an emphasis on knowledge. It is also about having your knowledge stand the test of time and being able to reflect on your experiences to exact your knowledge.

Passion

• Having enthusiasm for living your life on your own terms will ensure that you also have the determination that is needed to succeed.

Rest

• Knowing when to stop is a huge factor in success. You need to rest your body and your mind to be on top of your game when it really counts.

Frugality

• Having a natural tendency to spend money conservatively suggests that you value frugality. This also means you’re looking toward the future and not focusing on immediate satisfaction.

Stillness

• Embracing silence or calmness can not only be a great value to have, but also a great skill. Those who know when to speak and when to listen are often highly respected.

Bravery

• When one of your personal core values is bravery, it means that you always do the right thing, even if you’re the only person making the tough decision.

Wealth

• Whether you value wealth to be able to provide for your family or to be able to live a peaceful life, this is a personal core value that isn’t as selfish as it may sound.

Adventure

• Those who value adventure lead rich and exciting lives by seeking out new experiences to expand their skills and existence.

Determination

• Refusing to give up when things get tough changes challenging situations into opportunities for triumph.

Orderliness

• Many people have a hard time making any personal progress if they’re living in a chaotic environment. Cleanliness and orderliness are often values people hold to maintain a calm state of mind.

Courage

• As one of the principal characteristics of leadership, courage guarantees a lot of other great qualities in a leader. Courage demonstrates confidence and a willingness to use your voice to influence others.
• Courage is an important value to have because it defines your decision to act according to your values and work toward your goals instead of letting yourself be distracted or allured by irrelevant and potentially harmful temptations.

Values in Public Life

Communication

• Valuing communication involves not only having information relayed properly to you, but also ensuring that your own thoughts are effectively heard by other people.

Competition

• Holding a value of competition means that you are able to gain energy through a sense of rivalry to be the most respected in a domain.

Congruence

• This involves being true to your authentic self and communicating to others externally in a way that matches your internal thoughts and feelings.

Tradition

• Valuing tradition would involve ritualizing some sort of history in your life to add a sense of enrichment, and passing that on to subsequent generations.
• Think of your family traditions for holidays, birthdays, or even just summer nights.
• If you value tradition, you’re likely to teach these things to future generations of your family to keep the traditions going.
• Many people value tradition because it helps define the uniqueness of a family or any type of tight-knit community.

Trusting Relationships

• Valuing trusting relationships means that one of your top priorities is to be able to express your thoughts and feelings in a mutually trusting environment where you and the other person have confidence in the integrity of one another.

Service

• When one of your personal core values is service, you find a sense of fulfillment in sharing your talents or abilities with others in a way that is beneficial to their lives, and you’re willing to contribute to your society without expecting anything in return.

Responsibility

• Some people strongly value having a sense of sole personal accountability for the success of a specific area of their community or group. This often promotes self-confidence and can lead to a deep sense of accomplishment.

Humor

• This should not be overlooked when it comes to values, as humor can make a big difference in lightening the load of a difficult situation. When used appropriately, humor can be an effective tool.

Freedom

• This is a value that most people hold close to their hearts–and it doesn’t only involve valuing your own freedom–it also encompasses advocating from freedom if you ever see an opportunity to do so.

Diversity

• Diversity isn’t only about accepting people from different cultures; it is about seeking out opportunities to interact with people who have various backgrounds in order to learn new perspectives.

Resilience

• How easy is it for you to cope with adversity? If you value resilience, you strive to be flexible, go with the flow, and bounce back after things don’t go your way.

Simplicity

• People tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. Those who prefer to keep things straightforward are those who value simplicity.

Faith

• Valuing faith can look different to everybody, but it often refers to believing that everything will work out the way that it is supposed to. When you value faith, you will allow your beliefs to guide your decisions.

Balance

• If one of your personal core values is balance, you prevent any one thing from taking over your life. Between your career, family, friends, and hobbies, you make sure to keep your own personal enjoyment in mind and you level out your stress with relaxation.

Risk-Taking

• If you value taking risks, you know that if you follow your gut, there is a chance that it will lead to a huge payoff. You’re not afraid to face the option of failing if there is also an option for success.

Approachability

• People who hold a personal core value of being approachable want others to feel free to come to them with problems. People who want to be approachable often easily gain the trust of other people.

Originality

• Valuing originality means that you walk your own path and stray away from what everyone else seems to be doing. This value comes naturally and can usually be seen through art or creativity.

Growth

• People who value growth are never willing to settle and always look for an opportunity to learn in the face of adversity.

Compliance

• Being compliant does not mean you’re weak. There is a lot of value in having the ability to follow directions or take the advice of a superior.

Collaboration

• Working together by sharing your ideas with others can result in accomplishing something great. Collaborating with others will often lead to something that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Fairness

• While it is true that people say life is not fair, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t strive to make it that way. When you value fairness, you can also establish trust and dependability with other people.

Sincerity

• This can go hand-in-hand with honesty, but it also involves being authentic in everything you say and avoiding putting on any type of front to impress other people.

Justice

• Valuing justice means that you feel a personal sense of responsibility to achieve equality in the world and you feel compassion for those who are not treated fairly.

Conservation

• Wanting to conserve what you currently have and not constantly seeking more resources to consume is an important value to have. When you value conservation, there is a good chance that you are satisfied with the things you have and content in your life.

Community

• Valuing community means striving to create a sense of belongingness in your surroundings and being willing to give back to places that have contributed to who you are today.

Consideration

• Being considerate of others, even if they aren’t around, is a strong value to have. This means leaving places better than you found them and keeping other people’s needs in mind.

Modesty

• If you value modesty, you let your actions speak for themselves and avoid boasting about your abilities.

A Positive Mindset

• Staying positive and looking for the silver lining in any troubles that you face can help you achieve your desired results.

Open-Mindedness

• Even if you don’t think you will agree with an idea or concept, being able to consider it and be willing to entertain a variety of ideas is a good value to have.

Candor

• Being able to tell things like they are is a helpful core value because many people shy away from the truth in fear of hurting others or becoming chastised.

Longevity

• Those who value longevity seek to live in a healthy way in order to spend more time on earth with the ones they love.

Punctuality

• The thing about valuing punctuality is that it shows a great respect for other people’s time as well. This allows people to depend on you and hopefully have a mutual respect for your time as well.

Professionalism

• This isn’t just about knowing how to act professionally in the workplace. It is also about knowing how to be polite, use good manners, and be dependable in your everyday life.

Objectivity

• It is helpful to value objectivity in the workplace because it means you’re willing to look at the facts when you’re confronted with a conflict. You’re able to put your emotions and personal involvement aside.

Patience

• Valuing patience means recognizing the fact that sometimes the only thing that can make something work out in your favor is time.

Composure

• The ability to remain calm in the face of adversity and control your emotions helps people trust you and feel like you’re a reliable and poised person.

Playfulness

• If you can really appreciate a good break from hard work to have a laugh, you probably value playfulness. Letting your mind relax is healthy in order to be really effective once you get back to work.

Assertion

• Those who value being assertive know what they want, act quickly to obtain it, and do what they have to do to be successful.

Novelty

• Some value the pursuit of new challenges, circumstances, and experiences in life. If you live in the same town where you were born and tend to stick to a routine, novelty is likely not one of your personal core values.

Generosity

• If you value generosity, you understand that it doesn’t just involve giving other people money or tangible items. You can also be generous with your time, compassion, and energy.

Honesty

• It is very difficult to repair a bad reputation, especially if it is one that suggests you cannot be trusted. Telling the truth and sticking to your word are both critical in the long run, which makes diligently protecting your reputation an important value.

Acceptance

• Our world has billions of people in it–all of whom are somehow unique. Being able to accept people who are completely different from you can help increase the pleasure and enlightenment in your life.

Environmental Sustainability

• Both individuals and companies are becoming increasingly concerned about environmental sustainability to protect the earth for future generations in addition to our own. According to the EPA, air pollution can increase one’s risk of suffering from health issues such as heart attacks, lung disease, and premature mortality.
• Further, the CDC has reported that the pollution in water can increase one’s risks of developing gastrointestinal illnesses, reproductive issues, and neurological disorders. Considering that the environment can be harming us if it’s not properly cared for has made environmental sustainability a common value among people.

Patriotism

• Many people living in America value freedom and patriotism to our country. Now, not everyone who values patriotism is constantly waving American flags.
• It’s more about learning from our past mistakes and being vigilant about considering if the country is headed in the right direction. Patriotism is a spirit of camaraderie for others who live in this country, regardless of their background. Valuing patriotism is about knowing when the country is fumbling, and doing your part to make it a better place.

Efficiency

• Valuing efficiency means knowing how to work smarter, not harder. When people are able to work together in balance, work can flow smoothly and things can get done. Valuing this type of operational excellence–whether that is for a group or an individual–means always being prepared for change and improvement in your work.

Respect

• Giving and receiving respect is important because it fosters a sense of connection between people and it makes us feel comfortable expressing ourselves to others. Valuing respect means you’re able to accept other people, despite their difference in background or beliefs from your own. Having respect helps build feelings of trust, security, and safety.

Commitment

• People commit to things that they believe in–whether that’s a relationship, a new opportunity, or anything else that seems truly promising.
• Those who value commitment are good at managing both personal and professional relationships, especially when it comes to handling conflicts, building a sense of trust, collaborating with others, and working well on a team. When commitment is on your list of values, you likely also have:
  • A strong work ethic
  • Feelings of accountability
  • Passion
  • Discipline

Independence

• Valuing your independence doesn’t mean that you never rely on other people for anything. It simply means that you have the ability to give something meaningful back whenever you take from someone else. Independence gives you control over your own life and it makes you a creator rather than a user.

Inclusiveness

• Inclusion is a value that focuses on accepting diversity–it supports real opportunities for all people to form meaningful relationships. Just over the last two decades, people’s rights have evolved through policies and laws that require services to offer accommodations allowing everyone to participate. However, inclusion will never be fully realized until people live in line with these policies.
• Inclusiveness is about having positive interactions with other people and valuing everyone for who they are. That said, it has to be intrinsically motivated and derive from holding the belief that everyone has value and a right to belong.

Accuracy

• Whether you’re working with data at work or in your personal life, valuing accuracy allows you to gain the necessary insight to make the best decisions.
• While some people and companies focus a great deal of attention on getting as much information as possible, the information gathered is not always correct, and often people gain knowledge that they don’t even know what to do with.
• But if you value accuracy, you will be less likely to make errors or waste time with useless information.

Altruism

• Those who value altruism have an unselfish concern for other people. They perform random acts of kindness on a regular basis and do things to help others for the sole reason of benefitting someone else in some way.
• Valuing altruism means you don’t feel obligated to do anything for others due to having a sense of loyalty or even for religious reasons. If you make it a priority to do selfless acts, you value altruism.

Calmness

• Valuing calmness helps you stay relatively relaxed and think logically during high-pressure situations. This is an important value to hold if you often face adversity, because with a calm mind, you can have mental clarity and find solutions to problems you’re facing by making reasonable decisions or compromises with other people rather than fighting. This article offers some tips to help you calm your mind if you feel like it’s constantly racing.

Unity

• The value of unity is that everyone on a team or in a group setting is respected. Unity breeds cooperation, increases people’s enthusiasm, and furnishes an empowering atmosphere. When you value unity, you believe in fostering a sense of belonging and improving everyone’s wellbeing.

Tolerance

• Valuing tolerance goes beyond having an ability to “put up” with something. When you value tolerance, it means you have a positive view toward relationships among people who differ from each other. Tolerance can be linked to respect, equality, and independence. Valuing tolerance makes it possible for conflicting beliefs and ideas to coexist, as long as they lie within common moral values. Tolerance is a critical component in social unity and can be a remedy to prejudice.

Authenticity

• Not valuing authenticity, especially when it comes to your own actions, can result in anxiety, frustration, depression, and a loss of meaning in your life. Many people present themselves in a way they believe is the most socially acceptable or in a way that they think other people want them to present themselves.
• While we all try to abide by social norms, taking the time to reflect on the person you really are will allow you to become the best version of yourself and live a fulfilling life.

Challenge

• Valuing challenge and continually finding different avenues to challenge yourself is one of the best ways to ensure consistent personal growth. Facing challenges allows you opportunities to thrive and push yourself beyond what you once believed to be your limits to accomplish things and make progress. The more willing you are to face challenges, the richer your life will be.

Recognition

• Valuing recognition of your work means that you know its importance and you want other people to see that as well. You want confirmation of its importance to the world.
• This doesn’t mean that you always feel like you need to be praised, it’s simply a value that means you feel a sense of satisfaction when you’re reassured that you’re adding value to some sort of domain.
• Being recognized for your work helps you stay motivated to maintain–or even improve–your performance.

Security

• Security of oneself as a value is clear these days with the increase in methods of personal identity safekeeping. And, with one burglary happening every 13 seconds, people also value the security of their homes. People want to minimize their risk of being a victim of any type of security threat, which makes this a common value.

Self-Respect

• Those who value self-respect know when to say “no” to anything in their lives that is emotionally, mentally, or financially unhealthy.
• Valuing self-respect means knowing your worth, your value, and being willing to advocate for yourself whenever necessary.
• Given these beliefs, you’re able to set boundaries with other people and draw a firm line in regard to how you will and won’t be treated.

Moderation

• Our brains are quick to become accustomed to any type of stimulation. In fact, our bodies are too. This is why doing the exact same workout every day wouldn’t continue to produce results six months after starting the routine. This is also why people go through that honeymoon phase when they meet a new partner. Your brain always wants more.
• However, this often leads to things that are unhealthy–more junk food, more alcohol, more Netflix…
• However, if you value moderation, you will find that you’re able to experience more fulfillment and gratification from everyday things. You won’t need to be searching for extremes to find some type of brain rush.

Continuous Learning

• People who value continuous learning are the same people who value self-improvement and continued success. With access to information at our fingertips, those who value continuous learning are in luck, as the ability to teach oneself about any topic is simple.

Restraint

• Restraint naturally emerges in the short pause your body takes after breathing in and before breathing out. Your mind and body both know how to pause before taking action, allowing you the time to generate awareness and consider the results of your next move before choosing to take it. Valuing this ability to pause helps you make decisions in a deeper state of awareness to determine the best course of action.

Preparedness

• There are certainly some things in life that you can never prepare for, but by valuing this quality, people are able to either avoid or mitigate unwelcomed circumstances. Identifying risks in any area of your life and coming up with potential plans for action is rarely something that is regretted.

Versatility

• Our society loves “things”. We love extra features, “all-in-one” products, and things of the sort–and we also love saving money. Putting those two things together undoubtedly makes versatility a common value among people. Recycling and repurposing are popular ways in which people act on their value of versatility, as reusing older products to make something “new” or completely starting from scratch with used materials are both environmentally sustainable practices, which are also valued among people.

Partnership

• When you value partnership, you also value collaboration, respect, teamwork, and loyalty. Whether it’s in a business or a personal setting, valuing partnership sets the stage for various ideas and opinions to come together to create something better than the sum of its parts.

Responsiveness

• Responsiveness is an important value that seems to have gone missing from many people, both personally and professionally. And, with the endless ways to get in touch these days, it’s surprising that some people simply fail to do so. Those who value responsiveness make it a point to answer others’ inquiries in a timely manner because that is how they prefer people to respond to them. Valuing responsiveness is also about valuing respect for other people and their time.

Grace

• Valuing grace means living a life of unconditional love and gratitude. Having grace is at the core of connecting with other people, as it allows you to understand, empathize, and forgive. Many who value grace find it to offer a sense of healing.

Innovation

• Innovation is an important value to some because it encompasses forward thinking and the advancement of society by solving collective problems using methods that are both sustainable and efficient, typically with new technology.
• Whether you’re engaging in incremental innovation by improving something that already exists, or radical innovation by finding an entirely new way of doing something, valuing innovation means never being complacent by accepting the status quo.

Values to be learnt from Role Models of Society

• Role models show us how to live with integrity, optimism, hope, determination, and compassion. They play an essential part in our positive development.
• Positive role models influence our actions and motivate us to strive to uncover our true potentials and overcome our weakness. Having them pushes us to make the most of our life.
• Role models are a must for self-improvement because we must have a standard to strive for or compare ourselves with.
• There must be a ‘greatness’ or a ‘stardom’ (not in terms of showbiz) that we should wish to achieve if we want to have even a mediocre amount of success in any aspect of life.
• Therefore, it is important to have the right inspiration to discover who you are and do your best.
• All great leaders, sportsmen and high-achievers have one thing in common — they all have positive role models whom they strived to emulate in some way and eventually end up doing better than their role models.
• Argentinian player Lionel Messi confessed to having France legend Zinedine Zidane as his role model in football when he was growing up, labelling him a “hero”. Now, don’t you think Messi has probably outdone Zidane as a footballer?
• And since Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg became global icons due to their phenomenal success in the fields of technology and business, many youngsters have joined the tech bandwagon and set up businesses by following their passion or any out-of-the-box idea that came to their heads. Some even became dropouts like Zuckerberg to give full time to their passion, though I can’t say it’s a bright idea.
• Now let’s see what role models do for us and how we must choose ours.
• Our expectations are usually based on what we see around us. And it is likely that what we see around us is just ordinary or average, even though we may think otherwise.
• So we should base our role models carefully, choosing those who are at the top of their game, the best in their field — but with a strong moral standing and of an upright character.
• Though they may have their flaws (who doesn’t?) they should be inspiring in spite of their weaknesses.
• This will help us to see how it is possible to overcome or simply turn a weakness into a strength, and not let flaws hold us back from being the best of us.

Qualities of a Positive Role Model

• These qualities were woven through hundreds of stories and life experiences that helped children form a vision for their own futures. By far, the greatest attribute of a positive role model is the ability to inspire others.

A Role Model Shows Passion and Ability to Inspire

• Role models show passion for their work and have the capacity to infect others with their passion. Speaking of several of his teachers, one student said, “They’re so dedicated to teaching students and helping students and empowering students. That is such a meaningful gesture. They are always trying to give back to the next generation. That really inspires me.”

A Role Model Shows a Clear Set of Values

• Role models live their values in the world. We admire people who act in ways that support their beliefs. It helps us understand how their own values are part of who they are and how they might seek fulfilling roles as adults.

A Role Model Shows Commitment to Community

• A role model is other-focused as opposed to self-focused. Role models are usually active in their communities, freely giving of their time and talents to benefit people.
• We admire people who served on local boards, reached out to neighbors in need, voted, and were active members of community organizations.

A Role Model Shows Selflessness and Acceptance of Others

• Related to the idea that role models show a commitment to their communities, students also admired people for their selflessness and acceptance of others who were different from them.

A Role Model Shows Ability to Overcome Obstacles

• As Booker T. Washington once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome.”
• Young people echoed this sentiment, showing how they developed the skills and abilities of initiative when they learned to overcome obstacles. Not surprisingly, they admire people who show them that success is possible.

Research studies have long shown a correlation between positive role models and higher levels of civic engagement in young people. Positive role models are also linked to self-efficacy, the ability to believe in ourselves.

Finding the right role models

Our family

• Our parents and grandparents are often our early role models in life. They are also one of the best choices for us as they share the values and principles that should guide our life. We should listen to their stories, learn about their struggles and study their path of success and failure. There are countless lessons in these that will guide us about what to do and what to avoid.
• It is also an advantage that we can easily turn to them for advice, which they impart based on their experience and our well-being in mind.

Turn to history

• There are countless people in history, in all walks of life, who can make great role models. So read history, whether it is about business, science, political or showbiz, whatever is relevant to us. There are so many great people to admire and they can easily become the beacon of light for us.

Read biographies

• Reading biographies of different high achievers will tell us all about their beginning and how they turned out to become. Some may have had luck favouring them, others may have just had to depend on their determination, hard work and talents, whatever it is, we all have many lessons to learn in there.
• We should try to take note of their good habits and incorporate them in our routine, and avoid the mistakes that they made.

Have multiple role models

• We need different role models for different stages and aspects of life. Therefore, we need to have more than one role model so that we can pick up one aspect or good thing from one and have another good thing to admire and aspire for in another role model.
• And as we grow, we may find someone else who better fits our situation and aspirations so we should replace some role models with new ones.

Some Values by shared by Great People

Kindness

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” —Plato “I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.”

— Mother Teresa

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” —Dalai Lama

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

—Dalai Lama

“Kindness and love are the most curative herbs and agents in human intercourse”— Friedrich Nietzsche

“Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus ,it is called compassion. It is called compassion because it shelters and embraces the distressed.”

—Buddha

“It would be true to say that the cultivation of loving kindness and compassion is all of our [Buddhist] practice”

—Buddha

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” —Mark Twain

“Do not in jure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being.” —Mahavira

“Real kindness seeks no return; what return can the world make to rain clouds?” —Tiruvalluvar

Forgiveness

“One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him.” —Plato’s Socrates

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” —Mark Twain

“He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love.” —Martin Luther king, Jr

“To forgive all is as in human as to forgive none”. —Seneca

“To forgive is human, to forget divine…” —James Grand

“Let us forgive each other-only then will we live in peace”. —Tolstoy

Self-Control

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” —Buddha.

”People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.” —Will Rogers

“Consider how much more you often suffer from your anger and grief, than from those very things for which you are angry and grieved.” —Marcus Antonius

“Anger is the enemy of Ahimsa [non-violence] and pride is a monster that swallows it [non-violence] up.” —Gandhi

“No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched.” —George Jean Nathan

“Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.” —Seneca.

“When you are offended at any man’s fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.” —Epictetus

Anyone can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person at the right time, and for the right purpose and in the right way-that is not with in everyone’s power and that is not easy.”—Aristotle

Empathy

“You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself”. —John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“Yet, taught by time, my heart has learned to glow at other’s good, and melt at another’s woe” —Homer

“When a good man is hurt all who would be called good must suffer with him” —Euripides

“Seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another”. —Alfred Adler

“I call him religious who understands the sufferings of others”. —Mahatma Gandhi

“I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person.” —Walt Whitman

“As we have no immediate experience of what other men feel, we can form no idea of the manner in which they are affected, but by conceiving what we ourselves should feel in the like situation.”—Adam Smith

“Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection -or compassionate action.”

—Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships

“If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from his angle as well as your own.” —Henry Ford

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, apart limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feel in gas something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”—Albert Einstein

“Humankind seems to have an enormous capacity for savagery, for brutality, for lack of empathy, for lack of compassion.” —Annie Lennox

Truthfulness

“With out truth social intercourse and conversation become valueless.” —Kant

“The general rule is, that Truth should never be violated, because of its utmost importance to the comfort of life, that we should have a full security by mutual faith…There must, however, be some exceptions. If, for instance, a murderer should ask you which way a man is gone, you may tell him what is not true, because you are under a previous obligation not to betray a man to a murderer….But I deny the law fulness of telling a lie to a sickman for fear of alarming him. You have no business with consequences; you have to tell the truth.” —Johnson

“Even if you are in a minority of one, the truth is truth”. —Gandhi

“Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.” —Gandhi

“Truth never damages a cause that is just.” —Gandhi

“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.” —Gandhi

“In matters of conscience,  thelaw of the majority has no place.” —Gandhi

“Even as wisdom often comes from the mouths of babes, so does it often come from the mouths of old people. The golden rule is to test everything in the light of reason and experience, no matter from where it comes.”

—Gandhi

“Abstract truth has no value unless it incarnates in human beings who represent it, by proving their readiness to die for it.” —Gandhi

“He who trifles with truth cuts at the root of Ahimsa [nonviolence].He who is angry is guilty of Himsa.”—Gandhi.

“All the religions of the world, while they may differ in other respects, unitedly proclaim that nothing lives in this world but Truth.” —Gandhi

“Morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality.” —Gandhi

“Breach of promise is a base surrender of truth.” —Gandhi

“Breach of promise is no less an act of insolvency than a refusal to pay one’s debt.” —Gandhi

“The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one’s opponent.” —Gandhi

Humility

“Humility and resignation are our prime virtues.” —John Dryden

]“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.´ —St. Augustine

“Humility, that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly  virtues shoot.” —Thomas Moore

“We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.” —Rabindranath Tagore

“In peace, there is nothing that befits a man so much as modest stillness and humility.” —Shakespeare

“The first condition of humaneness is a little humility and a little diffidence about the correctness of one’s conduct and a little receptiveness.” — Gandhi

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.” —Gandhi.

Conflict of Values

• Value conflicts are caused by perceived or actual incompatible belief systems.
• Values are beliefs that people use to give meaning to their lives. Values explain what is “good” or “bad,” “right” or “wrong,” “just” or “unjust.”
• Differing values need not cause conflict. People can live together in harmony with different value systems.
• Value disputes arise only when people attempt to force one set of values on others or lay claim to exclusive value systems that do not allow for divergent beliefs.
• It is of no use to try to change value and belief systems during relatively short and strategic mediation interventions.
• It can, however, be helpful to support each participant’s expression of their values and beliefs for acknowledgment by the other party.

If you are referred to a dispute you are had as a ‘values conflict’, consider the following questions:

• What are you and the other person disputing about?
• Which values of yours do you feel are being challenged?
• What specifically is the other person saying that leads you to your answer to the previous question?
• Which values of her or his do you see as disparate from yours?
• How do you know that is the other person’s value or values?
• What value or values, if any, may the two of you share?
• What do you not understand or accept about the other person’s values as they pertains to your dispute?
• What might she or he not accept or understand about your values in the dispute?
• If it isn’t necessarily a ‘values conflict’, how else may you frame it?
• What difference, if any, does that frame make?
• What else occurs to you as you consider these questions?
• What insights do you have?

Sources of Value Conflicts

• As is evident throughout the literature on values, many research studies have focused upon the personal, professional and societal values.
• Specifically, these research studies are concerned with the influence and impact of these values in particular situations of value conflicts.
• In an attempt to analyze the various sources of values as well as the sources of value conflicts, Begley utilizes a second onion figure to illustrate the above.
• Begley’s model includes six arenas of valuation which “highlight the multiple domains and functions of administration” each which “have potentially competing or incompatible values”.
• The innermost ring of the onion figure represents the individual who possesses a distinct influence.
• Moving outwards, the second ring represents “the arena of groups and collective entities of various types… such as family, peers, friends and acquaintances”.
• The next ring represents the profession which is “a more formal arena that is closely related to the second ring, but is given special emphasis because of its relevance to professional life”.
• The following ring moving outwards represents the organization which is subsequently layered by the arenas representing community and culture.
• Research maintains the importance of valuing the community as a “relevant administrative arena and source of influence on leadership”.
• Similarly, today’s diverse society celebrates the importance of culture as “relevant arenas of administrative activity”.
• Represented lastly in the onion figure is “the transcendental -God, faith, spirituality”.
• This is an arena of considerable importance and can be a significant influence on the valuation processes for many individuals.
• We would be remiss not to consider the transcendental as both a source of infinite values and value conflict.
• Begley’s model denotes the numerous sources of value conflicts and illustrates how value conflicts can arise both within and throughout the different layers in his model.
• For example, “personal values can conflict with those of the community and professional values can conflict with organizational values”

Types of Value Conflict

There are five different types of value conflicts.

Subconscious Denial

• This is when you have knee-jerk reactions towards something related to truth, freedom or abundance and say “that’s not my cup of tea”.
• An example would be someone saying that being emotional or vulnerable is for weak people. Someone could also be progressing in a path of self-development and fall into anger and withdrawal when touching the topic of sexuality because she has been raped. It is an irrational reaction covered with a rational explanation to protect from a deeper pain that the person is not ready to accept.
• Symptoms: “not my cup of tea”, knee-jerk reaction, anger, withdrawal.

Subconscious Avoidance

• This is when something related to truth, freedom or abundance is in a blind spot and you never really pay attention to it.
• I cannot quote an example because those in that situation cannot talk about their blind spots. When facing an opportunity related to something they avoid, they don’t know how to process it, are just confused, can’t articulate what’s going on and will just walk back silently.
• An example would be someone who gets plenty of training on personal development and goals achievement but knows nothing about the meanings of “being”, “presence” and “authenticity.”
• Symptoms: Confusion, silence, hearing crickets, withdrawal.

Valuing Outcome

• This is when you value an outcome but not what’s required to make it happen.
• An example would be someone who want to lose weight but don’t want to exercise, or someone who values living a greater purpose but doesn’t value the actions required to make it happen.
• This causes procrastination and a lack of results. When in that zone, you can waste years following tons of training and proven systems and nothing will work.
• Symptoms: Procrastination, lack of results, laziness, illusionary comfort.

Unconscious Conflict

• This is when you consciously value two things without realizing they don’t quite fit together.
• For example, if you value integrity and spiritual alignment while your actions are purely based on logic, opportunities and contracts, you may use integrity and spiritual alignment as surface decoration without realizing they don’t quite fit with your foundation.
• This can cause all kinds of conflicts with the people around you which you’ll see as unavoidable. It also dilutes your power and effectiveness.
• Symptoms: Lack of clarity, tiredness, friction, conflicts, diluted power and effectiveness.

Conscious Conflict

• This is when you consciously value two things and know they don’t quite fit together.
• An example would be someone who has experience with stillness spirituality and also with force of life spirituality, values both and doesn’t quite know how to make these two worlds fit together.
• It is extremely common for spiritual people to not quite know how to integrate spirituality into their physical world.
• It can also happen if you get advice from a coach that conflicts with the knowledge you already have. The only ways to move past a conscious value conflict are to either find a higher truth where both perspectives are true or sacrifice at least temporarily one of the conflicting values.
• Symptoms: Procrastination, stumbling block, wall, confusion, inaction, reflection, feeling torn in two directions.

By resolving value conflicts, on top of opening the path for greater truth, power, abundance and freedom, you may also notice these symptoms:

• Increased vitality
• Increased eye-sight
• Seeing things around you never saw before
• Increased personal power
• Feeling more at peace
• Feeling your energy flowing unrestrained

Healthy Conflict vs. Unhealthy Conflict

• Many organizations promote healthy conflict amongst employees.
• This is the willingness to disagree – even passionately when necessary – around important issues and decisions that must be made.
• It’s about the pursuit of truth and the search for the best possible answers.
• Most organizational behavioral experts and leadership consultants agree that this is healthy conflict, which only happens when there is a high degree of trust between employees.
• In such cases, it’s very beneficial to have clearly defined core values. This helps employees work through healthy conflict using the core values as a conflict resolution tool.
• Unfortunately for many employees, there’s a lot of unhealthy conflict where they work.
• A telltale sign of unhealthy conflict is when the discussion is people-centric instead of problem-centric. In such cases it tends to get personal and nasty very quickly.
• The reason for such unhealthy conflict is common, and avoidable: blaming others for our own problems.
• This form of conflict is the reason most people demonstrate a fear of conflict.
• In addition, the consequences for unhealthy conflict can be severe, from dis-engaged employees to lack of commitment to reduced productivity.
• So what can you do about it?

Resolving Conflict

There are four viable options to resolve any kind of conflict:

Ignore it

• Sometimes a conflict is so small, it’s almost irrelevant. Any attempt to address it is like making a mountain out of a molehill. In such cases, the best solution is to just ignore it. For example, a shipment arrives 20 minutes later than you promised, but no one seems concerned or makes any fuss about it. Just ignore it.

Address it

• Oft times conflicts can be resolved by simply addressing them directly. In an organization, a values conflict might arise if decisions are made or actions taken that result in compromising a stated value. Having a meaningful and respectful discussion with others impacted may be the simplest way to resolve it. For example: sincerely apologizing for missing a promised delivery date, explaining the steps taken to fix the situation, and the plan to prevent it from happening again.

Negotiate around it

• Sometimes a conflict is more complicated than we initially thought or involves more parties than originally considered.
• Ideally this is a healthy conflict where you’re just following the process to find the best solution to resolve a gnarly problem, even if the discussion with others is heated at times. What matters most is to stay focused on the problem, not the people involved.
• For example, the inclusion of a new product feature requested by customers requires sacrificing the long-standing values of simplicity and ease-of-use, that have differentiated the company for years.
• Should this particular customer request be ignored? Or is it time for the company to shift the priority of differentiating values? There are no easy answers here. It requires the involvement of all stakeholders. But working together, creative solutions can be uncovered that open up new possibilities.

Mediate through it

• There are times a conflict turns out to be quite serious and requires more drastic action. Sometimes there are significant financial implications.
• Other times it may be bruised egos getting in the way (including our own). Resolving such conflict requires a strong mediator: to listen well, ask thoughtful questions, be able to influence others to compromise, and find the best solution that works for everyone.
• For example, poor quality output, missed deadlines, low morale, and unhappy customers are a clear indication there are bigger issues at stake. Someone external clearly needs to be brought in to identify the real issues and push for real change.

There are also two other popular ways to deal with conflict, neither of which is useful or effective.

Deny it

• The fear of conflict causes many people to avoid dealing with it – ever. Instead they hope if they continue denying it, it will eventually just go away. Unfortunately, this behavior tends to make things worse, allowing it to become a bigger problem than it was originally.

Fight it

• The other side of fear of conflict is the idea if you attack it you can kill it. But conflict can’t be simply stamped out (that’s called bullying). Even when we think a conflict is dead, issues remain, waiting to be addressed.

How Leaders can deal with Values

Leaders can dial down values-driven conflicts, invite reengagement, and reinvigorate their cultures. To do so, they must root out and alleviate the most damaging values-driven conflicts, each of which we’ll take a closer look at here.

Technology vs. Tradition

• This conflict plays out where some employees embrace new systems, processes, and tools while others resist them.
• A division forms between early adopters and laggards. Communication between the groups dries up, constraining teamwork instead of facilitating it.
• This values-clash isn’t really about comfort levels with technology; it’s about how people find meaning in their work.
• Some do that through engaging the cutting-edge. Other people find meaning through more hands-on, face-to-face workflows. Neither is inherently wrong – just different.
• Alleviate this conflict by first leveling the playing field. Both ‘sides’ have something to learn from the other. Cross-train employees so they’re equally adept at communicating and collaborating via technology and face-to-face (or via phone). Make collaboration channels a matter of preference, not skill.
• Second, co-create ground rules for the work that can be managed using tech, and the communication that needs traditional channels to retain meaning and enhance collaboration.
• Do this, and you’ll pinpoint how fast technology-driven solutions can shift customs and norms in your organization without unraveling your culture.

Knowledge vs. Wisdom

• This conflict appears when you’ve got a problem to solve, and half of your management team goes after the newest research, the freshest data, and the latest best practices.
• The other half falls back on proven templates, wisdom, perspective, and common sense. A subtle barrier emerges in your team, as people wind up devaluing ideas and solutions based on their source instead of their merits. As mutual respect declines, so does engagement.
• This conflict boils down to differences in experience. In general, the more experience people have, the more likely they are to value that experience. The less experience they have, the more likely they are to go searching for it. Your job as a leader is to help both groups value all insight that’s brought to the table – both intuitive and data-driven.
• How to accomplish that? Structure meetings to intentionally seek out both forms of input: wisdom and knowledge. Help people feel their contributions are valued, and they will more easily value one another’s differences.

Mobility vs. Loyalty

• According to the latest figures, over the course of a lifetime, the average person changes jobs 10-15 times. Some turnover is reinvigorating to a culture. Too much turnover drains your people’s focus and energy, as those who stay are not only doing more work, they’re tasked with constantly training replacements of those who left.
• Loyalty isn’t dead. People simply have different ideas about what it means. For some, loyalty is serving with intensity until they can make a deeper immediate impact elsewhere. In leaving a company, they aren’t being disloyal; they’re simply being loyal to something bigger (to them) than their current company.
• Meanwhile, other people value longer-term service, with the understanding that their immediate impact will ebb and flow. They’re in it for the long haul. Neither side is wrong in what they value, and both offer unique contributions to your organization.
• To alleviate this conflict, hire for values and manage your ratios. Consider which roles would benefit from a regular infusion of fresh talent, and which roles need to remain stable to “keep the home fires burning.” Map this insight as you develop it, and then hire and cultivate toward it, transparently.
• Turnover erodes engagement and cultural health because it’s unpredictable. Do your best to remove the unpredictability. Invite your employees to forge mutual respect for the roles they play in your culture’s evolution.

Doing Nothing Is Not an Option

• Most leaders don’t know what to do with values conflicts. They’ve never been asked to manage them. The problem with ignoring these conflicts is the cost to the business – in the form of drama, lower productivity, and poor service.
• Leaders be in tune with which values-driven conflicts are impacting your workplace cultures the most.
• Engage both sides in resolving the conflict and merging both viewpoints to formulate a better solution.
• The key to working through values conflicts among your employees and management team is to find the sweet spot where people can understand and respect why others hold certain values, even if they don’t agree with them.
• Then, you can create a work environment that leverages the values you do share, such as integrity, honesty, and civility.

Awareness is the greatest key to resolving value conflicts. The first step in resolving any problem is recognizing there is one.

Beliefs, Value system and Morality

Difference between Values & Beliefs

• Values are socially approved desires and goals that are internalized through the process of conditioning, learning or socialization and that become subjective preferences, standards, and aspirations.
• They focus on the judgment of what ought to be. This judgment can represent the specific expression of the behavior.
• They are touched with moral flavor, involving an individual’s judgment of what is right, good, or desirable.
• Thus-
  • Values provide standards of competence and morality.
  • These are ideas that we hold to be important.
  • They govern the way we behave, communicate and interact with others.
  • They transcend specific objects, Situations or persons.
  • These are relatively permanent and there is resistant to change them.
• Beliefs are the convictions that we generally hold to be true, usually without actual proof or evidence.
• Beliefs are basically assumptions that we make about the world and our values stem from those beliefs.
• They are often, but not always connected to religion. Religious beliefs could include a belief that Allah is alone and created the earth.
• Religions have their own set of beliefs. Such as Creator, Soul, Faith in supernatural being, etc.,
• Nonreligious beliefs could include: that all people are created equal, which would guide us to treat everyone regardless of sex, race, religion, age, education, status, etc with equal respect.
• Conversely, someone might believe that all people are not created equal. These are basic assumptions that we make about the world and our values stem from those beliefs.
• Our values are things that we deem important and can include concepts like equality, honesty, education, effort, perseverance, loyalty, faithfulness, conservation of the environment and many, many other concepts.
• Our beliefs grow from what we see, hear, experience, read and think about.
• From these things, we develop an opinion that we hold to be true and unmovable at that time.
• From our beliefs, we derive our values, which can either be correct or incorrect when compared with evidence, but nonetheless hold true for us! Everyone has an internalized system of beliefs that they have developed throughout their lives.
• These may stem from religion or may develop separately to religion.
• Beliefs are concepts that we hold to be true.
• These may come from religion, but not always.
• Beliefs determine our attitudes and opinions.

Difference between Morals and Values

• Morals and values are a part of the behavioral aspect of a person.
• There is not much difference between morals and values but both are correlated to each other.
• Morals are formed from the inborn values. Moral is a system of beliefs that is taught for deciding good or bad whereas values are personal beliefs or something that comes from within. These are emotionally related for deciding right or wrong.
• Morals have more social value and acceptance than values, therefore a person is judged more for his moral character than the values.
• One is said to be immoral for a person without morals but no such term is there for the person without values.
• Another difference between the morals and values is that moral is a motivation or a key for leading a good life in right direction whereas value is imbibed within a person, it can be bad or good depending on the person’s choice. It can also be called as intuition or the call of the heart. ‘Morals do not determine the values but are formed because of the values. Morals contribute to the system of beliefs and are the values which we get from the society.
• Morals can be related to ones religion, political system or a business society.
• Business morals include prompt service, excellence, quality and safety. One practices all the morals while running a business, but the values may not coincide with them. Therefore these morals do not come from within a person but are taught by the social group and has to be followed.
• On the other hand values are the standards to judge the right or wrong, good or bad, just or unjust. They are the fundamental principles that give guidance to a person to evaluate the merits and demerits of a thing.
• Values include courage, respect, patriotism, honesty, honor, compassion etc. All these are not mandatory by society but depend on individual’s choice.
• Lastly the difference between the morals and values is that morals are like commandments set by the elders and to be followed by the descendants.
• They can be set by ones elders or religious teachers or leaders of society who want to lead people away from immoral thoughts.
• One always treasures the morals throughout his life and they never change with time or conditions. While on the other hand values are not set by the society or teachers, but are governed by an individual.
• Values do not mean that it is always right to do so. Whatever is valuable for one person may not be the same for the other. Hence it is personal aspect and changes according to different situations with time and needs.
• In short
• Morals are generally taught by the society to the individual whereas values come from within.
• Morals act as a motivation for leading a good life while values can be called as an intuition.
• Morals are related to ones religion, business or politics whereas values are personal fundamental beliefs or principles.
• Morals are deep seated whereas values keep on changing with time and needs.

Relationship between values and behaviour

• In his work, Branson (2004) considers the relationship between personal values and behavior.
• His conceptual framework outlines the various components of the Self (self-concept, self-esteem, motives, values, beliefs and behaviors) and it suggests a pathway for learning more about the relationship between behavior and the subliminal components of the Self.
• Branson states that the components are “not discrete entities but, rather, inter-related and inter-active with each other”.
• Branson’s (2004) framework is a useful model for educational administrators to gain understanding about their behavior and how it is influenced by the various components of the Self, at the heart of which is self-concept.
• He suggests working from the “inside-out”, starting with the self-concept and working sequentially through the other components of the Self (self-esteem, motives, values, beliefs and behaviors).
• By engaging in this deeply structured self-reflective activity, Branson posits that administrators will: gain self-knowledge regarding the formation of their personal values; understand how their values influence their leadership behavior; be more attuned to how some of their values have the potential to cause undesirable leadership behaviors; and be able to suppress the influences of those values that can cause undesirable behavioral outcomes so as to enhance the positive effect of their leadership on their followers.

Consequences of Ethics

• The consequences are the effects caused by an action and the quality of these consequences depend on how much good they contain.
• Motives are the causes and the consequences are the effect. The consequences are defined by various theories, one such is utilitarianism.
• Utilitarianism evaluates consequences by how much happiness and suffering they contain.
• The consequence that mattered to every human is pleasure and happiness in the absence of pain and suffering.
• The good consequences are defined in terms of happiness and suffering.
• The amount of pleasure and pain created by an action is really good way of showing that some consequences are better or worse than others.
• Jeremy Bentham described the consequences based on the actions described below.

Intensity of pleasure or pain

• Consequence of an action can be good or bad. How intense it is, makes the difference in the effect. E.g., eating a chocolate and eating bitter guard shows the difference in intensity.

The duration

• The duration of pleasure or pain created by an action differs for stubbing one’s toe and breaking one’s toe.

The certainty or uncertainty

• Consequences of an action can be certain or uncertain. E.g. jumping off from a higher building can cause a lot of pain to an individual than jumping onto a giant pillow from the same place.

The Nearness or remoteness

• During the time of pleasure or pain nearness or remoteness effect follows an action.
• g. Pleasure of eating ice-cream is immediate, whereas the pleasure produced by winning a chess game is little more remote. They take a little longer to show up results.

The fecundity

• Consequence of doing the action is either pleasurable or painful, but how likely the action is to be followed by more pleasure or more pain is an important question.
• The purity or impurity of pleasure or pain is the opposite of fecundity. This explains how likely the action is to be followed by the opposite feeling.
• For example, eating all the chocolate is very pleasurable at first, but it leads to a great deal of pain in the long run which creates a high level of impurity or a low level of purity.

The extent of an action

• This refers to the wide effect of an action. Some actions can have an extent numbering in the millions, such as deciding whether to torture a terrorist for life-saving information.

Consequentialism: results-based ethics

• A plain and simple definition of consequentialism is, of all the things a person might do at any given moment, the morally right action is the one with the best overall consequences.
• Consequentialism is based on two principles:
• Whether an act is right or wrong depends only on the results of that act
• The more good consequences an act produces, the better or more right that act is.
• It gives us this guidance when faced with a moral dilemma in which, a person should choose the action that maximises good consequences And it gives this general guidance on how to live: People should live so as to maximise good consequences
• Different forms of consequentialism differ over what the good thing is that should be maximised.
• Utilitarianism states that people should maximise human welfare or well-being (which they used to call ‘utility’ – hence the name).
• Hedonism states that people should maximise human pleasure.
• Other forms of consequentialism take a more subtle approach; for example stating that people should maximise the satisfaction of their fully informed and rational preferences.
• In practice people don’t assess the ethical consequences of every single act (that’s called ‘act consequentialism’) because they don’t have the time.
• Instead they use ethical rules that are derived from considering the general consequences of particular types of acts. That is called ‘rule consequentialism’.
• So, for example, according to rule consequentialism we consider lying to be wrong because we know that in general lying produces bad consequences.
• Results-based ethics produces this important conclusion for ethical thinking:
• No type of act is inherently wrong – not even murder – it depends on the result of the act
• This far-fetched example may make things clearer:
  • Suppose that by killing X, an entirely innocent person, we can save the lives of 10 other innocent people
  • A consequentialist would say that killing X is justified because it would result in only 1 person dying, rather than 10 people dying
  • A non-consequentialist would say it is inherently wrong to murder people and refuse to kill X, even though not killing X leads to the death of 9 more people than killing X

Utilitarianism

• The classic form of results-based ethics is called utilitarianism.
• This says that the ethically right choice in a given situation is the one that produces the most happiness and the least unhappiness for the largest number of people.

The appeal of results-based ethics:

• Results-based ethics plays a very large part in everyday life because it is simple and appeals to common sense:
  • It seems sensible to base ethics on producing happiness and reducing unhappiness
  • It seems sensible to base ethics on the consequences of what we do, since we usually take decisions about what to do by considering what results will be produced
  • It seems easy to understand and to be based on common sense

Act consequentialism

• Act consequentialism looks at every single moral choice anew. It teaches:
• A particular action is morally good only if it produces more overall good than any alternative action.
• Good points of act consequentialism: A flexible system
  • Act consequentialism is flexible and can take account of any set of circumstances, however exceptional.
• Bad points of act consequentialism:

Impractical for real life use:

• while it sounds attractive in theory, it’s a very difficult system to apply to real life moral decisions because:
  • every moral decision is a completely separate case that must be fully evaluated
  • individuals must research the consequences of their acts before they can make an ethically sound choice
  • doing such research is often impracticable, and too costly
  • the time taken by such research leads to slow decision-making which may itself have bad consequences, and the bad consequences of delay may outweigh the good consequences of making a perfect decision
  • but where a very serious moral choice has to be made, or in unusual circumstances, individuals may well think hard about the consequences of particular moral choices in this way.

Bad for society:

• some people argue that if everyone adopted act consequentialism it would have bad consequences for society in general
• this is because it would be difficult to predict the moral decisions that other people would make, and this would lead to great uncertainty about how they would behave
• some philosophers also think that it would lead to a collapse of mutual trust in society, as many would fear that prejudice or bias towards family or other groups would more strongly influence moral decisions than if people used general moral rules based on consequentialism
• fortunately the impracticality of act consequentialism as a general moral process means we don’t have to worry much about this.

Rule consequentialism

• Rule consequentialism bases moral rules on their consequences. This removes many of the problems of act consequentialism.
• Rule consequentialism teaches:
  • Whether acts are good or bad depends on moral rules
  • Moral rules are chosen solely on the basis of their consequences
• So, when an individual has a moral choice to make they can ask themselves if there’s an appropriate rule to apply and then apply it.
• The rules that should be adopted are the rules that would produce the best results if they were adopted by most people.
• Philosophers express this with greater precision:
  • An act is right if and only if it results from the internalisation of a set of rules that would maximize good if the overwhelming majority of agents internalised this set of rules
• And here’s another version:
  • An action is morally right if and only if it does not violate the set of rules of behaviour whose general acceptance in the community would have the best consequences–that is, at least as good as any rival set of rules or no rules at all.
• Good points of rule consequentialism: Practical and efficient
  • Rule consequentialism gets round the practical problems of act consequentialism because the hard work has been done in deriving the rules; individuals don’t generally have to carry out difficult research before they can take action
  • And because individuals can shortcut their moral decision-making they are much more likely to make decisions in a quick and timely way
• Bad points of rule consequentialism: Less flexible
  • Because rule consequentialism uses general rules it doesn’t always produce the best result in individual cases
  • However, those in favour of it argue that it produces more good results considered over a long period than act consequentialism
  • One way of dealing with this problem – and one that people use all the time in everyday life – is to apply basic rules, together with a set of variations that cover a wide range of situations. These variations are themselves derived in the same way as the general rules

Other forms of consequentialism

Negative Consequentialism

• Negative consequentialism is the inverse of ordinary consequentialism. Good actions are the ones that produce the least harm.
• A person should choose the act that does the least amount of harm to the greatest number of people.

Consider this situation:

• A billionaire needs an organ transplant. He says that if he is given the next suitable organ he will fund 1000 hip-replacements a year for 10 years.
• Giving him the next available organ means Mr X, who was top of the list, will die – but it also means that thousands of people will be very happy with their new hips.
• Consequentialism might be used to argue that Mr X’s human rights (and his and his family’s happiness) should be ignored, in order to increase the overall amount of human well-being.

To summarize, ethical consciousness originates in the human experience, and is recognized by reason as crucial on the grounds of liberal self-interest. The moral imperative is the basis of human continued existence and wealth. Ethics ought to be viewed in relation to sustaining and augmenting this life experience of peoples around the globe, rather than in relation to any eschatological philosophy.

Ethics in Private and Public relations

Each of us play different roles in our Private & Public life, roles played by individual in private life such as Mother, Father, Daughter, Son, Sister, Brother, Husband, Wife, Friend etc. And in private life Teacher, Doctor, Leader, Businessman, Employer, Employee, Colleague, and so on.

Private Relationships

• Each private and personal relationship has its own irreplaceable value. Each of it has its own unique history, character, and set of implicit and explicit understandings about what is to be expected of the parties to it.
• The governing factors for ethics in private relationships include individual virtues, universal human values, religion, social norms and law.

Attributes of private relationship:

• Private relationships are often
• They are relatively
• More tolerance for imperfections.
• Expectations of loyalty, love, affection etc.

Public Relationships

• Public Relation is a management function. It is indispensable for any organization. Public relationship is outside of one’s relatively narrow circle of intimacy e.g. colleagues, customers, politicians, strangers etc.
• Public relationships are governed by many aspects. They may or may not be inherited.
• Many a times, they comprise complex situations, contradictory values and conflict of role and interest.

Ethics in Public Life

• As per Dwight Waldo, there are 12 spheres of ethical claims {means, what they should or ought to do} in public life of a civil servant viz. constitution; law; nation; people; democracy; bureaucratic norms; professionalism; family & friends; personal groups; public interest and welfare and religion.
• Similarly, the OECD countries publish a set of core values to guide public servants. These core values include impartiality, legality, integrity, transparency, efficiency, equality, responsibility and justice.
• This apart, Nolan, in his famous report of Committee of standards of Public life in Britain gave seven basic principles for public servants viz. Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness; Honesty and Leadership.

Attributes of public relationship:

• They may or may not be The engagements are due to work or benefit.
• They are relatively non- Public relationships are likely to be Accountability and responsibility are the guiding mechanism.
• Little tolerance for imperfections.
• Expectation for respect.

In public relationship, public officials need to cope with following primary cluster of roles:

• Role in his personal and family sphere.
• Role towards his jurisdiction.
• Role towards society and humanity at large.

Difference between Private and Public Relationships

• The private relations are obviously more intimate than public relations.
• They are generally inherited, relatively permanent; accommodate more tolerance for imperfections, and are full with expectations of love and affection.
• In contrast, public relations may or may not be inherited, are often temporary; with people who are different from us or even strangers, are likely to be instrumental, engaged in due to mutual benefits (quid pro quid), full with expectation of respect, and accountability and are guarded.

Self interest vs Selfishness

• Self interest is a concern for one’s own well-being. However selfish is being concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself i.e.., seeking or concentrating on one’s own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others.
• Self-interest is essential for one’s happiness and well being. It enables the person to provide food and shelter for you and your family. Self-interest is necessary for one’s economic and career success. Selfish people tend to be exclusively concerned about only themselves and their actions can be detrimental to others.
• Self interest includes caring for others as well however when a person is selfish self is supreme .
• A common example is doing well financially. Some try to assign a stigma to economic success, incorrectly asserting that economic success can only occur at the expense of others.  If a person is acting in self-interest, he/she is compensated financially for providing a desirable service or product.  Therefore they prosper as the result of helping other people.
• Selfish people don’t care what they have to do get money. They have no ethics, morals, or standards.  Their main focus is only what’s in it for them.  Although selfish individuals may at times appear to profit, it’s only in the short term and not sustainable.

Being ethical both in private and public relationships

• The governing factors for ethics in private relationships include individual virtues, universal human values, religion, social norms and law. Therefore, they comprise limited influencing factor.
• In private and public relationships trust is an important factor for instance trust on family members, public trust on the government machinery etc. So transparency ,emotional intelligence are the factors which strengthen the relationships.
• The private relationships demand individual’s responsibilities towards the role played in private life such as father, mother, husband, etc. These are self-imposed and voluntary and are backed by sanctions of one’s obligations towards self, family and society since ancient times. For example, in India, the Dharmashshtras provide moral codes to regulate the private relations.
• Public servants play conflicting role due to conflict in private life and public life.. Conflict between ethics in both relations may lead to unrest, guilt, dissonance and confusion in the mind of the concerned person.
• The public servant needs to cope with several roles altogether. This includes role in private life, role in personal and family sphere, role as a professional, role for job, role towards his / her area of jurisdiction, role towards seniors and society / humanity at large.
• The public service role invokes legal and constitutional obligations, which when violated invite legal sanctions and penalties. Thus, a public servant needs to cope with these different roles which many a times conflict with each other.
• Integrity is significant to follow ethical standard in public setting to sustain authority, develop confidence among people about the system, and to accomplish social wellbeing of society

There are code of professional standards for the practice of public relation to meet goals. Such as

• To provide behavioural guidelines to its members.
• To educate management on public relations standards.
• To distinguish public relations professionals from those individuals

Challenges in staying ethical in public life

• Most ethical challenges in public life stem from social responsibilities issues or from relationships issues with the news media, a client or employer, colleagues or stakeholders. They usually result from poor relationships, inadequate corporate standards and conflicting obligations in certain situations where the values of a client, employer and society may not easily be reconcilable with a practitioner’s own values.
• Sometimes laws conflict with individuals morals and values for instance stealing is a crime but a child might be stealing food because he/she is hungry. So internal conflict arises.
• There is a lack of morality and ethics in public life that is this generally refers to the dishonesty in the economic affairs of those who are in various walks of public life. To put it simply, it is corruption, which is an international problem.

Most common challenges faced by officers in public life revolve around aspects such as:

• Discretion
• Nepotism will lead to the downgrading of the quality of the public service.
• Public accountability

• In the modern society there is more importance given to material means like money but the way it is achieved is not considered .The challenge in public life is to do the right thing through the right set of values and right path.

Public sector ethics

• Public sector ethics deals with ethics for those who serve in the public sector- primarily governmental and elected officials focusing on the public, whom they serve.
• While public sector ethics overlaps in part with government ethics, it can be considered a separate branch as government ethics is only focused on moral issues relating to governments, including bribery and corruption, whilst public sector ethics also encompasses any position included in the public administration field.
• Public sector ethics emanates from several different sources. These sources range from the private ethical character of the individual public servant, via the agency-internal regulations and culture of the agency and national legislation, to international conventions with written standards and codes of conduct.
• One of the sources of public sector ethics is democratic standards and principles. Democratic principles are partly codified in the political human rights, and partly expressed as an ideal form of government.
• Administrative traditions can vary depending on a country’s culture, but there are generally shared views as to how public servants should fulfil their duties democratically with accountability; transparently with integrity; fairly, honestly and effectively.

Role of family and Society

Role of family

• Family is the foundation on which values are built. Moral values like truthfulness, happiness, peace, justice are instilled in children’s thoughts, feelings and actions and they function as ideals and standards that govern their actions in their life.
• The value system practised in the family becomes automatic to the young family members if they are taught moral values systematically.
• The family, shapes the child’s attitude towards people and society, and helps in mental growth in the child and supports his ambitions and values.
• Blissful and cheerful atmosphere in the family will develop the love, affection, tolerance, and generosity.
• A child learns his behaviour by modelling what he sees around him. Family plays a major role in helping a child socialize and has great influence and bearing on the progress of the child.
• Joint family system, the presence of elders in the family plays the effective role in social and moral development of the children. It also helps young generation of the family to imbibe human values and eradicate their negative mental tendencies when they are among elders.
• Children identify themselves with their parents, other family elders and adopt them as their personal models for emulation and imitation and hero-worship them.
• The behavioural problems are set correct only by the involvement of family in the child’s life as they spend most of their time in adolescence with the parents. Family is the first social organisation that provides the immediate proximity from which the kid can learn his behaviour.

Importance of Family values in life

• A family is a unit of parents and the children. Social standards and customs defined by a family provide the emotional and physical basis for a child.
• Values developed by a family are the foundation for how children learn, grow and function in the world. These beliefs, transmits the way of life a child lives and changes into an individual in a society.
• These values and morals guides the individual every time in his actions. Children turn out to be a good person because of the value taught and given by his family members
• Ideas passed down from generation to generation make up a family values. It answers the basic question of how one want to live the family life. Family values enhance the character and turns the children to be good human being.
• It teaches the individual how to behave and project himself to the next younger generation and the emotional support adds the importance of family values.
• Customs And Traditions followed and taught by the family leads a disciplined and organized life.
• Families values helps the child to stand strong on his views despite others efforts to break through with opposing beliefs. In addition,
• Beliefs and trusts built around a family helps the children to be responsible and conscientious adults.
• A child has a strong sense of what is right and wrong and are less likely to become victims of deviant influences.
• Children who are influenced by strong moral values identify them in others quickly which then produces a new generation with similar beliefs.

Role of society

• The society at large influences in character building, responsiveness and resilience. The income level, education level, culture, national ideology, mass media etc. have important role.
• Since birth, a child is in a society. It’s only that in his early ages, he is in a safe and pampered environment and in his later age he is into the open competitive world.
• So constantly he is in collaboration with the society. The process of learning through the society goes on throughout his lifespan.
• The only difference in the later ages is that he learns more through his own first hand practical experiences and observations. He gets to understand the relevance of values learnt in past by practicing them in the society.
• He learns to deal with the extent of being rigid about his values and beliefs only when he understands the consequences of his actions based on them.
• Like for example, we are taught to be passionate about our goals. It’s good but, practically sometimes we come across some critical situations where we – need to be more considerate towards others needs than being passionate about our personal achievements. So we may have to decide to sacrifice our personal ambitions for social causes. Society puts us on test for every act of ours because every act of ours affects at least few people near us.
• So values learnt and practiced in society are always for a cause which is beyond personal. Hence in every social system, the person learns to think for a larger goal.
• The stories of great reformers of past highlight that their personal values were subjected to public interests to such an extent that they had to sacrifice their lives and their families for public causes. Such people actually make a difference in the society.
• It is also found that people coming from varied societies have lot of differences but those from similar societies have noticeable similarities. Hence it is evident that society plays an important role in shaping a persons mind and adding values to his beliefs.

An ideal society gives opportunity

• To every individual to grow physically, intellectually and morally.
• To explore the potential as individuals.
• To shape the attitudes, beliefs, morals and ideals.
• To develop the values of hard-working, honesty, tolerance, national integration, secularization, and dutifulness.
• To discard negative values like dowry, casteism, communalism, alcohol, drugs.
• To disregard social tensions, unrest, prejudices etc. to improve the quality of life.
• To protect the nameless, faceless and voiceless and to ensure justice and equality.
• To develop discipline as individual and collectively.

Values that we learn from society

• Respect – The importance of respecting every individual is well reflected while moving in society. At home, as well as in institutions we almost are forcefully made to respect each other. But in society, the person realizes the value of respecting others and also experiences the consequences of not respecting.
• Social Discipline – Social Discipline is well learnt only while moving in societies. Only then a person learns the relevance of practicing certain social values and civic norms like helping the unknowns, following the traffic rules, maintaining public hygiene etc.
• Probity – The importance of probity is well realized when we work in a society. We learn to do things with more and wider responsibility. Probity gets tested usually when a person is under some type of pressure, like peer pressure, professional pressure etc. Hence society is the best place for learning and developing probity.
• Team Building – All the work done in societies are based on coordination and cooperation because only then larger than personal motives can be satisfied. Hence these values are essentially inculcated by the society in the individuals.
• Gratitude – Thankfulness towards the favors and our belongings automatically comes from dealing effectively in society. Without gratitude one never attains the sense of responsibility.
• Generosity – This value is also well appreciated in every society and the pay offs for it are usually very appreciable. Generosity helps a person directly to make an instant impression in the hearts and minds of larger group of people.
• Honesty – Honesty is a gesture which is always acknowledged sooner or later. Honesty at personal level as well as at social level gives the reflection of transparency in attitude and such people automatically become more believable than others. In bureaucratic world, impression plays a vital role. Honesty is that value which helps in creating apositive image. Society always adds to the level of honesty learned at home and in institutions.
• Confidence – Society helps a lot in boosting ones confidence. It is usually that the suggestions and applaud received from people beyond relations encourages the confidence of a person to the extent that even if he is not being paid for a job, yet he gets motivated to continuously perform fruitfully.
• Valuing Others Opinions – There is a difference in valuing others opinion and obedience. Obedience does not give any chance of presenting ones own opinion. Where as, living and working in a particular social set up provides lot of opportunities of collaboration and coordination during which one realizes that the collective opinions usually sum up to better decisions.
• Tolerance – For effective collaboration of all the individuals mutual tolerance is most essential. Since society consists of variety of people involved in it, hence society and its activities are the best sources for teaching and practicing tolerance. This is very much needed for maintaining harmony and peace. Successful implementation of various public policies are possible only when tolerance is consistently practiced by the people. It also is the key value required for maintaining unity in diversity.
• Secularism – Countries specially like India are a perfect blend of various societies which carry on their own beliefs, traditions and cultures and still respect mutual identities. Hence secularism is best learned from these societies. When it comes to patriotism and national integrity, secularism is best practiced beyond every personal interests.
• Nonviolence – Self control and tolerance are also the keys to nonviolence. Only in social set ups, individuals realize the importance of nonviolence. Non-discrimination and nonviolence are extremely needed to maintain peace and harmony. High moral values are required to maintain nonviolence at every level. But indeed this is one of the most required values for effective progress of every nation.

Ethics and Law

What is Law?

• Law can be defined as the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members. Consequently, the law is followed by penalties or punishments for the violation of these enforced rules or regulations.
• Moreover, it is the ruling authority of a country (the state) or community that enforces these particular laws according to the desire of the majority of the citizens; penalties such as sanctions and punishments are enforced on those who do not abide by those laws. By that manner, laws act as guiding pillars for the maintenance of a just and fair society.

What is Ethics?

• In brief, ethics is a system of moral principles. These contribute to creating morality among the people in a particular society or a community.
• Merriam Webster defines ethics as “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation or a theory or system of moral values”. Overall, ethics teach the way human beings should behave.
• Moreover, the term ethics originated from the Greek word ethos that means custom, character or disposition.
• Ethics enables us to think in moral terms and work according to moral terms. Likewise, it improves the moral standards in a particular country or a community. Laws framed by the state also aim at the same.

Similarities Between Law and Ethics

• Both aim at creating a society where everyone has better quality living
• Accordingly, they aim at guiding people on how to behave in a manner that will benefit themselves as well as others around them.

Difference Between Law and Ethics Definition

• Law is the set of rules and regulations created and enforced by the administrative authority of a society/country with the intention of regulating human behaviour for the common good. On the other hand, ethics are the moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity. Thus, this is the main difference between law and ethics.

Purpose

• The purpose of the law is to create an orderly society devoid of evil and injustice. The purpose of ethics is also the same as law; to create morally right people in society so that it will elevate the spirituality and the overall living standards of mankind.

Punishment

• Moreover, punishment is a major difference between law and ethics. Punishment is a core element in law; it aims to create order and justice to everyone while punishing the wrong and highlighting the right. Ethics do not necessarily possess punishments since they are religious and social beliefs and principles. However, those who do not follow the accepted ethics may be considered as immoral or not good by the others in society as well.
• Ethics and the law are not identical. Typically, the law tells us what we are prohibited from doing and what we are required to do.
• It is said that the law sets minimum standards of behaviour while ethics sets maximum standards.
• This seems to be changing as the law tries to impose broader obligations in relation to business and corporate activity, such as with directors’ duties and best interest obligations for financial advice. Yet legal duties and ethical duties still do not always correspond.
• Something may be legal but we may consider it unacceptable. And we may consider something right but it may not be legal. Many companies are facing a public backlash for not paying adequate tax in a number of jurisdictions.
• While this may not be an illegal activity, it is considered wrong and we are looking to the law to make sure it does not allow it.
• In other instances, what has long been an acceptable thing to do may have been made illegal in an effort to change cultural practices that disadvantage or endanger certain groups.
• In India, seeking, giving or accepting a dowry is now illegal, and child marriage has been outlawed in many jurisdictions.
• But throughout history we also have instances where laws that are considered unjust are disobeyed in an effort to change them. This occurred with civil rights activist Rosa Parks and the racial segregation laws in the US.
• A key issue to consider in relation to ethics and the law is whether the law is adequate as a guide for our personal and professional lives.
• Ethics provides us with guides on what is the right thing to do in all aspects of life, while the law generally provides more specific rules so that societies and their institutions can be maintained. Ethics engages our thinking and also our feelings, including those of disgust and guilt.
• The law does not tell us what to do in relation to many of the dilemmas and decisions we have to make in life. While we think obeying the law is an important basis for role models in our life, we consider other traits such as benevolence and empathy as more important in characterising someone as a good person.
• Professional accountants, like everyone else, have legal and ethical duties. Compliance with the law, while paramount, does not extinguish the duty to act in the public interest and in accordance with the ethical principles of the profession.
• Further, businesses and other organisations, which are increasingly considered citizens of society, are required and expected to not only comply with the law, but to be ethical. We increasingly demand that they are good corporate citizens. Then we have the added complication that the law has not only a letter, it also has a spirit, which demands a commitment to ethics and, particularly, fairness.
• Doing what you have the right to do – as in doing something that is not illegal – is not always identical to doing what is right. That goes for both natural and legal “persons”.
• We are becoming increasingly intolerant of businesses that are not doing anything against the letter of the law, but against its spirit.

Conclusion

• Law and ethics are essential factors for the quality of life in a community. The main difference between law and ethics is that one will not get punish ed for not following the social ethics, but will rather get socially isolated, whereas one will get punished for not following the rules. Hence, ethics stand as the fundamental principles for laws in a country.

Ethics and religion

• “A religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence.
• “Ethics: “Ethics (also moral philosophy) is the branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.”
• Religious ethics concerns teachings and practices of what is right or wrong, good or bad, virtuous or vicious, from a religious point of view.
• The definition of “religion” is controversial. A definition favored by the US Supreme Court is that religions are traditions that are anything like Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism.
• A more detailed definition to consider is: A religion is a tradition and practice based on a conception of what is real and significant (God, Allah, the Tao, Brahman, etc.), and the belief that sin, vice, disillusionment, and illusion may be overcome by grace, meditation, practices, and living in harmony, unity, or wise concord with what is real and significant.
• A Christian ethic, for example, may be informed by Jesus’ radical teaching about loving one’s neighbor, being a good Samaritan, loving one’s enemies, and the like.
• A possible religious foundation for ethics is important to explore.

Does ethics require God?

• Some theists and atheists believe that if there is no God (and they usually think of the Judeo-Christian idea of God), then right and wrong, good and evil are entirely subjective, or relative.
• In Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, the Devil’s voice says to Ivan that, without God, “everything is permitted”. Nietzsche claims that if there is no God, “there are no moral facts.”
• There is reason to think that if one were to ground ethics only in terms of what is best adapted for natural selection (in other words, if one were to base ethics on evolutionary biology), then ethics would lack an authoritative base.

Some Examples of ethical Issues in Philosophy of Religion

• The Problem of Evil: If there is an all powerful, all good, and all knowing God, then why is there evil? This is the classical theistic problem.
• Abortion: Is the termination of a fetus a violation of the sanctity of human life? The Roman Catholic position is that the personhood of the fetus is established immediately upon conception. Positions on the issue vary widely among different religions.

Difference Between Ethics and Religion

• Often, religion and ethics are treated as the same thing, with various religions making claims about their belief systems being the best way for people to live, actively proselytizing and trying to convert unbelievers, trying to legislate public behaviors based around isolated religious passages, etc.
• Of course, not all religions are the same, some are more liberal than others and some more conservative, but in general, all religious traditions believe that their faith represents a path to enlightenment and salvation.
• By contrast, ethics are universal decision-making tools that may be used by a person of any religious persuasion, including atheists. While religion makes claims about cosmology, social behavior, and the “proper” treatment of others, etc.
• Ethics are based on logic and reason rather than tradition or injunction.
• If something is bad, ethics tells us we should not do it, if something is good, obviously there is no harm in doing it.
• The tricky part of life, and the reason that we need ethics, is that what is good and bad in life are often complicated by our personal circumstances, culture, finances, ethnicity, gender, age, time, experience, personal beliefs, and other variables.
• Often the path that looks most desirable will have negative consequences, while the path that looks the most perilous for an individual or organization will often result in doing the most good for others. Doing what is “right” is a lot harder than doing what is expedient or convenient.

The link between religion and morality is best illustrated by the Golden Rule.  Virtually all of the world’s great religions contain in their religious texts some version of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would wish them do unto you”. In other words, we should treat others the way we would want to be treated. This is the basic ethic that guides all religions. If we do so, happiness will ensue. 

Conscience as a source of Ethical guidance

“Cowardice asks the question ‘Is it safe?’. Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’. But conscience asks the question: ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.”

– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• Conscience is an aptitude, intuition or judgment that assists in distinguishing right from wrong.
• In psychological terms conscience is often described as leading to feelings of remorse when a human commits actions that go against his moral values and and feelings of pleasure and well-being when our actions, thoughts and words are in conformity to our value systems.
• There are many different ideas about conscience—religious, philosophical, scientific, legal, and popular:
  • Religious: in most religions, the morality that informs conscience does or should come from either God, or an enlightened mind. Religions differ as to whether conscience is thought of mainly as a punisher (e.g. Catholic) or as a virtue to be cultivated (e.g. Protestant, Buddhist).
  • Philosophical: many philosophers have written that a truly moral conscience requires the exercise of reason; others have claimed that it is an intuition of objective moral truth. Pre-modern philosophers tended to believe in a natural and objective morality informing conscience—something like a truly moral instinct. Modern philosophers tend to recognize the cultural and individual relativity of morality, and many present arguments based on scientific theories about mind, evolution, and society.
  • Scientific: such as theories in evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, and sociology.
  • Legal: Our society seems to recognize “freedom of conscience” – that we should be free to obey our consciences – within limits. Considering that we don’t have a clear or unified philosophy of conscience, this raises legal, political, and social issues.
  • Popular: Our everyday notions of conscience are philosophically interesting. Consider that conscience is a part of us opposing actions that we ourselves apparently already consider immoral, but are in danger of doing anyway. It seems a little paradoxical.  Why do we need a conscience?
• Conscience describes two things – what a person believes is right and how a person decides what is right. More than just ‘gut instinct’, our conscience is a ‘moral muscle’.
• By informing us of our values and principles, it becomes the standard we use to judge whether or not our actions are ethical.
• We can call these two roles ethical awareness and ethical decision making.
• Ethical Awareness: This is our ability to recognise ethical values and principles. The medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas believed our conscience emerged from synderesis [sin-dee-ree-sis] – the ‘spark of conscience’. He literally meant the human mind’s ability to understand the world in moral terms. Conscience was the process by which a person brought the principles of synderesis into a practical situation through our decisions.
• Ethical Decision Making: This is our ability to make practical decision in light of ethical values and principles.

In his writings, Aristotle described phronesis – the goodness of practical reason. This was the ability to evaluate a situation clearly so we would know how to act virtuously under the circumstances.

• A conscience which is both well formed (shaped by education and experience) and well informed (aware of facts, evidence and so on) enables us to know ourselves and our world and act accordingly.
• Seeing conscience in this way is important because it teaches us ethics is not innate. By continuously working to understand our surroundings, we strengthen our moral muscle.
• Three Senses of Conscience:

1. Conscience as the capacity to know right and wrong,
2. Conscience as a process of moral reasoning,
3. Conscience as judgement.

• Conscience needs to be formed and informed. Conscience is formed by our experience and the influence of those around us.
• It develops as we mature and as we live through various ethical situations. Conscience also needs to be informed.
• Conscience is informed through learning about ethical issues and becoming informed on the ethical perspectives of others.
• However, conscience can also be “malformed”; this can occur through immoral actions, faulty reasoning, faulty value systems, or misinformation.

Conscientious Objection

• In politics, much of the debate around conscience concerns the right to conscientious objection. Should pro-life doctors be required to perform abortions or refer patients to doctors who will? Must priests break the confessional seal and report sex offenders who confess to them? Can pacifists be excused from conscription because of their opposition to war?
• For a long time, Western nations, informed by the Catholic intellectual tradition, believed in the “primacy of conscience” – the idea that a person should never be forced to do something they believe is against their most deeply held values and principles.
• In recent times, particularly in medicine, this has come to be questioned. Australian bioethicist Julian Savulescu believes doctors working in the public system should be banned from objecting to procedures because it compromises patient care.
• This debate sees a clash between two worldviews – one where people’s foremost responsibility is to their own personal beliefs about what is good and right and another where this duty is balanced against the needs of the common good.
• Philosopher Michael Walzer believes there are situations where you have a duty to ‘get your hands dirty’ – even if the price is your own sense of goodness. In response, Aristotle might have said, “no person wishes to possess the world if they must first become someone else”. That is, we can’t change who we are or what we believe in for any price.

How conscience can act as source of ethical guidance?

• Conscience is the inherent intuitive capacity to differentiate between right and wrong. “Inner Voice” is important especially in democracy as it has multiple stakeholders such as citizens, NGOs, corporates to be administered by the politicians who are elected by them only.
• But at individual level every person has conscience which helps them to take important decision. Thus it can act as strong tool to evade away the individual self centered thinking.
• Political Level: Conscience can help in reducing corruption, nepotism and profit seeking behaviour. Thus provoke them to act in benevolence of society at large and uphold the constitution principles. At each and every decision they should keep in mind that they were elected to serve the citizens and not to serve their own needs and greed.
• Bureaucratic Level: The crisis of conscience is important whether to just mere follow the orders from superiors v/s to follow the right path of judgement. The inherent voice of serving the nation maintaining highest standards of integrity and probity is important as they are link between citizens and politicians.
• Citizen Level: Collective and individual conscience of citizens is very important because it defines the existing society conditions. eg.- keeping surrounding clean, actively participating in elections, dissent to undemocractic principles. Thus adhering to it will also curb mob injustice such as riots. lynching of criminals.
• Moreover it is important to actively excel and improve at individual and institution level. Thus if everyone acts and adhere to there principles values ,the moral degradement can be curbed and faith in governing institutions can be reinstituted.

Crisis of Conscience

• Crisis of conscience is a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what is the right thing to do. The term is also used when someone is worrying because they think that they have done something unfair or morally wrong.
• It is a case of ethical dilemma, but often in a more strong sense. When there is a crisis of conscience, the individual fear that his action may be against the voice of conscience and hence ethically wrong.

Voice of Conscience

• Voice of conscience corresponds to an inner voice that judges your behavior.
• Voice of conscience is the source of ethical decision making for many. A famous example is Mahatma Gandhi.
• Gandhi says : “The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience.”
• How do you prepare yourself to heed to the voice of conscience?
  • Pause and think about the dimensions of issue.
  • Practice the power of silence.
  • Meditation and prayer.
  • Free yourself from external influences and selfish interests.

Conscience versus Sociopathy

• Sociopaths are, arguably, individuals with no conscience. They are also defined as incapable of feeling empathy, guilt, fear, or shame at hurting others or violating any notion of morality. 
• Interestingly, psychologists say that sociopaths understand morality and may even agree with the moral values of their society.
• They lack only the brain connection between those values and the emotions that would prevent them from hurting others, enabling them to act without remorse.
• Most experts claim that it is an incurable condition and neuroscientific research shows concrete differences between normal and sociopathic brains.
• Ironically, then sociopaths seem to be evidence that a capacity for conscience is innate in normal humans.

Ethics in International Relations

• International ethics is an area of international relations theory which concerns the extent and scope of ethical obligations between states in an era of globalization.
• Ethical questions are central to the study of international relations, as it is a field of study concerned with war and peace, trade and production, and law and rights. Yet, a persistent conventional wisdom suggests ethics are marginal to international relations.
• International relations, however, is concerned with political events and social forces that impact the lives of individuals, communities, and the human species as a whole, making ethical considerations inescapable.
• There is a long tradition of ethical reflection on international relations, stretching as far back as human beings have been concerned with intercommunal relations, but these reflections have been a secondary focus to the consideration of ethics and politics within communities.
• In part, this is why ethical questions about international relations come to the fore during periods of imperial expansion. Just War theory has its roots in St. Augustine’s reflections on the duties of the Christian emperors of Rome to defend the empire.
• International law developed as a way of justly dividing the world between sovereign states and savage peoples in need of civilization during the era of European colonialism, and human rights have taken center stage since the end of the Cold War, as the global influence of the United States reached its peak.
• Today, ethics are increasingly seen as a central part of the study of international relations.
• There are more sovereign states than before with a greater equality of political and economic power between regions, while at the same time international institutions and global civil society have expanded, and individuals have more contact with each other outside of their national communities than was previously possible.
• The Global Ethic Declaration identified two basic principles which underlie all ethical values and standards: humanity (“ren” in Chinese) and reciprocity (“shu”):
• A strong ethical framework supports both the operation and the effects of the global markets and the extra-market institutions
• first, the principle of humanity. When this is applied, it changes the atmosphere in any office, factory, store or business: “Every human being—man or woman, white or coloured, rich or poor, young or old— must be treated humanely and not inhumanely, even bestially.”
• second, the principle of “reciprocity” or the Golden Rule. It can be found already in the analects of Confucius, but also in the Biblical, Islamic and other traditions: “What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others.
• Based on these two fundamental principles, there are four basic values and standards
• a commitment to a culture of non-violence and reverence for life
• a commitment to a culture of fairness and a just economic order
• a commitment to a culture of truthfulness and tolerance
• a commitment to a culture of partnership and equal rights for men and women

Importance of ethics in International Relations

Legitimacy

• Ethics does its work in the world by granting and withdrawing legitimacy. History shows that the mitigation and cessation of unjust practices ultimately comes from the assertion of core values.
• The end of slavery began with various revolutions and rebellions—yet the source of its ultimate demise was its loss of moral legitimacy.
• Communism, for the most part, ended in similar fashion. The Soviet Union collapsed when the values that held it together were no longer credible and sustainable. Its legitimacy evaporated.

Rights and Responsibilities

• Rights are protections and entitlements in relation to corresponding duties and responsibilities.
• There have been many attempts at forging general agreement on the composition of human rights—the best known being the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and additional international agreement such as the Refugee Convention.

Pluralism

• Ideology presents a significant hurdle. Many political ideologies— “isms” and doctrines that are absolute and universal—result in what Hans Morgenthau called “the crusading spirit.”
• Absolutes and moral abstractions in politics can be problematic for the ethicist. Ideologies like nationalism, Marxism, communism, religious fundamentalism and even Western liberalism in the wrong hands, have been great simplifiers, prone to excesses of political operators who use them to cloak their political interests in the guise of high-minded moral purpose.

Peace and Harmony

• Ethics aim at “Peaceful World”, “Respect for All” & “Equality” while forming international organizations, declarations & forums. E.g.: The demand for equality in IMF & UNO shows the demand of adhering to ethics in a way.

Solidarity

• Natural disasters and refugee crisis situations require a more compassionate view of the global community. These are not isolated events and rather, the duty of every global citizen to help in the times of crisis. e.g.- Aid during natural disasters (Nepal earthquake)

Fairness

• Fairness addresses normative standards for appropriate contribution, equal regard and just desert.
• Contemporary methods for thinking through these standards include John Rawls’s “difference principle,” Amartya Sen’s “capabilities approach,” Peter Singer’s “one world,” and Kwame Anthony Appiah’s “cosmopolitanism” just to name a few.

Others

• Ethics helps to avoid the “Ego Clash” & “Ideological Clash” between two or more nations.
• For instance, the disruption between India & Pakistan relations can be avoided if both take a decision based on ethics.

Normative Shift

• The aim of ethics and international affairs is not to set the stage for world government.
• Schemes for world government have foundered on basic and by now well-understood structural challenges. Rather, an understanding of ethics and international affairs should help us evolve within the structures we have already built and suggest new arrangements where necessary, feasible and compatible with local support.
• In the street-fight that is often the reality of international affairs, there should be moral minimums (things to be avoided) as well as desired outcomes (global aspirations). The aim should be to create a sense of direction.

The climate agenda has generated numerous examples of a global ethic in the making. One of the most promising is the C40 Climate Leadership Group co-chaired by former President Bill Clinton and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. C40 is an organization that brings together the leaders of the world’s largest cities to share best practices on local efforts that will help to address climate change globally The C40 works by “planning and measuring the impact of local initiatives that reduce emissions from energy, waste, water supply and transport, and policies that increase cities’ resilience to climate change.” The C40 creates a forum for leaders from Helsinki to Hong Kong, Beijing to Berlin. These chief executives share information and policy ideas in areas ranging from green building codes and weatherization programs to low emission transport systems and seawater heating initiatives.

Ethical Civil Servants

• A civil servant is supposed to possess the virtues of objectivity and impartiality.
• Civil servant shall be guided by ethical and administrative values and norms of universal validity.
• Each civil servant bears independent responsibility for contributing to his or her organisation’s confidence and prestige.
• Civil servant shall not let their own self-interests affect the way in which they deal with cases or other work, nor let consideration for their own or their organisation’s convenience or prestige affect their actions or decisions.

Ethical guidelines for Civil Servant

• Concern for the citizenry – Both as the exerciser of authority, provider of services and steward of significant social resources, the civil servant is obligated to take account of the public interest, to strive to achieve equal treatment and to treat individuals with respect.
• Regard for the State’s reputation – The civil servant is required to perform his or her duties and behave in an ethical manner, and thus avoid damaging the State’s reputation.
• Duty of obedience – Civil servants are required to comply with the legal rules and ethical guidelines that apply to the activities, as well as to follow orders issued by superiors. The duty of obedience entails no obligation to follow orders to do anything illegal or unethical.
• Duty to report – In order to implement measures to avoid or limit losses or damages, civil servant are required to report to their employer any circumstances of which she or he is aware that could cause the employer, employee or the surroundings to suffer losses or damages.
• Duty of efficiency – Civil servants are required to use and preserve the State’s resources in the most economical and rational manner possible, and shall not abuse or waste the State’s funds. Reaching the established targets in a good and efficient manner requires striking a balance between efficiency and the use of resources, thoroughness, quality and good administrative practice.
• Professional independence – The principle of professional independence means that civil servant should use their professional knowledge and professional judgement to discharge their duties.
• Freedom of expression – Like everyone else, civil servant enjoy a fundamental right to express critical opinions about the State’s activities and all other matters.
• Active duty of disclosure – The State has an active duty of disclosure. Civil Servant should always provide correct and adequate information, whether to other authorities, companies, organisations or residents. In certain contexts, this will mean that one should, of one’s own volition, disclose information of significance needed for the processing of a case.
• Whistleblowing – Civil servant must be able to report circumstances in the public service that are worthy of criticism. Before a report is filed, an attempt should be made to sort the matter out in-house.
• Impartiality – Civil servant shall not behave in a manner that might impair faith in their impartiality.
• Outside and second jobs – A civil servant cannot have outside or second jobs, directorships or other paid assignments that are not compatible with the legitimate interests of the State as an employer, or that lend themselves to undermining trust in the public service.
• The transition to other organisations – When a civil servant leaves the public service, it is important to ensure that the citizenry’s trust in the public service is not impaired, or that the State’s interests in a negotiation or other interaction are not affected. The employer must therefore consider whether certain positions should be subject to a quarantine clause in the employment contract.
• Accepting gifts and other perquisites – Civil servant shall not, on their own behalf or on behalf of others, accept or facilitate the acceptance of gifts, travel, hotel accommodations, hospitality, discounts, loans or other contributions or perquisites that are appropriate to, or intended by the donor, to influence their work. Civil servant must not use their position to gain an undue advantage for themselves or anyone else. This also applies in cases where these advantages would not affect their service-capacity actions.

International Code of Conduct for Public Officials’ has following general principles:

• A public office, as defined by national law, is a position of trust, implying a duty to act in the public interest. Therefore, the ultimate loyalty of public officials shall be to the public interests of their country as expressed through the democratic institutions of government.
• Public officials shall ensure that they perform their duties and functions efficiently, effectively and with integrity, in accordance with laws or administrative policies. They shall at all times seek to ensure that public resources for which they are responsible are administered in the most effective and efficient manner.
• Public officials shall be attentive, fair and impartial in the performance of their functions and, in particular, in their relations with the public. They shall at no time afford any undue preferential treatment to any group or individual or improperly discriminate against any group or individual, or otherwise abuse the power and authority vested in them (United Nations 1996).

Ethical duties of Civil Servants

Serving the Public Interest

• Government employees and administrators are entrusted with public resources. Proper ethical behavior dictates that public sector workers act in such a way that best serves the interests of the public.
• This includes opposing all forms of discrimination, supporting the public’s right to know what is being done on its behalf, involving citizens in policy decision-making, communicating to the public in a clear manner and assisting citizens in their dealings with government agencies.

Respecting the Law

• Democratic governance operates within a framework of laws that sets the boundaries of government action.
• Code of Ethics calls on public administrators to understand and apply laws and rules that affect their profession, work to improve counterproductive laws and policies, establish procedures for proper handling of public finances, support financial audits of agencies, protect privileged information and promote constitutional principles of due process, equality and fairness.

Personal Integrity

• Government employees can inspire citizen confidence in public agencies through their behavior. This lends greater legitimacy to government actions.
• Code of Ethics calls on members to demonstrate their integrity by maintaining honesty, guarding against all conflicts of interest and the appearance of such conflicts, respecting others and conducting public business without partisanship.

Ethical Organizations

• In addition to maintaining standards of personal integrity, public administrators should promote ethical behavior on an organizational level by enhancing open communication, subordinating agency loyalties to the public interest, establishing standards for ethical behavior by agency employees and adopting policies that promote organizational accountability.

Professional Excellence

• Common stereotypes of many government employees and managers portray them as lazy, overpaid, incompetent bureaucrats. Ethical behavior in public administration means improving individual capabilities and encouraging professional development in others.
• Code of ethics calls for staying abreast of emerging challenges and encouraging others to participate in professional associations and activities.

Ethics and the personal life of administrators

There are several factors of a person’s private life that are often viewed as something that is not made available to the public. When a person enters into a public life, often, aspects of their private life are made public.

Health:

• It is important, in the public’s eye, that a public official be physically sound when conducting the duties of their office.

Finances:

• A public official may be a strong steward of public funds, but may have personal financial issues (i.e. failure to pay taxes, etc.).
• Disclosure of finances is particularly important, ethically, for the public to decide an official’s ability to properly manage public funds and to assess an individual’s potential for giving into politically charged financial pressure.

Sexual Misconduct:

• This is due to the assumption that any sexual misconduct may lead to the manipulation of the official’s daily decisions.

Appearance of Impropriety:

• Officials should make public any possible conflicts of interest prior to their actions, in order to avoid public scrutiny when making decisions that could be construed in favour of a personal interest.

Some of the contradictory requirements faced by public servants which lead to value conflicts:

• Free market economy Vs Accountability
• Freedom of information Vs Privacy
• Public sector codes Vs Ministerial discretion
• Public servant Vs Political servant
• Information sharing Vs Confidentiality

Conflict of Role for a Public Servant

• At times, Public servants play conflicting role due to conflict in private life and public life. The private relationships demand individual’s responsibilities towards the role played in private life such as father, mother, husband, etc.
• These are self-imposed and voluntary and are backed by sanctions of one’s obligations towards self, family and society since ancient times.
• For example, in our country, the Dharmashshtras provide moral codes to regulate the private relations.
• However, in public relationships, the public servant needs to cope with several roles altogether. This includes – role in private life, role in personal and family sphere, role as a professional, role for job, role towards his / her area of jurisdiction, role towards seniors and society / humanity at large.
• The public service role invokes legal and constitutional obligations, which when violated invite legal sanctions and penalties. Thus, a public servant needs to cope with these different roles which many a times conflict with each other.
• The question is – how to survive while playing such conflicting roles? The key to this is “personal integrity”. Personal integrity is simply taking a sincere and ethical stand. It also serves as a building block of public confidence and to establish a trust in society.

Ethical Claims and Managing Ethics in Public Service

As per Dwight Waldo, there are 12 spheres of ethical claims {means, what they should or ought to do} for a public servant viz.

1. Constitution
2. Law
3. Nation
4. People
5. Democracy
6. Organizational/Bureaucratic norms;
7. Professionalism
8. Family & friends
9. Personal groups- Class, Race, Union, Interest Group
10. Public interest & General Welfare
11. Humanity
12. God & Religion

Similarly, the OECD countries publish a set of core values to guide public servants. These core values include impartiality, legality, integrity, transparency, efficiency, equality, responsibility and justice.

This apart, Nolan, in his famous report of Committee of standards of Public life in Britain gave seven basic principles for public servants viz. Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness; Honesty and Leadership.

What is Aptitude?

• An aptitude is a component of a competence to do a certain kind of work at a certain level.
• Outstanding aptitude can be considered “talent”.
• An aptitude may be physical or mental.
• Aptitude is inborn potential to do certain kinds of work whether developed or undeveloped.
• The innate nature of aptitude is in contrast to skills and achievement, which represent knowledge or ability that is gained through learning.
• For example, we often talk about a student’s aptitude for learning languages, a child’s aptitude for drawing, a mother’s aptitude for crossword puzzles or even a husband’s aptitude for golf!
• Another way of thinking about aptitude is as a competency – whether innate, acquired or developed –for a certain type of work and this competency can be physical or mental.

Ability, Achievement and Aptitude

• Ability is concerned with present. It indicated the combination of skills, habits and powers which an individual now has and which enable him to do something.
• Achievement looks to the past. It indicates what has been done.
• Aptitude looks to the future and on the basis of the habits, skills and abilities that an individual now has predicts what he, with training, may become and what success he may have in a given occupation or position

Interest and Aptitude

• A person may be interested in a particular activity, job or training but may not have the aptitude for it.
• In such case, the interest shows in a particular occupation or course of study is often not the result of personal attitude but of some other outside influences or reason such as the wishes of parents, the probability of getting a particular job or stipend or other financial help or the prestige associated with the work.

Aptitude and Intelligence

• For some people, aptitude and intelligence are essentially the same thing whereas for others, aptitude is regarded as a specific type of intelligence.
• Thus, they believe that aptitude and the intelligence quotient (IQ) are closely related but represent opposing views of human mental ability – in order words, IQ denotes intelligence as a single, measurable trait whereas aptitude breaks that intelligence down into several different characteristics that are relatively independent of each other.
• The IQ score refers more to a broad range of mental abilities whereas your aptitude score reflects specialised abilities and provides you with a profile of your strengths and weaknesses, which help to predict your performance in a specific discipline or career.
• Another distinction that is often applied is the difference between skills, abilities and aptitudes. Here, the difference is one of time: skills refer to things an individual has learnt to do in the past, abilities refer to the things he can do now and aptitude refers to the things that he can learn in the future.
• Another way aptitude is sometimes defined is in contrast to achievement, which represents the skills, abilities and knowledge gained.

• Aptitude comes with interest and passion for a subject, while intelligence is the mental capacity to understand and gain the knowledge.

Essential aptitudes for a civil servant

• Awareness of aptitudes, or natural strengths, can be a powerful tool.
• Job as civil servant that aligns with your strengths and abilities can lead to a fulfilling, successful career.
• There are many types of aptitude that are essential for a civil servant such as,

Linguistic aptitude

• Linguistic aptitude is the ability to learn a foreign language with ease. If a civil servant has this aptitude, he/she may find it easy to learn the structure of a new language and memorize words and phrases quickly. This would help in interaction as well as understanding in different cultures.

STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) aptitude

• STEM covers a wide range of aptitudes in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.
• If a civil servant has an aptitude in a STEM field, he/she excel in solving mathematical problems, understand statistics and address issue with logic & reasoning.

Artistic aptitude

• Artistic aptitude is the ability to create a work that is pleasing to see or hear. If a civil servant has this aptitude, he/she is probably a visual learner and enjoy finding ways to be creative.

Mechanical aptitude

• With this aptitude, civil servant most likely know how parts of a machine work together, and he/she may enjoy building, taking apart or fixing objects.

Physical aptitude

• Physical aptitude is a natural physical ability. A civil servant could have several types of physical aptitudes, such as excellent hand-eye coordination, strength or agility.

Organizational aptitude

• Organizational aptitude involves civil servant’s ability to organize and operate efficiently.
• If a civil servant has this aptitude, he/she may enjoy planning work trips and creating slides for a presentation.
• Civil servant may find it pleasing to organize and prioritize tasks and data at work.

Spatial aptitude

• Spatial aptitude is a natural ability to understand the spatial relationship between objects.
• If a civil servant has this ability, he/she is likely to be a visual thinker who can easily imagine or create 3D models.

Logical aptitude

• Logical aptitude is the ability to examine your work and find logical solutions to problems.
• If a civil servant has a logical aptitude, he/she can process information efficiently and make a conclusion based on facts.
• A civil servant can also account for all the separate pieces of a project and bring them together in a coherent way.

Aptitude vs Attitude

What is Attitude?

• Attitude is defined as a set of beliefs, emotions and behaviours directed towards a person, object or idea. ‘Attitude’ in psychology, is an acquired tendency of humans to evaluate certain things in terms of a predefined frameset. Attitude is a reflection of a person’s personality. It is associated with his/her belief system.
• Attitude is a product of multiple factors. Factors like age, experience, social structures like gender and culture together result in the formation of a certain attitude.
• Academic and empirical research indicates that attitude has three components also known as the ABC component. These stand for;
• Cognitive Component– This includes things that are processed within the mind such as thought and beliefs.
• Affective Component– The specific object, person or idea which is subjected to the attitude.
• Behavioural Component- The impact on the attitude on the person’s behaviour.
• Attitudes can be both explicit and implicit which means they can be a very much a part of a person’s consciousness or can be unknown to the person.
• Attitude can be equated with one’s mental energy. Like electrical energy, attitude can be both positive and negative. Positive attitude towards certain things can be beneficial, for example, a positive attitude toward learning new things.
• However, there can be circumstances when a negative attitude towards things can have better prospects, for example, a person who has a strong negative attitude towards risk behaviour is like to be safer.

Attitude: Attitude is the mental evaluation of the social situation, event, person or organization, that has the potential to guide the way we think, we feel, and we behave. It is associated with character. Attitude has three components i.e. Affect (emotions-associated feelings), Behaviour and Cognition (knowledge and understanding).

Aptitude: Aptitude is natural/acquired ability for learning a specific skill or to perform a specific task. It is associated with the competence of a person.

For example,

• In “operation Sulaimani” a district collector in Kozhikode has stated initiative to feed poor by collaborating with large restaurants (donating extra food). In this case the attitude of the district collector is towards poor is of compassion and the aptitude is his innovative way to collaborate with restaurants.

Why Aptitude is considered as foundation value in Civil Service?

• India is facing several socio-economic challenges. Civil Servants should possess the ability to solve these problems innovatively and efficiently.
• For this, a civil servant must possess the right aptitude and right attitude.
• For example, in the above example the civil servant may have the right aptitude towards addressing the needs of the poor, but if he does not have the right attitude towards the poor (like having compassion of them), then he would not have tried to find a solution to the problem.

Why Attitude is More Important than Aptitude?

1. It’s easier to train aptitude than attitude.

• When people have the right attitude they are both motivated and adaptable which makes them more open to learning new skills.
• With the right attitude and enough effort most new skills can be mastered quickly.
• Whereas improving attitude is often about changing behaviors which is always much more difficult to do, as people need to want to change and without the right attitude this is unlikely to happen.

2. Attitude can impact overall performance.

• When people have the wrong attitude, getting them to fit into the organization can be like trying to bang a square peg through a round hole.
• They can just clash with the culture of the organization, disrupt teamwork, causing unrest and impacting overall performance.
• We often see this in sports where highly skilled players just don’t fit in with their teammates, causing issues and discontent. Consequently, they are let go and then almost immediately team performance improves. There’s even a term for this, “addition by subtraction.”

3. The right attitude can overcome obstacles.

• We’ve all heard the saying “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Well if it were about having the right aptitude then saying would be ‘when the going gets tough, the smart get going’. But it’s not.
• We’re always going to face challenges, difficult times, and it’s in these moments that things like determination, tenacity and resilience come to the fore. Having the right skills but lacking the will to use them isn’t going to help us overcome the challenges and achieve success.
• When hiring, we need to focus on attitude just as much as on the technical skills sets. However, most interview questions are focused on aptitude, and we need to make sure that we ask the right questions to uncover their attitude, such as their honesty, initiative, determination, tenacity, and resilience, etc.
• We need to ask them about challenges they have overcome, how they dealt with failure or how they dealt with situations which were beyond their current capability.
• People can fake attitude in an interview, and we need to make sure that we probe these areas, and listen to the language used, to try and understand their true attitude.
• Do they answer in the past tense, do they have specific examples and can go into details. If they can’t then the probably don’t have the attitude we’re looking for.

Second ARC recommendations

Commissions’ view:

• The inculcation of values facilitating the subordination of the self to a larger, societal good, and engendering a spirit of empathy for those in need of ameliorative state interventions are not skills which could be easily imbibed after joining the civil services.
• Such attitudes need nurturing over not merely individual life-times, but through successive generations – the ‘right’ ethos takes long to evolve.
• Nevertheless, it must be accepted that our civil service system has a tradition of attitudes and achievements which sets examples to be emulated by current and prospective civil servants.
• It must also be accepted that the existing framework for maintaining and promoting the norms of ‘right conduct’ cannot be enforced through a rigid mindless enforcement of laws and rules.
• It is all a question of striking the right balance. Within the civil services there are formal, enforceable codes setting out norms of expected behaviour with ‘sanctions’ prescribed for unacceptable departures from such norms.
• There are also inchoate conventions of propriety and acceptable behaviour without formal sanctions but with non-observance of such practices and conventions attracting social disapproval and stigma.

Commission’s Recommendations

• Public Service Values’ towards which all public servants should aspire, should be defined and made applicable to all tiers of Government.
• Any transgression of these values should be treated as misconduct, inviting punishment.
• Conflict of interest should be comprehensively covered in the Code of Ethics and in the Code of Conduct for officers.
• Also, serving officials should not be nominated on the Boards of Public undertakings. This will, however, not apply to non-profit public institutions and advisory bodies.
• The Commission is of the view that there should be a set of Public Service Values which should be stipulated by law. As in the case of Australia, there should be a mechanism to ensure that civil servants constantly aspire towards these values.

2nd ARC in general recommends following values for a civil servant:

Commitment to public service

• Adherence to highest standard of probity, integrity, and conduct.
• Impartiality, political neutrality, anonymity and non-partisanship, and objectivity.
• Empathy
• Confidentiality
• Action in public interest.
• Avoiding conflict of interest.
• Accountability
• Respect for the law, persons and institutions.
• Diligence
• Economy and effectiveness.
• Responsiveness

A draft ‘Public Service Bill’ now under consideration of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions seeks to lay down a number of generic expectations from civil servants, which are referred to as “values”. The salient ‘values’ envisaged in the Bill are:

• Allegiance to the various ideals enshrined in the preamble to the Constitution
• Apolitical functioning
• Good governance for betterment of the people to be the primary goal of civil service
• Duty to act objectively and impartially
• Accountability and transparency in decision-making
• Maintenance of highest ethical standards
• Merit to be the criteria in selection of civil servants consistent, however, with the cultural, ethnic and other diversities of the nation
• Ensuring economy and avoidance of wastage in expenditure
• Provision of healthy and congenial work environment
• Communication, consultation and cooperation in performance of functions i.e. participation of all levels of personnel in management.

Responsibility

• By responsibility as an element in intellectual attitude is meant the disposition to consider in advance the probable consequences of any projected step and deliberately to accept them: to accept them in the sense of,
• taking them into account,
• acknowledging them in action,
• not yielding a mere verbal assent.
• It is only too easy to think that one accepts a statement or believes a suggested truth when one has not considered its implications; when one has made but a cursory and superficial survey of what further things one is committed to by acceptance.
• Responsibility refers to “a sphere of duty or obligation assigned to a person by the nature of that person’s position, function or work.”
• The roles taken on by decision-makers imply a responsibility to perform certain functions associated with those roles.
• To be more specific, responsibility refers to more than just the primary function of a role; it refers to the multiple facets of that function, which includes both processes and outcomes, and the consequences of the acts performed as part of that set of obligations.
• A responsible actor may be seen as one whose job involves a predetermined set of obligations that need to be met in order for the job to be accomplished.
• According to Aristotle, moral responsibility was viewed as originating with the moral agent as decision-maker, and grew out of an ability to reason, an awareness of action and consequences, and a willingness to act free from external compulsion.

Importance of responsibility

• Someone’s irresponsibility can be not only irritating when a person does not cope or does not want to cope with the duties, but in some cases, it can be dangerous.
• There are certain kinds of jobs which demand from a personal responsibility, jobs where lack of responsibility can lead to tragic consequences or even to a catastrophe.
• Let us imagine a situation when a student was to write an essay but he did not manage to complete this task in time. A professor would definitely call the student irresponsible. In this case, there is no damage from irresponsibility, except for the student’s personal harm.
• But let’s also imagine another situation. An employee of a Nuclear Power Plant was not attentive enough, pushed a wrong button and it led to an explosion. This catastrophe caused by lack of responsibility as terrible consequences, it can damage not only the environment but also can take people’s lives.

To be or not to be responsible

• Some people claim that responsibility is not in their nature. They say that they try to be responsible but nothing works. I don’t think it is fair enough. I believe that for someone responsibility is more natural, for others it is not.
• That is why for someone it can be easier to be responsible, while for others it is rather hard. Honestly saying, judging from my own experience sometimes it is so difficult to stay responsible, especially when you want to relax and to have a little rest without thinking about the duties you have.
• It may seem that people who are too much responsible very often are too serious, and tensed, they can not enjoy their lives.
• Someone can even say that they are unhappy. Partially it can be true, but not necessarily. You can be a responsible and joyful person at the same time. Responsibility does not exclude happiness.
• Nevertheless asking “To be or not to be responsible?” the answer is definite: to be! But you should always remember that everything is good in moderation.

Social responsibility

• Social responsibility is an ethical framework and suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large.
• Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems.
• Social responsibility is important and plays a great role in every sphere of our life. So if we want to live in a prosperous and developing society, we all should be conscious not only about personal but also about social responsibility.
• Each member of a community has his own responsibilities and duties towards himself and towards others which he has to fulfill to keep the cooperative spirit and to keep a balance not only between people but also between people and nature.
• Since the very childhood everyone has certain responsibilities: responsibilities in a family, at school, university, at work and so on. Everyone is expected to implement these responsibilities and their non-fulfillment proclaims disapproval and indignation.
• So each of us more or less understands what responsibility is, what we need it for, and why it is very important.
• Every parent tries to raise the sense of responsibility in their child. While we are children, our parents are responsible for us and our personal and especially social responsibility are not that clearly visible or shown.
• But when we grow up, we take full responsibility for everything we do and for every our action. We can not just call our mother or father and make them solve our problems. So being an adult means being responsible for yourself. Of course, there are many levels of responsibility and they differ from person to person. Only you can decide what your level is, whether you are responsible or not. Everything is up to you!

Accountability

• Accountability is answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving.
• As an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the public sector, nonprofit and private (corporate) and individual contexts.
• In leadership roles, accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance, and implementation within the scope of the role or employment position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences.
• In governance, accountability has expanded beyond the basic definition of “being called to account for one’s actions”.
• It is frequently described as an account-giving relationship between individuals, e.g. “A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct”.
• Accountability is the readiness or preparedness to give an explanation or justification to stakeholders for one’s judgments, intentions and actions.
• It is a readiness to have one’s actions judged by others and, where appropriate, accept responsibility for errors, misjudgements and negligence and recognition for competence, conscientiousness, excellence and wisdom.
• While responsibility is defined as a bundle of obligations associated with a role, accountability could be defined as “blaming or crediting someone for an action”—normally associated with a recognized responsibility.
• The accountable actor is “held to external oversight, regulation, and mechanisms of punishment aimed to externally motivate responsive adjustment in order to maintain adherence with appropriate moral standards of action.”
• In the professional context, accountability is about answering to clients, colleagues and other relevant professionals.
• The demand to give an account of one’s judgments, acts and omissions arises from the nature of the professional-client and the professional-professional relationships. For communication professionals, accountability has more specific implications.
• Recent years have seen more practical and concrete interpretation of the concept of accountability by communication specialists. It is associated with responsiveness to the views of all stakeholders, which includes a willingness to explain, defend, and justify actions

Civil Service Accountability

• The Civil Servant has always played a pivotal role in ensuring continuity and change in administration. The civil servants are dictated by the rules and procedures.
• It is the ‘rule of law’ rather than ‘rule of man’ that is blamed for widespread abuse of power and corruption among government officials.
• The explosion of media has also opened civil servants to external scrutiny.
• The following diagram shows the accountability of a civil servant at various levels.
• Transparency is a necessary part of accountability, though they are two different concepts. To hold a civil servant accountable, it is necessary to find out the information about the civil servants’ decisions and actions.
• This leads us to the urgent need for legislation such as the Right to Information and protection for the citizens to blow the whistle.
• For greater accountability, the following are some of the measures suggested:
• Strengthening and streamlining reporting mechanisms
• Streamlining and fast-tracking departmental enquiries
• Linking performance with incentives
• Overhaul of employee grievance procedures
• Action on audit findings
• Implementation of Citizens Charters’ for monitoring service delivery
• Right to Information Act and its enforcement
• Code of conduct for civil servants.

Integrity

• Integrity means, “The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness…” – derives from Latin “integer”.
• Integrity means the quality of a person that integrates his heart with his body. The heart teaches him what action is right and what action is wrong. If his body obeys his heart or conscience, then he is a man of integrity. What proceeds from a man’s heart makes him evil or good.
• Integrity is the fundamental moral concept in civil services. It is an important basis of ethical behaviour and ethical competency.
• It is associated with the value of being honest and maintain strong moral principles. Integrity includes financial integrity, professional integrity and intellectual integrity.
• Ethics and integrity are closely related. An ethical person having strong moral values is bound to be a man of integrity.
• Integrity is a value, like persistence, courage, and intelligence. It is your choice of values and resolution to live by those values that form your character and personality. And it is integrity that enhances all your other values.
• The quality of person you are is determined by how well you live up to the values that are most important to you. Integrity is the quality that locks in your values and causes you to live consistent with them.
• Integrity is the foundation of character. A person who has integrity also has an unblemished character in every area of his or her life.
• One of the most important activities you can engage in, is developing your character. And one of the best ways to develop your character is by consistently doing the same things that a thoroughly honest person would do in every area of his or her life.
• To be totally honest with others, you first have to be totally honest with yourself. You have to be true to yourself. You have to be true to the very best that is in you. Only a person who is consistently living a life with the highest values and virtues is a person truly living a life of integrity. If you are always honest and true to yourself you cannot be false to anyone else.
• The mark of people who have high integrity is, they always do the highest quality of work in everything they do. They are the people who are always totally honest with themselves in everything they do, and strive to excellent work on every occasion. People with high integrity realize that everything they do is a statement about who they are as a person.

As an individual, having integrity means:

• That your actions are consistent with your words
• That you are trustworthy, reliable and honest
• That you communicate honestly and openly
• That you have appropriate values, and behaviours that reflect these values
• That you can admit mistakes and not be afraid to show you care.

The Three Forms of Integrity:

According to Dan Coughlin, keynote speaker, management consultant and executive coach, there are three types of integrity:

1. Internal integrity

• This is your integrity at the deepest level. Is your integrity just for show because it looks good, or do you truly live your life with integrity in mind?
• Internal integrity is about being able to do the right thing, even if no one is looking and even if you will receive absolutely no credit for doing so.
• Doing the right thing, even though it may be the harder option, despite no one looking will really be a huge step towards ensuring that you live with integrity.

2. External integrity

• This is what you portray to those around you. You have high external integrity when your actions are consistent with your thoughts and what you are saying. If you are saying one thing, but your actions say something else – you have some more work to do!

Image integrity

• Similar to external integrity – this is the image of your integrity. Whilst you might outwardly be displaying the right actions and taking the right path, can these actions be thought of in any other way? Are you leaving your image open to interpretation?
• People have great imaginations. When we don’t understand something, we are very quick to make assumptions and form beliefs about why something is occurring.
• Looking after your image integrity is about ensuring that none of your actions or words can be misconstrued.

Why is Integrity Important?

• Primarily, integrity is so important as these traits foster a positive character in personal & public life. One where there is open communication, good decision making and a strong moral compass guiding all decisions and actions. Whereas, irresponsible behaviour and distrust can make a work environment uncomfortable and tense.
• If you are known for your integrity, you will gain trust and respect from the people around you.
• Integrity is not just important on a personal level, it is also vitally important at a workplace level. Organisations known for their integrity perform better.
• What customer wants to deal with an organisation that doesn’t keep their word, that says one thing but does something else or that offers bad products or services? They wouldn’t. Instead they would want to deal with the organisation who can be trusted to follow through with what they have agreed upon, that have trustworthy employees and a good brand message.

Demonstrating Integrity:

• Build Trusting and Respectful Relationships – Trust and respect are the ingredients of a healthy, positive workplace culture. Polite communication, respecting your colleague’s thoughts and ideas and continuously working on relationships demonstrates that you are a team player. Working as a team builds up trust and also shows that people can rely on you.
• Communicate Openly and Honestly – Open and honest communication is the way to ensure that people know exactly what is going on around them, where everybody stands and the best way forward.
• Follow Company Policies – Policies are designed to guide you as to the best practice. If you choose not to follow them or if you use shortcuts, it will lead to bad decisions, problems and mistakes that will need fixing.
• Demonstrate Responsible Behaviour – Ensure that there is no reason for your colleagues to ever question your conduct by demonstrating ethical and moral behaviour at all times. This includes avoiding using the company’s equipment or resources for personal use, striving to complete your task before deadlines and showing enthusiasm and commitment to your work.
• Work Diligently – This is a very powerful way of demonstrating integrity as it shows that you are responsible for your work time. Making personal calls, surfing the internet, texting or snacking at the work desk, are some of the activities that distract one from working efficiently. Focusing on your job responsibilities while at your desk will show your colleagues, manager, and even customers, that you have strong work ethics.
• Admit to and Learn from Your Mistakes – It is common to make mistakes as you work, but you should admit the mistake without putting the blame on someone else. This shows that you are responsible enough to own up to your mistakes, are willing to correct them and learn from them. If you are a manager, this means taking the blame yourself, and not letting your team members take the responsibility.
• Lead by Example – This sets a firm foundation for what you value most and how you want to work. By seeing you working by the same standards and expectations, it encourages others to follow suit.
• Stand Up for Your Beliefs – This is about standing up for what you believe is the right way of doing things, even if everyone else is doing something different.
• Have Your Own Identity – Come to understand who you are, what you are capable of becoming, what you want out of life and where you want to go. Ensure that these are not merely reflections of what others expect or want. Once you know this, align your values to this path and steer straight in all that you do.

Integrity Pact

• On the initiative taken by Transparency International (an International NGO which fights corruption globally), Central Vigilance Commission has directed all Public Sector Companies to make provisions for signing an agreement called Integrity Pact with the private sector companies who participate in the tendering process of the Public Sector companies.
• The Integrity Pact is a specific tool used to build transparency in public procurement, bidding or licensing process by both public institutions and private agencies.
• The establishment of such a fair and transparent basis for awarding contracts not only ensures efficiency but also helps in building public trust in the government and the private sector.
• The Integrity Pact envisages an agreement between the prospective vendor/bidder and the buyer committing the persons/officials of both the parties not to exercise any corrupt influence on any aspect of the contract.
• Only those vendors/bidders who have entered into such an Integrity Pact with the buyer (PSU) would be competent to participate in bidding with the PSU concerned wherever the value of each contract exceeds a particular amount.

Code of Ethics for civil servant

• Code of Ethics is a set of established standard to guide the conduct of Civil Servant in particular and public service in general.
• Code of ethics is the written set of guidelines issued by an organisation to its official to guide their conduct in accordance with its prime value and ethical standard. It may be general obligation and admonitions, but they are more than that.
• Code of ethics includes the principle of honesty, integrity, impartiality, commitment to public service, accountability, etc. However, no organisation has ever defined code of ethics in India, neither for civil servant or politicians because ethics is expected by default.
• Codes of Ethics are the obligations which are expected by a professional by default. Ethics brings the lubricating effect in an organisation through which smooth functioning is ensured.

Basic principles of Code of ethics for civil Servants

• Civil servants shall perform their official duties in compliance with the Constitution and law. When performing their operations, civil servants shall act exclusively in the public interest.
• Civil servants shall ensure equal treatment of the citizens and the legal entities when performing official duties.
• Civil servants shall perform their activities to a high professional level, which shall be continuously upgraded.
• Civil servants shall perform their activities in the most conscientious, direct, the most efficient, timely and methodical manner in the interest of the citizens and the other entities in realizing their rights, duties and interests.
• Civil servants shall not be engaged in any activities that are contrary to the legitimate performance of their official duties, and they shall do everything to avoid situations and conduct that could impair the interest or the reputation of the body in which he/she is employed or of the state administration as a whole.
• When communicating with citizens and other legal entities, the civil servants shall act in a manner that enables establishment of relations of mutual confidence and cooperation between these entities and the administration. In their relations with the citizens and the other legal entities, the civil servants shall show understanding, courtesy, respectability and highest possible will to help and shall not impede the realization of their rights and interests.

Value Aspects of Civil Servant’s Code of Ethics

Impartiality

• When performing their official duties, civil servants shall not be influenced by partiality for achieving certain results.
• When performing specific tasks and deciding about the rights, the duties and the interests of the citizens and the legal entities, civil servants shall not be led by incorrect, unjustified or unreasonable assessment of the factual situation due to prejudice, realization of ambitions for career promotion, conflict of interests, intimidation or threats by the superior civil servants, the official managing the body in which the civil servant is employed or by the persons affected by the respective act or decision.
• When performing the official duties, civil servants shall provide equal treatment of the citizens contacting the body in which they are employed. To that effect, they shall not reject to render service to a person that is regularly rendered to other persons nor shall render service to a person that is regularly not rendered to other persons.
• Civil servants shall not deliberately cause damage to other person, group of persons, body or legal entity. On the contrary, they shall ensure the realization of the rights and the legitimate interests of the citizens and the other entities.

Independence in reaching decisions

• Civil servants shall independently reach decisions and shall decide objectively on the basis of the facts of the case, taking into consideration only the legally relevant facts and acting without unnecessary delay.
• Civil servants shall adhere to the appropriate procedure when performing the official duties within their competence, especially rejecting any pressure, even the one from their superiors.

Misuse of the authorizations

• Civil servants shall not use advantages arising from their status as civil servants nor shall they use the information acquired due to their position for their personal benefit. Their duty shall be to avoid any conflict of interests, as well as situations that could lead to suspicion for conflict of interests.
• Except when legally correct, civil servants shall not offer nor provide any advantages that would in any way be related to their position in the state administration.
• Civil servants shall not consciously mislead the public or the other civil servants within the body.
• Civil servants shall refuse to act contrary to the legal regulations or in a manner that presents a possibility to misuse the authority arising from their position, should the citizens and the legal entities for whose rights and obligation they decide ask from them to act so.

Information transparency

• Civil servants shall treat the information they acquired due to their position in the state administration with the all necessary secrecy and shall provide appropriate information protection.
• Civil servants shall facilitate the access of citizens to the information they have the right to obtain for the purpose of realization of their rights and interests.
• Civil servants shall not refuse to provide and shall not provide incorrect data or information to the state bodies, the legal entities and citizens, should the provision of data be stipulated by law.

Political activity

• Civil servants shall perform their official duties and the determined policy of the body in which they are employed on politically neutral manner i.e. correctly and efficiently, without revising their political correctness.
• Civil servants shall not represent or express their political view in performing the official duties.
• Civil servants shall not carry out political activities that could undermine the confidence of the citizens in his/her ability to perform the official duties in a proper manner.
• Civil servants, in their relations with citizens and the legal entities as well as in their relations with the other civil servants, shall not mention, emphasis nor indirectly state their membership in specific political party.
• Civil servants shall not oblige other civil servants or persons without the status of civil servants in the body in which they are employed to join specific political party nor shall they instigate them to act so by promising them career promotion.

Conflict of financial interests

• Civil servants shall not let their personal financial interest to be in conflict with their position and the status of civil servant.
• Financial interest shall include any benefit for the civil servant, for his/her family, relatives, friends, for physical persons and legal entities with whom he/she has or had business relations.
• Civil servants shall not accept relations of cooperation with persons or organizations that have or had economic interest from the decisions or the activities of the body in which the civil servant is employed in the past three years.

Gifts and other form of benefit

• Civil servants shall not ask for nor accept, for themselves or for others, gifts, services, assistance or any other benefit that could affect or that could seem to affect their decisions for certain issues, or that could corrupt their professional approach towards certain issues.
• Civil servants shall not accept gifts or gratitude that could be deemed as reward for those activities the performance of which is their responsibility.
• Civil servants shall not ask for themselves or for other nor shall they accept gifts or other form of benefit from other civil servant or his/her relative.

Protection and economy usage of government funds

• Civil servants shall put all efforts to ensure maximum effective and economy management and usage of tangible assets, equipment and other objects entrusted to them, and shall prevent their illegal disposal.
• Civil servants shall take care of undertaking appropriate measures to ensure security of entrusted objects as well as of eliminating the possibilities to cause material damage in the body in which they are employed.

Code of conduct for Civil servants

• Code of conduct is a set of rules, outlining expected behaviour from the members of an organisation. Specifically, it outlines the rules, regulation, standard, responsibilities for individual party or organisation in a way that coordinate to the welfare of its key stakeholders.
• The code of conduct for civil servant specifies the clear principle as to what the government expects from its employees.
• A Code of Conduct must address all important ethical issues and legal duties with respect to the behaviour and conduct of individual directors, volunteers and staff members of the credit union. It should deal with the following issues:
• general standard of care of directors and officers
• Compliance with all applicable laws
• Confidentiality
• Conflicts of interest
• Restricted party transactions
• Unethical conduct

Unethical Conduct

Forms of unethical or inappropriate conduct which should be prohibited either in policy or directly in the Code of Conduct include:

• Abuse of the personal privileges of office.
• Secret commissions.
• Inappropriate gifts.
• Acts of slander and libel.
• Employee discrimination and harassment.
• Criminal acts.
• Not reporting of questionable and fraudulent acts.

Santhanam Committee’s Recommendation

• The committee on the prevention of corruption which was established in the year 1964 is also known as Santhanam committee.
• This was the first-time concept of code of conduct was introduced by any committee.
• The committee suggested that there should be conduct rules, particularly those relating to integrity should be uniform.
• Committee also suggested the values like altruism and empathy for the poor are hard to embed after joining the service.
• In the year 2004, after the recommendation of Hota committee code of ethics is laid down for civil servant to imbue the values of integrity, merit and excellence in public service.
• Then the 2nd ARC in its 10th pertaining to values and ethics of civil service in India recommended drafting a bill on ethics a statutory basis in the form of Civil Service Bill.
• The commission recommended that in addition to upholding the constitutional rights and spirit, the civil servants shall be guided by the following values.
• Adherence to the highest standard of integrity and conduct
• Impartiality and Non-Partnership
• Objectivity
• Dedication to public service
• Empathy and compassion towards the weaker section of society

Integrity – According to the rules defined ‘A Civil servant shall be guided solely by the public interest in their official decision making and not by any financial or other consideration or either in respect to themselves’.

Commitment to Public service – A civil servant should always deliver service in a fair, effective, impartial and courteous manner.

Open Accountability – Civil servant is accountable for their decision and action, and they should be willing to subject themselves to appropriate scrutiny for this purpose.

Devotion to Duty – A civil servant should always maintain absolute devotion towards their duties and responsibility all the time.

Exemplary Behaviour – Civil servant should treat all members of the public with respect and courtesy, and behave in a manner that upholds the rich tradition of civil services.

The 2^nd ARC quotes ‘The Seven Social Sins described by Mahatma Gandhi in “Young India,” 1925, that should avoided by Civil Servants & Public Office holders.

1. Politics without principles
2. Wealth without work
3. Leisure without conscience.
4. Knowledge without character
5. Commerce without morality
6. Science without humanity
7. Worship without sacrifice

In India, the current set of ethical norms are the Conduct Rules, contained in the:

• Central Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964
• The All India Services (Conduct), 1968
• All India Services (Conduct) Amendment Rules, 2014

Conduct at the service

• Civil servants, except due to justified causes, shall not postpone or entrust the performance of the activities or the decision making within their responsibility to other civil servants. They shall not refuse the performance of the official duties of the working post assigned to them nor shall reject the orders by the direct superior civil servant, except in the cases stipulated by law.
• Respecting office hours, civil servants shall pay special efforts and time to perform the official duties. They shall limit absence from their working post to that strictly indispensable.
• Civil servants shall not use the objects or the equipment at their disposal assigned to them for official purposes for private ones. Except in cases of emergency, they shall not use the office telephone or computer equipment for personal needs. Civil servants having company vehicle at disposal shall use the vehicle for performing official duties and shall not transport persons not within the administration.
• Civil servants shall conduct correctly towards the other civil servants as well as the employees in the other state bodies.
• Civil servants shall pay special attention to the way they dress in order not to cause an impression of indecency or impairment of the reputation of the body in which he/she is employed.

Conduct in private life

• Civil servants shall avoid activities and conduct in their private life that could diminish the confidence of the public in state administration. They should avoid actions or activities that are in conflict with the legal or ethical norms and that could be a reason for their personal blackmail related to the performance of the official duties.
• Civil servants shall avoid situation in which, due to their position in the state administration, they are obliged to perform operations in favour of any person or in which they are subject to inappropriate influence by other persons.

Conduct in Public relations

• Civil servants in direct contact with the citizens and the legal entities shall pay appropriate attention to each of their issues and shall provide explanations requested from them pertaining to their conduct and the conduct of the other employees in the body.
• When reaching decision about the cases, civil servants shall respect their chronological order and shall not refuse to undertake actions within their responsibility by indicating reasons such as the scope of work to be accomplished or the lack of time.
• Without influencing their right to publicly express their opinion, civil servants shall refrain from giving public statements that impair the reputation of the body in which they are employed or of the state administration as a whole.
• Civil servants shall not assume obligations or make promises pertaining to their decisions or actions or the decisions and the actions of the other civil servants or the official managing the body in which the civil servant is employed, should it cause or should it confirm the mistrust in the administration or in its independence and impartiality.
• Civil servants shall, when preparing written materials and in any other communication, use clear and understandable language.

Code of ethics and code of conduct for Public servants

Government of India has prescribed a Code of Conduct which is applicable to Ministers of both the Union and State Governments.

• According to the Representation of the People Act, 1951 a person before taking office as a Minister, shall: disclose to the Prime Minister, or the Chief Minister, as the case may be, details of the assets and liabilities, and of business interests, of himself and of members of his family.
• sever all connections, short of divesting himself of the ownership, with the conduct and management of any business in which he was interested before his appointment as Minister.

After taking office, and so long as he remains in office, the Minister shall:

• furnish annually by the 31st March to the Prime Minister, or the Chief Minister, as the case may be, a declaration regarding his assets and liabilities;
• refrain from buying from or selling to, the Government any immovable property except where such property is compulsorily acquired by the Government in usual course;
• refrain from starting, or joining, any business;
• report the matter to the Prime Minister, or the Chief Minister as the case may be, if any member of his family sets up, or joins in the conduct and management of, any other business.

A Minister should

• not accept valuable gifts except from close relatives, and he or members of his family should not accept any gifts at all from any person with whom he may have official dealings;
• not to permit a member of his family, contract debts of a nature likely to embarrass or influence him in the discharge of his official duties.

The Commission has examined the code of conduct in other countries and is of the view that a Code of Ethics and a Code of Conduct for Ministers should include the following:

• Ministers must uphold the highest ethical standards;
• Ministers must uphold the principle of collective responsibility
• Ministers have a duty to Parliament to account, and be held to account, for the policies, decisions and actions of their departments and agencies;
• Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or appears to arise, between their public duties and their private interests;
• Ministers in the Lok Sabha must keep separate their roles as Minister and
• constituency member;
• Ministers must comply with the requirements which the two Houses of Parliament lay down from time to time;
• Ministers must recognize that misuse of official position or information is violation of the trust reposed in them as public functionaries;
• Ministers must act objectively, impartially, honestly, equitably, diligently and in a fair and just manner.

Present Code of Conduct

• The authority for ensuring the observance of the present Code of Conduct is the Prime Minister in the case of Union Ministers, the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister in the case of Chief Ministers, and the Chief Minister concerned in the case of Ministers of the State Government.
• The Commission is of the view that dedicated units should be set up in the offices of the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of the states to monitor the observance of the Code of Conduct.

Recommendations by 2^nd ARC

• In addition to the existing Code of Conduct for Ministers, there should be a Code of Ethics to provide guidance on how Ministers should uphold the highest standards of constitutional and ethical conduct in the performance of their duties.
• Dedicated units should be set up in the offices of the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers to monitor the observance of the Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct. The unit should also be empowered to receive public complaints regarding violation of the Code of Conduct.
• The Prime Minister or the Chief Minister should be duty bound to ensure the observance of the Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct by Ministers. This would be applicable even in the case of coalition governments where the Ministers may belong to different parties.
• An annual report with regard to the observance of these Codes should be submitted to the appropriate legislature. This report should include specific cases of violations, if any, and the action taken thereon.
• The Code of Ethics should inter alia include broad principles of the Minister-civil servant relationship and the Code of Conduct.
• The Code of Ethics, the Code of Conduct and the annual report should be put in the public domain.

Ethical Framework for the Judiciary

An independent judiciary enjoying public confidence is a basic necessity of the rule of law.

The Supreme Court of India in its Full Court Meeting held on May 7, 1997 unanimously adopted a charter called the ‘Restatement of Values of Judicial Life’, generally known as the Code of Conduct for judges.

• No member of his family, who is a member of the Bar, shall be permitted to use the residence in which the Judge actually resides or other facilities for professional work.
• A Judge should practice a degree of aloofness consistent with the dignity of his office.
• A Judge shall not hear and decide a matter in which a member of his family, a close relation or a friend is concerned.
• A Judge shall not enter into public debate or express his views in public on political matters or on matters that are pending or are likely to arise for judicial determination.
• A Judge is expected to let his judgments speak for themselves. He shall not give interviews to the media.
• A Judge shall not accept gifts or hospitality except from his family, close relations and friends.
• A Judge shall not hear and decide a matter in which a company in which he holds shares is concerned unless he has disclosed his interest and no objection to his hearing and deciding the matter is raised.
• A Judge shall not speculate in shares, stocks or the like.

Recommendations of 2^nd ARC

• A National Judicial Council should be constituted, in line with universally accepted principles where the appointment of members of the judiciary should be by a collegium having representation of the executive, legislature and judiciary.
• The Council should have the following composition:
  • The Vice-President as Chairperson of the Council
  • The Prime Minister
  • The Speaker of the Lok Sabha
  • The Chief Justice of India
  • The Law Minister
  • The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha
  • The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha
• In matters relating to the appointment and oversight of High Court Judges, the Council will also include the following members:
• The Chief Minister of the concerned State, The Chief Justice of the concerned High Court.
• The National Judicial Council should be authorized to lay down the Code of Conduct for judges, including the subordinate judiciary.
• The National Judicial Council should be entrusted with the task of recommending appointments of Supreme Court and High Court Judges. It should also be entrusted the task of oversight of the judges, and should be empowered to enquire into alleged misconduct and impose minor penalties. It can also recommend removal of a judge if so warranted.
• Based on the recommendations of the NJC, the President should have the powers to remove a Supreme Court or High Court Judge.
• A Judge of the Supreme Court should be designated as the Judicial Values Commissioner. He/she should be assigned the task of enforcing the code of conduct. Similar arrangement should also be made in the High Court.

Code of ethics and code of conduct in private Institutions

• A code of conduct defines how a company’s employees should act on a day-to-day basis. It reflects the organization’s daily operations, core values and overall company culture. As a result, every code of conduct is unique to the organization it represents.
• Establishing the Code of Conduct shall be considered one of the several useful instruments of an inclusive strategy and holistic policy to fight corruption in the private sector.
• The Code of Conduct consists in a set of principles on conducting business, having the goal to protect their business and inform the employees and stakeholders of the business objectives and expectations.
• The Code neither substitutes nor contests the Moldovan legislation.
• Acknowledging the rule of law supremacy, it sets up the ethical and behavioral rules for the company’s shareholders, management and employees. The ultimate goal of the Code of Conduct is to help businesses to pursue a fair, transparent and legal business activity.

For a code to be effective, public authorities and private entities should ensure and commit to that:

• Senior officials support the code and lead by example;
• Staff are involved in all stages of code development and implementation;
• Support mechanisms are in place to encourage the use of the code;
• Compliance with the code may be taken into account in relation to career progression and promotion;
• Compliance with the code is monitored regularly through appropriate verification means;
• Code of conduct (and general corruption-awareness) training is regular and comprehensive;
• The organization continually promotes its ethical culture (the code is an important but not the only tool);
• The code is enforced through disciplinary action when necessary;
• The code is regularly reviewed for currency, relevance and accessibility;
• The code is devised with a style and structure that meets the particular needs of their organization;
• The code becomes an integral aspect for influencing decisions, actions and attitudes in the workplace.

Implement the Code of Conduct effectively

• Writing a code alone is not enough. Therefore, the businesses needs to give consideration to ways of making the Code effective in terms of its status and impact.
• Thus an organization may decide to give the Code general legitimacy and authority through officially adopting a model Code of Conduct, as well as stimulating and supporting employees and its senior management to comply with the Code’s principles.
• Private entities should publish the code to clearly and coherently communicate to the media and general public the standards expected of officials and employees, respectively, so that they know what are acceptable and unacceptable practices.
• There should be guidance on how the public may report breaches, and to whom, as well as the ability of the media to report in good faith on any breaches, without fear of retribution or retaliation.
• Management shall have a primary role in these measures by adopting the model Code of Conduct, publishing it on its website and promoting the Code through public campaigns.
• Finally, Management should scrutinize and monitor the implementation of the code – including regular reviews and surveys of public and private sectors to find out the common knowledge of the code and its implementation as well as what are the recurrent and most hideous challenges and pressures – and to publish periodic reports on whether entities are fulfilling principles of the code.

Ethical Principles that should a Private organization adhere to while drafting code of conduct

Principle 1: Honesty, Integrity and Fair Play

• The Company and its staff are fully committed to the principle of honesty, integrity and fair play in the delivery of services and goods to the public. All staff should ensure that the business operations, applications for services, procurement or staff recruitment, are dealt with in an open, fair and impartial manner.
• This Code of Conduct sets out the basic standard of conduct expected of all staff and the Company’s policy on matters like acceptance of advantages and conflict of interest of staff in connection with their official duties.
• This Code also applies to temporary and part-time staff employed by the Company.

Principle 2: Equal Opportunity for All Employees

• The company is an equal employment opportunity employer. Employment opportunities are available regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability or other legally protected status.
• This Principle applies to all aspects of the employment relationship, including recruiting, hiring, training, work assignment, promotion, transfer, termination, and wage and salary administration.

Principle 3: Safety, and Health Practices

• The company should be committed to an injury-free and illness-free workplace that is operated in an environmentally sound manner in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations that protect worker safety and the environment.
• Employees should perform work in a safe manner.

Principle 4: Fair Competition

• The company’s policy will prohibit any anticompetitive practices which could affect in bounding, restraining or distorting competition, as well as any practices of an unfair competition.
• Accordingly, employees cannot agree (formally or informally) with competitors
• to fix prices or any other conditions of transaction;
• to limit or control the production, commercialization, technical development or investment;
• to manipulate or divide markets or sources of provisioning;
• to participate with fake offers in tenders or any other forms of competitions for offers;
• to limit or restrain access to market and freedom of competition for other enterprises;
• to apply unequal conditions for equivalent performance to commercial partners, creating in this way a disadvantage in competition;
• to condition signing of acceptancy contracts by the partners for supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts.

Principle 5: Governance and anti-corruption

• The Company has to have zero tolerance for corruption. All employees must never offer to provide anything of value directly or indirectly to government officials and business partners to secure an undue advantage.
• The company prohibits payment, offers of payment as well as anything of value directly or indirectly with the purpose of influencing or obtaining undue business or personal advantage.
• Third parties will only be contracted to perform tasks which aid business interests provided: fees to be paid are reasonable; all arrangements are clearly documented; arrangements are in compliance with company’s policies.

Principle 6: Financial Reporting

• All transactions of the Company must be duly recorded so as to permit preparation of clear financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. No false or misleading entries may be made in the books and records of the Company for any reason, and no employee may engage in any arrangement that results in such a prohibited act.
• No undisclosed or unrecorded fund or asset of the Company may be established for any purpose. No payment on behalf of the Company (including those by cash) may be done without adequate supporting documentation or made with the intention or understanding that any part of such payment is to be used for any purpose other than as described by the documents supporting the payment.

Principle 7: Restrictive Agreements with Third Parties

• The Company should not condone activities that seek to gain an unfair competitive advantage. No individual may engage in any activity which violates any valid restrictive agreements entered into by that individual for the benefit of a third party, and no individual may, directly or indirectly, use or disclose any confidential information or trade secrets of a third party that the individual obtained while employed by or associated with such third party.

Principle 8: Government Contracts and Services

• The Company should be committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations relating to government (public procurement) contracts and services and to ensuring that its reports, certifications and declarations to government officials are accurate and complete and that any deviations from contract requirements are properly approved.

Principle 9: Acceptance of Advantages

• It is the policy of this Company to prohibit all staff from soliciting or accepting any advantage from any persons having business dealings with the Company (e.g. clients, suppliers, contractors). Employees who wish to accept any advantage from such persons should seek advice and permission from the responsible ethics officer.
• Any gifts offered voluntarily to the staff in their official capacity are regarded as gifts to the Company and they should not be accepted without permission. By default, staff should decline the offer if the acceptance could be perceived as against the interest of the company, or that of society, or lead to complaints of bias or impropriety.
• For gifts presented to staff in their official capacity and of low nominal value, the refusal of which could be seen as unsociable or impolite, can be exceptionally accepted. In other circumstances, the staff should seek for a clear (i.e. in writing) and immediate (within 5 days from the offer) consent from the ethics officer to accept the gifts.

Principle 10: Conflict of Interest

• A conflict of interest situation arises when the “private interests” of the staff compete or conflict with the interests of the Company.
• “Private interests” means both the financial and personal interests of the staff or those of their connections including: family members and other close affiliates; personal friends; the clubs and societies to which they belong; and any person to whom they owe a favor or are obligated in any way.
• Staff should avoid using their official position or any information made available to them in the course of their duties to benefit themselves, their affiliates or any other persons with whom they have personal or social ties.
• They should avoid putting themselves in a position that may lead to an actual or perceived conflict of interest with the Company.
• Failure to avoid or declare any con􀃸ict of interest may give rise to criticism of favoritism, abuse of authority or even allegations of corruption.
• In particular, staff involved in the procurement process should declare conflict of interest if they have beneficial interest in any company which is being considered for selection as the Company supplier of goods or services.

Principle 11: Misuse of Official Position

• Staff who misuses their official position for personal gains or to favor their relatives or friends are liable to disciplinary action or even prosecution.
• Examples of misuse include a staff member responsible for the selection of suppliers giving undue favor or leaking information to his/her relative’s company with a view to giving away an undue advantage.

Principle 12: Handling of Classified or Proprietary Information

• Staff is not allowed to disclose any classified or exclusive information to anybody without authorization.
• Staff who have access to or are in control of such information should at all times provide adequate safeguards to prevent its abuse or misuse. Examples of misuse include disclosure of information in return for monetary rewards, or use of information for personal interest.
• It should also be noted that unauthorized disclosure of any personal data may result in a breach of the applicable legislation on privacy.

Principle 13: Property of the Company

• Staff given access to any property of the Company should ensure that it is properly used for the purpose of
• conducting the Company’s business. Misappropriation of the property for personal use or resale is strictly prohibited.

Principle 14: Outside Employment

• Employees who wish to take up paid outside work, including those on a part-time basis, must seek the written (date and signed) permission and guidance from the ethics officer before accepting the job.
• Approval will not be given if the outside work is considered to be in conflict with the interest and values of the corporation.

Principle 15: Compliance with the Code

• It is the personal responsibility of every staff member to understand and comply with the Code of Conduct. Every member of the staff shall sign a declaration of Principle to this purpose. The ethics officer or other mandated employee will keep declarations of Principle.
• Higher ranked employees should ensure that their subordinates understand and comply with the standards and requirements stated in the Code. Any doubts of interpretation or problems encountered, as well as any suggestions for improvement, should be addressed to the ethics officer for consideration and advice.
• Any staff member who violates any provision of the Code will be subject to disciplinary action. In cases of suspected corruption or other criminal offences, a report will be made to the appropriate authorities.

Principle 16: Sanctions

• The Company can take prompt and appropriate remedial action in response to violations of the Code. Any employee who engages in conduct prohibited by the Code as determined by the ethics officer will be subject to discipline actions and sanctions in accordance with the labor law.
• Once a complaint has been placed, the ethics officer will initially analyze it and s/he may meet privately with the applicant to understand the facts surrounding the issue.
• Following a factfinding phase, an investigative meeting could be held with the employee alleged of the violation, to further ascertain the facts and receive observations.
• The decision should be issued in writing (date and signed), indicating a summary of the facts, reference to the specific violation and motivations.
• The sanction may be under the form of:
  • Warning;
  • Private or public letter of reprimand;
  • Transfer to other tasks or unit;
  • Suspension from duties;
  • Termination or removal.
• In every case of violation, the employee will be fined for an amount estimated between a 1/5 (one fifth) and 5 (five) times the most recent monthly salary.
• The fine will be applied through a direct deduction from the employee’s following salary or any past credit s/he may have towards the company.
• The ethics officer shall report serious violations to appropriate government or legal authorities.

Principle 17: Reporting

• Employees have a responsibility to promptly report to the Company any violation of the Code. The Company shall put in place an appropriate mechanism (i.e. complaints/suggestion boxes, telephone, emails, etc.) as to allow employees to address communications to the ethics officer with the highest degree of trust and confi
• Employees will not be disciplined or retaliated against in any way for reporting violations in good faith. Retaliation against any employee for reporting policy violations, or for testifying, assisting or participating in any manner to inspections is strictly prohibited.
• Any employee who believes he or she has been subjected to or has witnessed retaliation must immediately report the alleged retaliation to the ethics officer.

Principle 18: Ethics officer

• The ethics officer shall be appointed inside the Company. For small companies however, the tasks of the ethics officer can be mandated to an external professional.
• The ethics officer shall be a person of trust, independence and competence; s/he should be prepared, trained and/or certified in dealing with matters related to this code of conduct.
• The ethics officer shall perform his duty with the utmost tact, confidentiality, respect, fairness and profi
• The ethics officer will handle day-to-day compliance matters, including:
  • Receiving, reviewing, investigating and resolving concerns and reports on the matters described in this Code;
  • Interpreting and providing guidance on the meaning and application of this Code; and
  • Reporting periodically and as matters arise to senior staff of the Company on the implementation and effectiveness of this Code and other compliance matters, and recommending any updates or amendments to this Code deemed necessary or advisable.