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1. ETHICS AND HUMAN INTERFACE

ETHICS:-Systematic study of human actions from the point of view

of rightfulness and wrongfulness to attain ultimate happiness.

 Ethics in public administration: How the public administrator

should question and reflect in order to be able to act
responsibly.

SCOPE OF ETHICS:-deals only with human actions.

Human Actions Actions of human

Done by human consciously, Done by human not wilfully,
deliberately with view of an end deliberately and consciously
Eg: walking, sleeping

 Ethics is not morality.

 Ethics is not religion
 Ethics is not following the law
 Ethics is not following culturally accepted norms.

Why should we adopt a moral point of view?

 Human being by nature tends to good. The ethical principles

and moral practices helps a person to perfect
himself/herself.
 There is a subjective as well as an objective part to every
human action.
 For the functioning of any society we need certain rules and
regulations.
 Morality aims to provide us with a common point of view
about what all of us ought to do.

Branches of Ethics

Descriptive ethics Normative ethics Meta- Ethics Applied ethics

Descriptive Ethics: Study of people’s belief about morality.ie; it

studies history and evolution of ethics-general pattern of
people’s way of life in different communities. Eg:-Lawrence
Kohlberg’s Theory of moral consciousness.

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Normative ethics(Prescriptive ethics):study of ethical theories

that prescribe how people ought to act. It suggests punishment
when a person deviates from path of ideals. Eg:- Aristotle’s
virtue ethics, Bhagawad Gitas Nishkam Karma Yoga.

Golden rule “We should do to others what we would want

others to do to us” is a normative principle.

Meta Ethics:- Study of origin and meaning of ethical concepts.

Two prominent issues in Meta Ethics:

 Metaphysical issues concerning whether morality exists

independent of humans
 Psychological issues concerning the underlying mental
basis of our moral judgements and conduct.

It analyses ethical concepts like right, wrong, good or bad.

Applied Ethics: Analyses specific , controversial moral issues such as

abortion, animal rights or euthanasia. Deals with questions like:

 Is getting an abortion immoral?

 Is affirmative action right or wrong?
 What are human rights, how do we determine them?
 Do animals have rights as well?

Features necessary for an issue to be applied ethical issue:-

 There must be significant number of people for and against

the issue.
 It must be a distinctly moral issue and not just a social
controversy.

Determinants of Ethical Behaviour:-

 Individual personality traits:- individual value system,

upbringing, education, religious beliefs, experiences etc
 Culture/ country of an individual
 Organisation/ industry:- prevailing ethics of the organisation
for which the individual works for.

Determinants of Ethics in Governance: social, economic, political,

cultural, legal- judicial and historical contexts of the country.

Values:- individual principles or qualities that guide the judgement

behaviour of a person. A person with strong values sticks to his
principles.

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Intrinsic Values(Absolute Values) one which has worth in its own

right; retain if they were to exist completely alone; are an end in
itself. Eg: Truth, beauty, goodness, courage etc.

Extrinsic Values:- (Instrumental values) -one which is a means to

some other value; they are means to an end. eg: Wealth, fame,
physical fitness.

Values can be graded as:

 Positive and Negative values

 Productive and Unproductive values
 Permanent values and transient values

Values corresponding to three physical functions of human mind:

 Thinking – Intellectual Values (Truth)

 Feeling – Aesthetic Values (Beauty)
 Willing – Moral Values (Goodness)

Morality and Ethics:

Morality
Delves into right and wrong at a
much deeper level, both
personal and spiritual
Define personal character
Ethics
Defines the code that a group of
people or society adhere to
Stress a social system in which
morals are applied.

Ethics, Values and Morals:

Ethics- used by members of a profession or group to determine the

right course of action in a situation.

Values – describe ideas that we value or prize.eg: Equality, Social

justice.

Morals: behavioural code of conduct to which an individual ascribes.

Value System:- Values form value systems; enduring organisation of

beliefs concerning preferable modes of conduct.

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