Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess propounded Deep Ecology. The term ‘deep’ implies asking deeper questions concerning ‘why’ and ‘how’. This approach is thus concerned with the fundamental philosophical questions about the impacts of human life as one part of the ecosphere, rather than with a narrow view of ecology as a branch of biological science. Incidentally, most holistic positions have been concerned with wilderness and its preservation.
In this connection, we may mention GAIA hypothesis. James Lovelock formulated GAIA in the mid-1960s and published it in a book in 1979. The Gaia Hypothesis says that earth functions as a single organism that maintains conditions necessary for its survival. This idea (which has it critics) has led to several theories and many new fields of research. While this hypothesis is still unsubstantiated, it provides many useful lessons about the interaction of physical, chemical, geological, and biological processes on Earth.
The following ethical issues arise in environmental policies.
(i) Inter generational equity or protecting interests of future generations
(ii) Justice to poor (and to women) who suffer most from environmental decay
(iii) Equity between rich and poor nations; since richer nations historically caused most of environmental damage, they should bear a correspondingly greater burden in environmental restoration
[Dr. Nicole ftarafyllis, Technical University, Braunschweig, Germany]
Ethical dilemmas are situations in which decisions involve conflicts between two or more moral principles. In these situations, moral agents (who have to make decisions) find themselves in a
quandary since they have to choose between two ethical norms (N1and N2) which have equal status. If the moral agent selects N1, he has to give up N2 and vice versa. In other words, the decision involves a trade-off between two moral criteria which have equal status. Similarly, it may be possible to pass two opposite judgments – say J1 and J2 – on action using two different moral standards. It involves moral conflict. Moral conflict can also be called moral dilemma.
It is social advance which introduces moral conflicts in a pronounced form. Scope for moral conflicts is limited in primitive societies. First, each man’s duty is fairly obvious. Secondly, as there is little division of labour, role conflicts are unlikely to arise. Thirdly, the manner of promoting the welfare of the tribe is also well known.
Ethical dilemmas can also arise due to the different roles which men have in life. An individual may be, for example, a father, soldier, judge, farmer and the like. Sometimes, his role, for example, as a police officer may conflict his role as a brother if his sibling is caught in a crime. That is why codes of conduct prescribe, that officers should not, especially in financial matters, get into conflict of interest situations.
As society advances, moral questions get complicated. Then, the right way to act in a given situation is not always clear. Law may conflict with custom, or one law with another. This problem of moral conflict is dramatized in the ancient Greek drama Antigone which Sophocles wrote. In it, there is a clash between law and the more customary principle of family affection. Antigone chooses family love instead of law. His logic is that the principle of family affection is of great antiquity and that its origin cannot be traced, whereas the law of state has been recently made and may be unmade again. The conflict here is between the different roles of a man. We can cite another instance, that of Desdemona, who says in the Shakespearean drama Othello: “I do perceive here a divided duty.” This quotation is from what Desdemona tells her father before the Venetian senate. She does not insist on her loyalty to Othello (her husband) at the expense of respect for her father, but rather acknowledges that her duty is ‘divided’. She says that it is more towards her husband, just as it was with her mother. To give a homely example, a man will be troubled when his mother and wife get into a quarrel. But the point to note is that moral conflict triggers reflection and search for deeper standards of judgment.
Ethics deals with different types of questions. These are – What kind of ethical standards should be adopted by individuals and societies? Or what are the ideal moral standards? What should be the objectives one should follow in life? What is an ideal life which leads to a man’s self realisation in itshighest sense? What are the ideal traits of human character?
‘Ethics’ can be used in two senses. If used with upper case E, it means the subject Ethics. When spelled with lower case e, ethics conveys a general meaning: for example: “His behaviour is expected to be ethical”. Ethics has been defined in various ways. The definitions show the kind of questions which are discussed in Ethics. Ethics tells us how to act rightly, i.e. what actions are right or wrong, good or bad. Ethics is the science that deals with conduct in so far as, it is considered right or wrong,
good or bad. [Some writers, as mentioned later in the entry ‘two types of judgement’ maintain that the words ‘good’ and ‘bad’ should not be used with reference to actions, but to qualify character, motives,intentions and the like.]
In this process of judging actions, Ethics also proposes and critically examines various standards, criteria and principles for judging human conduct. A large part of Ethics is concerned with theories which discuss such standards. Such discussions outline the standards, their origins or sources and their rationale or justification. Some standards emphasise that men should follow their duty. These aredeontological.Others recommendthat men shouldpursueendslike happiness or social welfare. These theories are teleological. Other standards advocate that men should cultivate good character or aim at self realisation.
Ethics is not concerned only with individual human actions. As mentioned above in relation to standards, Ethics has a wider scope and discusses the ends and values of human life. It is also concerned with right and wrong ways of doing things in the larger relations of life, in the business of living itself or with values of life.
SomeregardEthics as thestudywhichdealswiththevalues of things. We do innumerablethings in life. For instance, we may watch a natural scene or read poetry. One may wonder what exactly the point of such things is. After some reflection, we slowly realise that such things have aesthetic value which refines our mind and thought. The value of the particular act becomes part of a larger scheme of life and life’s values or of systematized valuing. Ethics is then, in the last analysis, just the science of systematizedvaluing or systematizingthe human activity of valuingvarious activities and pursuits.
While PAC considersthe regularity,proprietyand legality of expenditure,theEstimates committeelooks at the accuracy of the budget estimates. (Incidentally, budget is a forecast of income and expenditure for the coming financial year.) In other words, its focus is on how accurate the forecasts of the budget proved to be. This aspect can be called ‘the targeting’ of budget.
This is a term from ancient Greek philosophy. Plato defined it as: “The good composed of all goods; an abilitywhich suffices forliving well;perfection in respect of virtue; resources sufficient for a living creature.” In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotlesaysthat everyone agreesthat eudemonia is the highest goodforhumanbeings,butthat thereis substantialdisagreement on whatsort oflifecounts as doing and living well. Both ordinary men and philosophers identify living well and faring well with being happy. But ordinary people think that happiness consists of things like pleasure, wealth or honour.
Aristotle points out that it is difficult to specify just what sort of activities enable one to live well. He mentions three popular conceptions of the best life for human beings - (1) a life of pleasure, (2) a life of political activity [active citizenship in a city state] and (3) a philosophical life. Aristotle links another concept virtue as needed for achieving eudemonia. He says that the happy life is one of “virtuous activity in accordance with reason”.
(Eudaimonia, Wikipedia)
SARC recommended that a law on the model of the US False Claims Act should be passed in India with the following main provisions:
¤ Citizens and civil society groups can seek legal relief when people defraud governments by filing false claims against government.
¤ Any citizen can file a suit against any person or agency that makes a false claim against the government.
¤ If the false claim is proved, then the person/agency responsible shall be liable for penalty equal to five times the loss sustained by the exchequer or society.
¤ Theperson who brought the suit should be suitablyrewardedout of thedamages recovered.
Fascism is a totalitarian ideology. It opposes liberalism, conservatism, and socialism. Fascism claims to be an elitist response to modern social and political problems which other ideologies are unable to resolve. The main attributes of Fascism are: totalitarianism, omnipotent state, subordination of individuals and institutions to state, opposition to equality, and commitment to nationalism and racial superiority.
Feminism is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities; it is organized activityin support of women’srightsandinterests.Themovement witnessedthreewaves. In the first, womensought fulllegalequalitywithmen,includingfull educational opportunity,equal compensation and the right to vote.In 1950s, a second waveof feminismarosechallengingthe restrictedrole assigned to women in the workplace and the tendency to confine women to the household arena. A third wave of feminism arose in the late 20th century and was notable for challenging middle-class white feminists and for broadening feminism’s goals to encompass equal rights for all people, regardless of race,creed, economic or educational status, physical appearance or ability, or sexual orientation.
Feminist ethics is an offshoot of contemporary feminist movement. This movement aims at promoting women’s flourishing and opposes forces which tend to harm women’s well being. Feminist ethics specifically factor in women’s experience as a way to understand what flourishing means for women and men.
Feminist ethics revises traditional ethical frameworks in order to provide new ways of dealing with moral issues. It finds fault with traditional ethics for various reasons. “Malestream” ethics underrates women’s moral abilitiesand ignores issues which are of special concern to women. More fundamentally, it is vitiated by a masculine perspective. Traditional ethics, while picturing moral life and analyzing ethical reasoning leaves out women, treating men as the only moral agents.
In traditional society, women are considered inferior to men. They are confined to spheres and activities of life that men choose for them. Men are placed in the public realm and women in the private realm. The cognitive traits of the two are seen as different. Men are regarded as reasonable,
rational, and logical, whereas women as intuitive, illogical, and emotional. Emotions and sentiments as feminine attributes are treated with supercilious disdain.
Arising fromthismindset, manytraditional moral theoriesgaveprimacy to reason andrelegated emotions to the background. Further, traditional academic ethics conceived good with the good of its predominantly male practitioners in mind. Its conception causes mental anguish to women who are excluded from the formulation of the good.
Arising from the above critique, feminine ethics adopts three approaches. One approach is based on liberalism. Feminism is understood in this approach as a political movement that is concerned with the rights of women - equal rights of women
The second approach concentrates on the liberation of women. Women are seen as trapped in many social structures and practices that are oppressive. From this viewpoint, feminist ethics focus on removing such oppressive structures and practices, and reshaping society so as to encourage realisation of the full creative potential of women.
The third approach of feminist ethics consists in “a commitment to the distinctiveness of women’s perspective and insight.” Traditional ethics ignore the experiences of women which are important sources of moral insight. Women also feel the bonds of human relationships more intensely than men, and better understand the interdependence of human beings. They show great sensitivity to and concernfor humansuffering. Feminist ethicscoverthethreeprecedingbroadareas, and several individual elementswithin each area.
Source: Chaitanya Motupalli, Feminist Ethics
Daniel Katz proposed a functionalist theory of attitudes. He takes the view that attitudes are determined by the functions they serve for us. People hold given attitudes because these attitudes help them achieve their basic goals. Katz distinguishes four types of psychological functions that attitudes subserve.
A. Instrumental
We develop favourable attitudes towards things that aid or reward us. We want to maximise rewards and minimize penalties. Katz says we develop attitudes that help us meet this goal. We favour political parties that will advance our economic lot – if we are in business, we favour the party that will keep our taxes low, and if unemployed we favour one that will increase social welfare benefits. We are more likely to change our attitudes, if doing so allows us to fulfil our goals or avoid undesirable consequences.
B. Knowledge
Attitudes provide meaningful, structured environment. In life we seek some degree of order, clarity, and stability in our personal frame of reference. Attitudes help supply us with standards of evaluation. Via such attitudes as stereotypes, we can bring order and clarity to the complexities of human life.
C. Value-expressive
This pyschological function expresses an individual’s basic values and reinforces his/her self-image. For example: if you view yourself as a Catholic, you can reinforce that image by adopting Catholic beliefs and values. For example: We may have self-images of ourselves as enlightened conservatives or militant radicals, and we therefore cultivate attitudes that we believe indicate such a core value.
D. Ego-defensive
Some attitudes serve to protect us from acknowledging basic truths about ourselves or the harsh realities of life. They serve as defence mechanisms. For example: Those with feelings of inferiority may develop an attitude of superiority.
Katz’s functionalist theory also offers an explanation as to why attitudes change. According to Katz, an attitude changes when it no longer serves its function and the individual feels blocked or frustrated. Thus, according to Katz, attitude change is achieved not so much by changing a person’s information or perception about an object, but rather by changing the person’s underlying motivational and personality needs.
Example: As your social status increases, your attitudes toward your old car may change - you need something that better reflects your new status. (For that matter, your attitudes toward your old friends may change as well).
Gene therapy is based on genetics which studies transmission of hereditary traits from one generation to later generations. Defects in genes present within cells can cause inherited diseases like cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell anemia, and hemophilia. If some chromosomes are missing in a cell, diseases like Down syndrome are caused. A change in proper genetic sequence can cause diseases like atherosclerosis and cancer. Gene therapy replaces missing genes or provides copies of functioning genes to replace defective ones. The inserted genes can be naturally-occurring genes that produce the desired effect or may be genetically engineered (or altered) genes.
We looked at utilitarianism and its various versions such as act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. General utilitarianism poses the question: What would be the consequences for the community if everyone were to act similarly to the actor, in this case? This resembles rule utilitarianism which says that everyone should follow rules which lead to maximum satisfaction or happiness in society. The criticism of general utilitarianism is that it is unrealistic to expect everyone to act similarly, particularly due to imperfections of different individuals.
(Gerald M. Pops, A Teleological Approach to Administrative Ethics)
Good is a fundamental termin Ethics. Textbooks of philosophy contain extensive linguistic analysis of good. We can consider two definitions. According to R.B. Perry, “Good’ means being an object of favourable interest (desire).” This is an empirical definition because we can determine whether X is
good by verifying whether people desire it. F.C. Sharp defines “Good” as “desired upon reflection.” This definition implies that people consider something as good after thinking rationally about it. This may seem a more appropriate definition from the moral point of view.
Research has shown that work teams have a collective intelligence. It does not depend on the intelligence of the team’s individual members. Group intelligence depends neither on the average intelligence of the members or on that of its smartest member. Group intelligence predicts how well a group handles a complex task such as the computer checkers game and on the Legos task.
Research found evidence for the following conclusions:
¤ Group or collective intelligence exists.
¤ A group’s motivation, satisfaction, and unity are important for its collective intelligence.
¤ In a group with a high level of collective intelligence, the members tended to score well on a test that measured how good they were at reading other people’s emotions.
¤ Groups with overbearing leaders who were reluctant to cede the floor and let the others talk did worse than those in which participation was better distributed and people took turns speaking.
¤ The proportion of women in the group was a predictor of collective intelligence — arising from women’sgenerallysuperior social sensitivity.
(FromCarolynY.Johnson’sarticle inBostonGlobe,December19,2010)
Hedonism is the general term for those theories that regard happiness or pleasure as the supreme end of life. These theories have taken many different forms. Some theorists maintain (as a matter of fact) that men always seek pleasure, i.e. that pleasure in some form is always the ultimate object of desire. Other hedonists confine themselves to the view that men ought always to seek pleasure. The former theory is known as psychological hedonism, because it simply affirms the seeking of pleasure as a psychological fact; whereas the latter theory is called ethical hedonism.
Psychological Hedonism is the theory that the ultimate object of desire is pleasure.
Following are the three ways of expressing psychological hedonism:
¤ Pleasure is always that which serves as the inducement to action.
¤ Pleasure and pain are the only possible motives to action.
¤ They are the only ends at which we can aim.
What we desire is very frequently some objective end, and not the accompanying pleasure. The pleasures of thought and study can only be enjoyed in the highest degree by those who have an ardour of curiosity which carries the mind temporarily away from self and its sensations. In all kinds of art, again, the exercise of the creative faculty is attended by intense and exquisite pleasures; but in order to get them, one must forget them.
Again, some have held that what each man seeks, or ought to seek, is only his pleasure; while others hold that what each seeks, or ought to seek, is the pleasure of all human beings, or even of all
sentient creatures. The former view is egoistic Hedonism; the latter, universalistic Hedonism – also known as utilitarianism
Psychological hedonism is simply a statement of fact; whereas ethical hedonism is a theory of value, a theory of the ground upon which one form of action ought to be preferred to others.
Hierarchical Model of Ideology
Sociologists have formulated a hierarchical model of political attitudes consisting of four tiers: specific opinions, habitual opinions, attitudes and ideology. We can illustrate this hierarchical model from Eysenck’s studies of social attitudes. The following example shows the manifestation of anti-Semitism or anti-Jewish sentiment at four levels in the attitudinal hierarchy. Incidentally, anti-Jewish sentiment prevailed for long in Europe and Russia.
1. IDEOLOGY (Conservatism)
2. ATTITUDES (Anti-Semitic)
3. HABITUAL OPINIONS (“Jews are inferior.”)
4. SPECIFIC OPINIONS (“Finkelstein is a an unreliable Jew!”)
Incidentally, all conservatives cannot be dubbed as anti-Jewish, and the above list has only an illustrative value.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) makes homosexual sex punishable with life imprisonment. Many people have been urging government to decriminalize homosexuality. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Section 377 of the IPC. Supreme Court however declared that Section 377, to theextent it criminalizesconsensual sexual acts of adultsinprivate,violates Articles21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution. But it upheld the provisions of Section 377 covering non-consensual homosexuality and homosexual acts involving minors. Supreme Court also suggested that Parliament should suitably amend Sec377. Supreme Court also said it would refer petitions to scrap Section 377 to a five-member constitutional bench.
Older textbooks try to conceptually separate desire from its object which is present in the consciousness. Good is defined as an object which is consciously desired. Nothing is an object of desire for a man unless it is consciously regarded as a good. In all real desire, there is some object that is consciously taken as an end. Such an object consciously taken as an end in desire is what we call a good.
Desire, wish and will are often used as synonyms but some writers distinguish between these words. Sometimes, desires collide, and certain desires overpower others; ‘wish’ can be used to refer to those desires that prevail and are effective. We also have to distinguish a wish from a definite act of will. Thus a mere resolution is still far from being an act. What is commonly called ‘force of will’ means the power of carrying resolutions into action.
Freedom of human will always seemed something of a riddle. Theologically, men and women were seen as merely created, finite, and dependent beings, and therefore endowed with limited choices of life patterns and activities. Even if human beings are considered self determined, the formation of ‘self’ is seen as dependent on influences – divine, social and psychological – over which they have no control. On the other hand, some argued that God endows men with reason and the ability to make rational choices. Men can shape their character and life substantially on their own. In this view, men are held responsible for the kinds of lives they lead, and the habitual types of actions they take. Men have stable elements of character. Sometimes, they may act on momentary impulses out of tune with their character. But by and large, a man’s actions follow from his basic, stable character. In this sense, his actions are free.
This issue is seen in modern times keeping in view the relation of the individual to society. In one sense, an individual cannot shape or form his own character. He is naturally endowed with certain aptitudes and tendencies. Further, the pattern of his life is set by the moral atmosphere into which he is born or in which he is placed. We have no control over our inherited traits or our environment. To what extent can society hold individuals responsible for their actions or offences?
The answer is that human beings cannot be regarded as wholly determined by external forces and causes and absolved of responsibility. As rational beings living within a society, they have to be regarded as governed by common human ideals. Once they recognise the ideal, they are under an obligation to work towards that ideal through appropriate conduct. This is the way in which a man or a society of men must judge human conduct. Men cannot abdicate common morals on vague philosophical grounds. “There is no stone wall in the way of a man’s moral progress. There is only himself. And he cannot accept himself as a mere fact, but only as a fact ruled by an ideal.”
According to Middendorp, ideology consists of: “A system of general ideas on man and society, centered around one or a few general values, which has manifested itself historically as a doctrine adhered to by some major groups and categories, and which expresses the interests of some important category e.g. a social class”.
Ideology may be loosely defined as any kind of action-oriented theory or approach to politics based on a system of ideas. Ideology, in Destutt de Tracy’s original conception, has five characteristics:
¤ It contains a comprehensive explanatory theory about human experience and the external world.It is based on a few underlying general values.
¤ It proposes a general programme for social and political organization.
¤ It believes that the programme can only be realized through a struggle
¤ It seeks not merely to persuade but to recruit loyal adherents with commitment.
¤ It addresses a wide public but assigns special leadership role to intellectuals.
Idealism advocates the moral point of view or “what ought to be” in politics. Till Machiavelli’s times, political thinkers generally believed that politics, including the relations among states, should be
virtuous, and that the methods of warfare should remain subordinated to ethical standards. However, realism has been the dominant trend in politics and diplomacy.
Individual Differences in Ideology
Many factors are cited to explain ideological differences among individuals. Standard ‘background’ variables, such as age, education, occupation, rural versus urban residence, and occasionally income are used to explain individual differences. The influence of these variables is explained through effects of socialization, or economic interests. Thus, policies which individuals prefer (or policy preferences) are explained based on tangible benefits they expect or derive from policies.
The independent directors are the custodians of corporate governance and the conscience keepers of the board. The qualities expected of an independent director include: integrity and probity; objective and constructive approach; bonafides of action; banishing extraneous considerations that threaten his objective, independent judgment; refraining from abuse of his office and from any action that would lead to loss of his independence. The Companies Act includes a code as a guide to professional conduct for independent directors.
Integrity is simply a synonym for honesty. But integrity is frequently connected with the more complicated notion of a wholeness or harmony of the self in the sense that one has to live by certain self-adopted standards of conduct.
Integrity is a concept of consistency between one’s values and principles and one’s actions and measures. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions. In other words, one’s actions have to match one’s professed moral principles. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy. Further, integrity regards internal consistency of one’s values as a virtue. If an individual or a party subscribes to apparently conflicting values, they should account for the discrepancy or alter their beliefs.
The word ‘integrity’ stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete). In this context, integrity is theinnersense of “wholeness” deriving from qualitiessuch as honesty and consistency of character. As such, one may judge that others “have integrity” to the extent that they act according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.
In discussions on behaviour and morality, one view of integrity sees it as the virtue of basing actions on an internally consistent framework of principles. One can describe a person as having ethical integrity to the extent that everything that the person does or believes–actions, methods, measures and principles–all of these derive from a single core group of values.
Some commentators stress the idea of integrity as personal honesty: acting according to one’s beliefs and values at all times. Discussions about integrity can emphasise the ‘wholeness’ or
‘intactness’ of a moral stance or attitude. Some views of wholeness may also emphasise commitment and authenticity. Ann Rand considered that integrity “does not consist of loyalty to one’s subjective whims, but of loyalty to rational principles.”
Integrity pact is an agreement between the public agency procuring goods and services and the bidder for a public contract. Through the pact the bidders give assurances that they have not paid and shall not pay any illegal gratification to secure the contract in question. From its side, the public agency calling for bids commits to ensuring a level playing field and fair play in the procurement process. Such pacts often involve supervision and scrutiny by independent, outside observers. Such pacts increase transparency and confidence in the processes through which Government and public sector units conclude major deals. Many national legal systems now recognise such pacts.
International morality refers to morals or codes of conduct governing relations between nations.
A moral intuition is a moral judgement about a particular act, a particular problem, or a particular agent and about a moral rule or principle. It is not derived from one’s other beliefs or through any inferential reasoning. It arises on its own. Intuitionism is the doctrine that moral intuitions can be a basis for ethical conduct.
Many theories based on intuitions have arisen in the history of moral philosophy. Intuitionism has lost ground in philosophical discussion due to two reasons. First, intuitionism is associated with the idea that there is a special faculty in the mind, somewhat like an inner eye, which enables people to directly see objective values. Secondly, intuitions are indubitable – their truth cannot be doubted – and infallible – that they cannot in fact be mistaken. But intuitions can often result from social prejudice, self-interest and self-deception.
( Jeff McMahan, Moral Intuition)
Moral judgements are principles that state what type of conduct is morally justified and what is not. For example, “A person ought to be kind to animals.” Specific moral judgements evaluate action: “he should not have abandoned her.” Values are qualities which are praised or considered worthy. For example, “honesty is the best policy”. Values and judgements are interrelated. Values can be derived from judgements and vice versa.
Peter Drucker, the doyen among management theorists, coined the term “knowledge worker” and predicted that more than a third of the American workforce would soon consist of knowledge workers. He mentions that their productivity consists in adding value to information. Knowledge workersarepeoplesuch as financial analysts,writersandcomputerprogrammers.Theirknowledge
is highly specialized and their productivity depends on their individual work getting integrated into the work of a work team. For example, novelists are not publishers; and nor are hardware designers sellers of computer parts. In knowledge – based work, team replaces the individual as the work unit.
The object of law is to determine, within its specific field, what actions are right and what are wrong. Jurisprudenceexplainsthebasis or reason forlawsor theirrationale.Lawandjurisprudence presuppose ethics. Law is historically derived from morals. Law in general is codified custom and customs are the mores or morals of a people. In the Anglo-Saxon legal system, for instance, English common law is the basis of statute or civil law and this common law, or unwritten law, is essentially moral in character. In general, development is from custom to codified law and from law to reflective morality, which partly explains the grounds of custom and law. Reflective morality originates from refined analysis of law and morality by enlightened scholars.
But the relation of law to morals is not only historical but also logical. This logical relation may be seen at two points. First, all the primary principles or norms of law go back to and presuppose moral norms. Thus laws protecting life, property, etc., all assume certain rights or claims that are essentially moral in character. Thus law has been defined by many jurists as “the sum of conditions necessaryforthe maintenance of society”, or as “the minimum of moral performanceand disposition required of members of society”. In short, law may be defined as the ethical minimum.
Secondly, justice in merely legal sense often tends to develop more or less independently of ethics. Then, it becomes merely the impartial administration of law irrespective of the ultimate relation of law to human welfare. Justice in this narrow sense has to supplement by equity or by justice in the ethical sense.
Legal justice then often comes into conflict with ethical justice; and in such conflict the ultimate court of appeal is ethics. The public at large has to acknowledge that law embodies a minimum of moral right. People acknowledge law and its authority either because they are powerless before it or because they regard the law as just. In the first case, law would be merely the tyranny of irrational force; in the second case it gets its validity from ethics.
The rules of Ethics are also called law, laws and moral law. One such set of laws are enforced by government under threat of punishment. Another set of rules which operate without force of official laws constitute optional morality, merit, virtue or nobleness. These are voluntary. Morality is not obligatory, authoritative or binding.
Positivelaw cannot be identified withthe moral judgment. Positivelaws are made by governments. They take the form of laws passed by central and State legislatures, rules, regulations and judicial orders. In older moral textbooks, positive laws i.e. statutory man-made laws are distinguished from “natural law” which is purportedly based on universally accepted moral principles, “God’s law,” and/or derived from nature and reason. Positive laws generally prohibit external acts likely to harm society. But fully developed moral judgment is concerned with men’s intentions, motives, and
character than with their mere external actions.
This distinction emerges in the process of social evolution. The Jewish community followed ceremonial and civil laws prior to Ten Commandments, which are laws that Moses received from God. The Ten Commandments include two rules - “You shall not covet (crave)” and “You shall not steal”. The former passes judgment on the inner attitude of mind whereas the latter passes judgement on outer action which is usually prohibited by positive laws. As moral consciousness grows, this distinction becomes sharper.
Learning Theory of Attitude Change
Psychologists mention three learning theories of attitude change: classical conditioning; operant conditioning; and observational learning.
Liberalism aimsprimarily at protecting andincreasing an individual’sfreedom. Liberals believethat government is necessary to protect individuals from being harmed by others; but they also fear that government itself, by usurping excessive power, can threaten individual liberty. Early liberals argued that government should have minimum economic role and allow markets to function freely. Both from political and economic perspectives, liberals wanted to limit government activity.
Over time, liberalism got divided into classical liberalism and modern liberalism. Classical liberalism argues that government should merely protect individual liberty. Modern liberalism believes that government should enhance individual freedom by promoting conditions for its enjoyment by the poor. T.H. Green argued that excessive government powers which hindered freedom earlier shrank by mid 19th century. But other hindrances such as poverty, disease, discrimination, and ignorance have emerged. Governments should positively help needy individuals to overcome these problems and enjoy their freedom. Modern liberalism enlists government to establish public schools and hospitals, aid the needy, and regulate working conditions to promote workers’ health and well-being. It is only through public support that the poor and powerless can trulybecomefree.Classical liberalism is said to be based on negative freedom andmodern liberalism on positive freedom. Neo-liberalism is closer to conservatism, and modern liberalism to socialism.
Marriage of Information and Predisposition
According to one view, values provide the underpinnings to political attitudes of people. John Zaller, in The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion, outlines the role of values (in shaping political attitudes) along lines similar to accounts found in political psychology According to Zaller, every opinion is “a marriage of information and predisposition: information to form a mental picture of the given issue, and predisposition to motivate some conclusion about it”. He explains mass opinion or political attitudes as based on (i) elite discourse which provides political information to people and (ii) the ‘predisposition’ of individuals who receive the information. The role of predispositions is critical in this process.
Model of Moral Decision-Making
In simple terms, moral decisions involve a moral agent, an action (of his own or of someone else), judgement on action, a criterion used for judgement and the source of the criterion. These elements are shown below.
¤ Moral agent X
¤ Voluntary action or conduct X picks Y’s pocket
¤ X’s action is morally wrong judgment
¤ It is wrong to steal moral standard
¤ Religion, custom, law, social norm and the like sources of standard
¤ In administrative situations, codes of conduct and ethics are often the sources of moral standards.
These theories go beyond prediction of likely behaviour of individuals; they discuss factors that lead to formation of intentions.
The decision to adopt a particular behaviour will be determined by: i) positive or negative consequences of behaviour; ii) approval or disapproval of behaviour by respected individuals or groups; and iii) factors that may facilitate or impede behaviour.
This model assumes:
1. Intention is the immediate antecedent of actual behaviour.
2. Intention, in turn, is determined by attitude toward the behaviour, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control.
3. These determinants are themselves a function, respectively, of underlying behavioural, normative, and control beliefs.
4. Behavioural, normative, and control beliefs can vary as a function of a wide range of background factors.
Moderates occupy the middle ground in political spectrum. In any ideological grouping, moderates avoid extreme positions. They are not ideologically driven. For example, socialists represent the middle ground between capitalism and communism.
One school of moral thinkers (who subscribe to moral objectivisim) maintains that the chief tenets of morality are universal. There is a set of moral criteria or standards which are applicable universally to all humansocieties at alltimesandplaces.Moral relativismdeniesthistypeof moraluniversalism. Moral standards, according to this view, are relative to a specific period, time and culture. This carries the implication that there are no objective standards by which to judge moral values as good or bad, or right or wrong.
Moral relativismcan arise fromempirical studies of morals in past or present societies. However, such studies reveal that some core values are shared by all societies. Some philosophical trends also lead to moral relativism. A.J. Ayer who takes a strictly empirical view of what constitutes knowledge argues that the concepts of truth and falsehood do not apply to moral judgements. We can attribute truth or falsityonly to factual statements.Moral judgementsareemotional (and not logical or factual) utterances which convey approval or disapproval of the moral agent. In this view, claims like “I like black coffee” and “It is wrong to ill treat old parents” have the same status. This view is variously known as ‘emotivism’, ‘noncognitivism’ and ‘expressivism’.
Postmodernist philosophers go one better and deny knowledge status to even statements and operations of natural sciences. We need not get into such arcane and eccentric views.
In economics, moral hazard occurs when one person takes more risks because someone else bears the burden of those risks. A moral hazard may occur where the actions of one party may change to the detriment of another after a financial transaction hastaken place.
More broadly, moral hazard occurs when the party with more information about its actions or intentions has a tendency or incentive to behave inappropriately from the perspective of the party with less information.
For example, with respect to the originators of subprime loans in USA which led to the financial crisis of 2008, many bankers must have suspected that the borrowers would not be able to maintain their payments in the long run and that, for this reason, the loans were not going to be worth much. Still, because there were many buyers of these loans (or of pools of these loans) willing to take on that risk under the misguided notion that pooling reduces risk, the originators did not concern themselves with the potential long-term consequences of making these loans. After selling the loans in pooled packets, the originators bore none of the risk; so there was little to no incentive for the originators to investigate the credit worthiness of the borrowers. A party (originator) makes a decision, while another party (buyer of payment streams from packaged loans) bears the costs if things go bad, and the party isolated from risk (originator) behaves differently from how it would have if it were fully exposed to the risk.
An important part of Ethics deals with theories which propound or discuss moral standards. The discussions centre around questions like – particular standards or systems of standards; sources of standards; nature of standards; justification of standards; and application of standards to concrete situations.
The common ends of life which moral thinkers have proposed are shown in the table below:
Philosophy or theory | Prescribed end of life |
Cyrenaics | Pursuit of gross pleasures and enjoyments; ‘drink life to the dregs’ Hedonism |
Epicureanism | Pursuit of happiness or refined pleasures |
Stoicism | Living in harmony with nature; self-control; endurance; being untroubled in adversity |
Materialism | Accumulation of wealth and material comforts |
Humanism | Well-being of people of individual nations or of world at large |
Spiritualism | Undergoing self-discipline to realise God |
Utilitarianism | Maximizing social utility or welfare |
Deontology | Following moral law; duty |
Virtue ethics | Cultivating a virtuous character through practice |
Natural law ethics | Valuing (especially human life) and promoting growth of species, itspreservationand welfare |
An intention, in the broadest sense of the term, means any aim that is definitely adopted as an object of will.
The motive means what moves us or causes us to act in a particular way. Now there is an ambiguity in the term ‘cause’. It is no doubt true that men are sometimes moved to action by feeling. In conduct, on which a moral judgment can be passed, however, a man is never solely moved by feeling. If a man is entirely ‘carried away’ by feeling, by anger or fear, for instance he cannot properly be said to act at all, any more than a stone acts when a man throws it at an object. Moral activity or conduct is purposeful action; and action with a purpose is not simply moved by feeling: it is moved rather by the thought of some end to be attained.
This leads us to the second, and more correct, sense in which the term ‘motive’ may be used. The motive thatinduces us to act is the thought of a desirable end. The motive of an act, then, is a part of the intention, in the broadest sense of that term, but does not necessarily include the whole of theintention.
A nation is a group which thinks of itself as ‘a people,’ usually because they share many things in common. These consist of a common territory, history, culture, language, religion and way of life.
National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA)
NFRA will formulate the accounting and auditing standards for companies. The Institute of Chartered Accounts has earlier prescribed the existing ‘accounting standards’ or the correct ways of writing accounts. This authority will formulate the accounting and auditing standards by revisiting the existing standards prescribed by the institute of chartered accountants. It will monitor and enforce compliance of these standards. To this end, it will oversee the quality of the professions like accountancy, auditing and financial analysisconnected with these matters. TheAuthority will investigate professional and other misconduct of chartered accounts or of their firms.
Audit means examination of accounts, transactions and records which CAG does in pursuance of duties and exercise of powers under the Constitution and the CAG Act. It also includes performance audit or any other type of audit determined by CAG. The CAG examines various aspects of Government expenditure. Conduct of audit is done based on such accounts, vouchers and records as may be received in the audit office and/or in the accounts office and may include online data, information and documents of the auditable entity. It may also be done in the office of the auditable entity or at the site where the relevant records for audit are available. The CAG audit is broadly classified into Regularity Audit and Performance Audit.
New Politics - The Emergence of New Issues and Conflicts
Themes known as ‘new politics’ issues and new social movements have recently emerged in political science. This literature focuses on the consequences of massive economic and social changes sweeping the Western democracies. In this view, new social and political developments have shaken the classic Western ideological structures. Schools of thought such as New Politics, the post-materialist left and the radical right question the former ideas of unidimensional ideological structure which mainly revolved around economic factors. Many writers have recognised that traditional socio-economic cleavages can no longer explain political behaviour.
Nolan Committee’s List of Values
The ‘Seven Principles of Public Life’ enunciated by the Nolan committee are – selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
One way in which people form attitudes is by observing people around them. People are particularly influenced by the attitudes of those whom they admire. Children observe the attitudes of their parents and imitate their ways including attitudes. Some psychologists believe that learning is the source of most of our attitudes.
An ombudsman is usually appointed by the government or by parliament but with a significant degree of independence, and is charged withrepresentingthe interests of thepublic by investigating
and addressing complaints of maladministration or violation of rights. The modern use of the term began in Sweden, with the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman being instituted by the Instrument of Government of 1809, to safeguard the rights of citizens by establishing a supervisory agency independent of the executive branch. Lokpal is an ombudsman.
One common standard for taking or justifying action is what the moral agent regards as his duty or the moral command applicable to the situation. The moral agent does not refer to his feelings, pleasures or ends. He acts in obedience to duty or a moral command. This view of moral justification is best exemplified by Kant’s idea of moral command. This approach is known as ontological.
The purpose of fund utilization is to realise value for money, and achieve the programme objectives. Achievement of these objectives depends on provision of facilities, inputs and services. Physical targets of programmes are necessary but not sufficient for achieving its ultimate goals. As a result, there is considerable emphasis in recent times on the final outcomes of the programmes. It is necessary to distinguish between outputs and outcomes. To take an example, the goals of health programmes are now stated in terms of reducing infant mortalityrates, maternal mortalityrates and total fertility rates. Earlier, they were stated in physical terms such as number of hospitals, doctors, nurses or supply of medicines and nutrients.
Pacifism totally opposes war. While pacifists oppose all killing, they particularly abhor the mass killing which usually accompanies war. They object to this type and scale of killing. Pacifists believe that no moral grounds can justify war, and that it is always wrong. Many thinkers disagree with this blanket opposition to war.
The Panchsheel Treaty (from Sanskrit, panch: five, sheel: virtues) is considered the high watermark of the Indian diplomacy of fifties. Panchsheel consists of five principles for peaceful coexistence between nations or for governing relations between states. Their first formal codification in treaty form was in an agreement between China and India in 1954.The five principles to which states have to subscribe are:
1. Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty
2. Mutual non-aggression
3. Mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs
4. Equality and mutual benefit and
5. Peace and coexistence.
Hedonism is the doctrine that menshould seekpleasure.But humandesires are not always directed towards pleasure. To experience pleasure, men have to seek something else. To experience the joy of success, people have to toil at something, and the committed people derive pleasure from the effort. Further, physical pleasures soon begin to pall so that persuit of pleasure becomes self-defeating. This is known as paradox of hedonism. Pleasure has to be derived as a by product by following avidly one’s creative, intellectual and cultural interests.
Theobjectiveofperformance audit isto see thatGovernment programmeshaveachievedthedesired objectives at the lowest cost and produced the intended benefits.
The three Es of performance audit are economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Economy is minimizingthe cost of resources used for an activity, having regard to appropriate quality.Efficiency is the relationship between the output, in terms of goods, services or other results and the resources used to produce them. Efficiency existswherethe use of financial, human, physical and information resources is suchthat output is maximised for any given set of resourceinputs, or input is minimized for any given quantity and quality of output. Effectiveness is the extent to which objectives are achieved and the relationship between the intended impact and the actual impact of an activity. Effectiveness addresses the issue of whether the scheme, programme or organization has achieved its objectives.
Personality is characterised by the following features:
1. It has both physical and psychological components.
2. Its expression in terms of behaviour is fairly unique in a given individual.
3. Its main features do not easily change with time.
4. It is dynamic in the sense that some of its features may change due to internal or external situational demands. Thus, personality is adaptive to situations.
Once we are able to characterize someone’s personality, we can predict how that person will probably behave in a variety of circumstances. An understanding of personality allows us to deal with people in realistic and acceptable ways.
Personality and Ideological Orientation
Individual personality is largelymoulded by familydynamics[eventsinfamilyfrom one’s childhood to adulthood], cultural forces, work experiences, and educational experiences. Personality differences have a significant bearing on political attitudes and behaviour. According to modern psychologists, there are five major personality traits (the Big Five) - agreeableness, openness to experience, emotional stability (or alternatively its inverse, neuroticism), conscientiousness, and extraversion. These are also known as dispositional personality traits and are used to explain an individual’s ideological orientation.
Social psychology uses the SR mechanism model to explain political attitudes and behaviour. According to this view, political attitudes are characteristic adaptations that are the product of essential
dispositional traits and environmental factors. McCrae and Costa describe characteristic adaptations as “acquired skills, habits, attitudes, and relationships that result from the interaction of individual and environment”.In thisframework,political issuesand ideologicallabelsare “stimuli”[stimuli comefrom environment] to which the Big Five traits shape responses. The meaning of these stimuli is shaped by environmental factors such as political context.
Extraversion implies an energetic approach to the social and material world and includes traits such as sociability, activity, assertiveness, and positive emotionality. Agreeableness contrasts a pro social and community orientation toward others with antagonism and includes traits such as altruism, tender-mindedness, trust, and modesty. Conscientiousness describes socially prescribed impulse control that facilitates task and goal-directed behaviour, such as thinking before acting, delaying gratification, following norms and rules, and planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks. Emotional Stability describes even-temperedness and contrasts with negative emotionality, such as feeling anxious, nervous, sad, and tense. Openness to Experience (versus closed-mindedness) describes the breadth, depth, originality, and complexity of an individual’s mental and experiential life. Social psychologists explained the relationship of the Big Five psychological traits to an individual’s ideological preferences.
¤ Temperament: Biologically based characteristic way of reacting.
¤ Trait: Stable, persistent and specific way of behaving.
¤ Disposition: Tendency of a person to react to a given situation in a particular way.
¤ Character: The overall pattern of regularly occurring behaviour.
¤ Habit: Over-learned modes of behaving.
¤ Values: Goals and ideals that are considered important and worthwhile to achieve.
Persuading People to Change Attitudes
In order to be effective persuaders, we must first get people’s attention, then send an effective message to them, and then ensure that they process the message in the way we would like them to. Furthermore, to accomplish these goals, persuaders must take into consideration the cognitive, affective, and behavioural aspects of their methods. Persuaders also must understand how the communication they are presenting relates to the message recipient—his or her motivations, desires, and goals.
People process the message – like advertisements – in two ways. Spontaneous attitude change occurs as a direct or affective response to the message, whereas thoughtful attitude change is based on our cognitive elaboration of the message. The messages that we deliver may be processed in two ways: spontaneously or thoughtfully. Other terms for ‘spontaneously’ are ‘peripherally ‘or’ heuristically.Other termsfor ‘thoughtfully’are‘centrally‘and systematically’.
(a) Spontaneous Message Processing
Spontaneous processing is direct, quick, and often involves affective responses to the message. We may simply accept the message without thinking about it very much. In these cases, we engage in
spontaneous message processing, in which we accept a persuasion attempt because we focus on whatever is most obvious or enjoyable without much attention to the message itself.
(b) Thoughtful Message Processing
Thoughtful processing, on the other hand, is more controlled and involves a more careful cognitive elaboration of the meaning of the message.
The route that we take when we process a communication is important in determining whether or not a particular message changes our attitudes.
In simple terms, political attitudes can be defined as relatively stable views, either favourable or unfavourable, which individuals or groups have about events, movements, policies and issues in the public sphere. These targets towards which attitudes are directed are described in literature as “attitude objects.”
Political attitudes are best understood based on the idea of political spectrum. Political spectrum is a graphic, or more specifically, a straight line along which political positions are shown from left to right. These positions are radical, liberal, moderate, conservative and reactionary. These terms are generic descriptions of political attitudes. They also refer to specific ideologies.
“The power of positive thinking” is the idea that thinking positively helps people meet their goals and keeps them healthy, happy, and able to effectively cope with the negative events that they experience. It turns out that positive thinking really works. People who think positively about their future, who believe that they can control their outcomes, and who are willing to open up and share with others, are healthier people. The power of positive thinking comes in different forms, but they are all helpful. Some researchers have focused on optimism, a general tendency to expect positive outcomes, and have found that optimists are happier and have less stress. Others have focused on self-efficacy, the belief in our ability to carry out actions that produce desired outcomes. People with high self-efficacy respond to environmental and other threats in an active, constructive way— by getting information, talking to friends, and attempting to face and reduce the difficulties they are experiencing. These people, too, are better able to ward off their stresses in comparison with people with less self-efficacy. It helps in part because it leads us to perceive that we can control the potential stressors that may affect us. Workers who have control over their work environment (e.g., by being able to move furniture and control distractions) experience less stress, as do patients in nursing homes who are able to choose their everyday activities.
These are regulations which are voluntarily adopted by members of various professions and occupations. They define the standard practices which all members follow to ensure uniformity and acceptable quality of service which maintains their reputation and credibility. For example,
various professionals such as nurses, doctors, engineers, accountants, auditors and lawyers have professional codes. Such standards, also known as professional standards, are also prescribed by regulatory agencies for some professions.
Professional ethics cover the personal and job-related standards of behaviour expected of professionals. Professionals possess and use specialist knowledge and skill. The manner of using such knowledge while providing a service to the public is considered a moral issue and is termed as professional ethics. Professionals can make informed judgments in various situations based on their skills. The general public is unable to make such decisions for want of relevant training.
Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
The Public Accounts Committee satisfies itself that the moneys (shown in the accounts) were used legally on the service or purpose to which they were applied; that the expenditure was authorized; and that re-appropriation (i.e. whether reallocation of funds from one programme or budget head to another programme or budget head) was appropriate. The PAC also examines the statement of accountsofautonomousandsemi-autonomousbodies, the audit of whichis conducted bytheCAG.
Public sphere is the arena in which the policies and actions of political parties, government and civil society are formulated and enacted. This concept of public sphere applies best to open democratic societies; it is inapplicable to states in which oligarchies and coteries hold the levers of power.
When will is regarded in relation to the end at which it aims, it is called Purpose. Will is, however, sometimes used also to describe the end itself, rather than the fact of aiming at an end. Purpose should be carefully distinguished from those tendencies to action which accompany appetite, desire, and wish.
Purpose and other drivers of human action are shown in the table below:
Appetite | action | blind impulse |
Desire | action | conscious impulse |
Wish | action | inclination |
Considered approval of inclination | action | Purpose or resolution |
Inother words, tendency to actionmay arise from blindimpulse,conscious impulse,inclination and purpose or resolution.
Realists doubt the relevance of morality to international politics. This usually leads them to the
following conclusions: there is no place for morality in international relations; morality and successful conduct of international relations of a nation are incompatible; morality of States is different from customary morality; and morality, if any, is merely used instrumentally to justify states’ conduct.
“Radical” refers to individuals, parties, and movements that seek to drastically alter any existing practice, institution, or social system. As radicals are highly dissatisfied with the society, they want immediate and revolutionary changes. Extreme leftists challenge the most cherished values and assumptions of society. They reject the institutions of the establishment, and seek a more humane, egalitarian, and idealisticsocial and political system. Many radicals espouse violence.
In regularity (financial) audit and in other types of audit when applicable, auditors should analyse the financial statements to establish whether acceptable accounting standards for financial reporting and disclosure are complied with.
Related transactions are those in which board directors or their immediate family members have a personal financial interest. These transactions place them in conflict of interest situations. Their gain may depend on company’s loss. It is a cardinal principle that they should keep a safe distance from suchtransactions.
According to Perry, “Right” means “being conducive to harmonious happiness”. In other words, to say that an action X is right is to say that it is conducive to harmonious happiness. According to F.C. Sharp, “right” means “desired when looked at from an impersonal point of view.” In other words, in judging an action as right, we do not look at it from our personal or individual viewpoint.
The definition of Perry relate to empirical facts. One may define “good” as God’s command. Such a definition is theological or metaphysical or simply goes beyond the facts known to human experience. We can understand two other ethical terms at this point. Those who define ethical terms as Perry does empirically (or regard them as disguised empirical assertions) are called ethical naturalists. Those who consider ethical statements as disguised theological or metaphysical statements are called metaphysical moralists.
Rule-deontologistsassert that the standard of right or wrong consists of one or more rules. The rules can be as in “we must always tell the truth”. Unlike utilitarians, they argue that the rules are valid irrespective of whether or not they promote good in a particular case.
In act-utilitarianism, the act itself is judged for its actual or expected consequences i.e. what are likely to be the consequences for the community or society if an agent in a particular case takes a given
action. Rule utilitarianism focuses attention on the aggregate of consequences which follow from the consistent application of a rule. The relevant question becomes: Which rule applied in this case and similar cases will promote the greatest common good? According to Frankena, its consistent application is likely to produce the optimum benefits to society with least effort on the part of the agent (decision costs) in reaching the decision. Rule utilitarianism makes unnecessary the recalculation of net good on every occasion, thus simplifying action and improving efficiency. Rule utilitarianism avoids the kind of anomalous results to which act-utilitarianism leads.
Moral thinkers propounded many theories of ethics in modern times. They can be conveniently grouped into the following categories.
¤ Intuitionist theories
¤ Rationalist theories
¤ Utilitarian theories
¤ Evolutionist theories
The purpose of this audit is to ensure that the company dulycomplies with all the legal requirements as specified in the Companies Act and other relevant laws. Every listed company and/or specified Company has to attach to its Board’s report to share holders a secretarial audit report given by a company secretary in practice.Thetask of a company secretarywho headsitssecretariat is to ensure that the company duly complies with all the legal requirements as specified in the Companies Act and other relevant laws.
Self-awareness refers to the extent to which we are currently fixing our attention on our own self- concept. When the self-concept becomes highly accessible because of our concerns about being observed and potentially judged by others, we experience the publicly induced self-awareness known as self-consciousness. Emotions such as anxiety and embarrassment occur in large part because the self-concept becomes highly accessible, and they serve as a signal to monitor and perhaps change our behaviour.
People are more likely to act morally when they are self-aware. This implies that while trying to study harder, or engage in other difficult behaviours, one should try to focus on oneself and the importance of the goals one is pursuing. Another important point is that people who lose their self- awareness are likely to violate acceptable social norms. When people are in large crowds, such as a mass demonstration or a riot, they may become so much a part of the group that they lose their individual self-awareness and experience deindividuation—the loss of self-awareness and individual accountability in groups. They are more prone to violent actions.
The self-concept is a rich and complex social representation. In addition to our thoughts about who we are right now, the term self-concept includes thoughts about our past self—our experiences, accomplishments, and failures—and about our future self—our hopes, plans, goals, and possibilities.
Self-Concept
The self-concept is a knowledge representation that contains knowledge about us, including our beliefs about our personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities, values, goals, and roles, as well as theknowledgethat we exist as individuals.Throughout childhoodand adolescence,the self-concept becomes more abstract and complex and is organized into a variety of different cognitive aspects, known as self-schemas. We have self-schemas about our appearance, skills and many other aspects. Adults have many self-schemas, and can analyse their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and can see that other people may have different thoughts than we do. At times, having a sense of self may seem unpleasant—when we are not proud of our appearance, actions, or relationships with others. But being aware of our past and being able to speculate about the future is adaptive—it allows us to modify our behaviour on the basis of our mistakes and to plan for future activities.
Although each person has a unique self-concept, people include common items in it. Physical characteristics are an important component of the self-concept. A second characteristic of the self- concept reflects our memberships in the social groups that we belong to and care about. Our group memberships form an important part of the self-concept because they provide us with our social identity—the sense of our self that involves our memberships in social groups. The remainder of the self-concept is normally made up of personality traits—the specific and stable personality characteristics that describe an individual.
Many writers maintain that the moral end of a human being must consist in some form of self- realisation i.e. in some form of the development of character – that the end, in short, ought to be described rather as perfection than as happiness. In this view, moral life is, in its very essence, a growth or development. As we saw, this idea is part of Aristotelian moral tradition.
We can find other roots of this view. Jesus Christ says, “be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect”. St. Paul elaborated this idea and made it an integral part of Christianity. The two great Christian theologians, St. Augustine and St. Anselm, were followers of Plato, and continued to follow the Greek philosophical tradition. However, it was St. Thomas Aquinas who fully formulated the Christian moral philosophy. He borrowed heavily from Aristotle’s thought. Like Aristotle, he
believed that everything in nature, every created thing, has its own good and its own perfection and strives towards that perfection. The good of man consists in the perfection of his rational or spiritual nature, and ultimately in the beatific vision of God from whom his being and reason are derived.
Philosophers such as Leibnitz and Spinoza subscribed to this conception of the moral life. Despite hisformalism,Kant’s moral philosophy,taken as a whole,contains an element of perfectionism, and Hegel has expressed it most completely for modern times. English idealistic philosophers such as
T. H. Green, F. H. Bradley, Bernard Bosanquet and others also held this moral view. They were influenced by classic Greek thought and Christian philosophy, and opposed the hedonism and utilitarianism of the English empirical school.
We also need to learn how to control our emotions, to prevent our emotions from letting our behaviour get out of control. The process of setting goals and using our cognitive and affective capacities to reach those goals is known as self-regulation, and a good part of self-regulation involves regulating our emotions. To be the best people that we possibly can, we have to work hard at it. Succeeding at school, at work, and in our relationships with others takes a lot of effort. When we are successful at self-regulation, we are able to move toward or meet the goals that we setfor ourselves. When we fail at self-regulation, we are notable to meet those goals. People who are better able to regulate their behaviours and emotions are more successful in their personal and social encounters and thus self-regulation is a skill we should seek to master.
Indian couples have a strong preference for a male child. This led to misuse of the provisions of MTP Act for conducting abortions of female foetuses. Subsequently, new technologies such as sonography made sex detection easier, and increased sex-selective abortions. To control these abortions, the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, was passed in 1994.
Situation ethics is the doctrine that particular judgements are fundamental to ethical conduct. Particular judgements in this view are contrasted with general moral principles or maxims. For example, one may take pity on a famished beggar and give him money for food. This action is based simply on considerations connected with finding a famished beggar. One may also view the act as following from the general principle that those in distress should be helped. Situation ethics says that such general principles are irrelevant or of no use. It may also maintain that general moral principles are inductive generalizations based on observing several similar individual occurrences. Thus the generalization, ‘barking dogs do not bite’ may be an inductive generalization based on observing many barking dogs.
People are generally aware that communicators may deliver messages that are inaccurate or misleading, and tend to discount messages that come from untrustworthy sources. But there is one interesting situation in which people may be fooled by communicators. This occurs when a message is presented by someone that people think is untrustworthy. On first hearing that person’s
communication, people discount it and it therefore has little influence on their opinions. However, overtimethere is a tendency to rememberthecontent of a communication to a greaterextentthanthe source of the communication. As a result, people may forget over time to discount the remembered message. This attitude change that occurs over time is known as the sleeper effect.
While financial audit is conducted by qualified accountants and auditors, social audit is done through people’s participation. It is particularly useful in ascertaining the true state of affairs about programmes which benefit large groups such as local public works, distribution of welfare payments, and procurement of products and services for government and delivery of services to people. Provisions for social audit should be made a part of the operational guidelines of all such schemes. It has already been adopted in many schemes.
In the sociological tradition, the notion (idea) of primary social groups is used to explain ideologies. Social groups are based on common group interests or seen as a reflection of social cleavages. In this perspective, cleavage is defined as social division, accompanied by specific group identities and attitudes (specific group ideology), and politicization of the division by specific political parties.
The word socialism was coined in the early 1800s. It advocated policies which meet the basic needs of the entire society instead of policies that serve needs of individuals. Socialism opposed competing ideologies(such as classical liberalism) that rank in theirpolitical prioritiesindividualism above the common good. Later, socialists were called social democrats or democratic socialists. They reject Marxism-Leninism. They see its advocacy of a vanguard party as authoritarian. Social democrats believe in integrating socialism and democracy. Unlike Marxist-Leninists, social democrats support peaceful, legal efforts to work toward socialism, and they believe in multiparty competition and civil liberties. They view socialism as a way of organizing society so that all groups are guaranteed some level of social well-being and economic security.
Soft skills refer to a person’s ‘EQ’ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient) - the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism - that characterize relationships with other people. Soft skills complement hard skills which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities. They are related to feelings, emotions, insights and (some would say) an ‘inner knowing’: i.e. they provide an important complement to ‘hard skills’ and IQ.
Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual’s interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which are about a person’s skill set and ability to perform a certain type of task or activity, soft skills relate to a person’s ability to interact effectively with co- workers and customers and are broadly applicable both in and outside the workplace.
A person’s soft skill EQ is an important part of his/her individual contribution to the success of an organization. Particularly those organizations dealing with customers face-to-face are generally
more successful, if they train their staff to use these skills. It has been suggested that in a number of professions, soft skills may be more important over the long term than occupational skills.
Soft Skills are behavioural competencies. Also known as interpersonal skills, or people skills, they include proficiencies such as communication skills, conflict resolution and negotiation, personal effectiveness, creative problem solving, strategic thinking, team building, influencing skills and selling skills.
Political theorists commonly use sovereignty in three contexts. From an international legal perspective, it refers to the terms of the reciprocal recognition that states accord one another in the international political order. In its reference to domestic polity of a state, it means the ultimate source of legal or constitutional authority. Empirically, it means effective capacity to exercise unilateral control over various fields of activity and to formulate policies unilaterally.
Standards or norms are defined as principles of right action binding upon members of a group and serving to guide, control, or regulate proper and acceptable behaviour. Standards and norms are the codification of group, organizational, community, or governmental values. Laws, regulations, codes of ethics, and rules are typical examples of standards and norms.
(H. George Frederickson & Jeremy Davis Walling, Research and ftnowledge in Administrative Ethics)
The state has a narrower meaning referring to the constitutional arrangements which determine how a nation is governed. Or ‘state’ refers to the machinery of government which organizes life in a given territory. Whereas governments come and go, state is an enduring entity and permanent, barring cataclysmal changes.
A stem cell is a unique type of cell with remarkable qualities. It can differentiate into other types of functional cells like nerve cells or skin cells. It can renew itself, and also form other cells. However, most stem cells reside in particular organs and tissues, and produce a limited range of cells. Thus, bone marrow cells only produce blood cells. These are known as adult stem cells.
Embryonic stem (ES) cells are much more potent. They can produce any other type of cell--- blood, brain, intestine, muscles, bone and skin. Hence, they are known as pluripotent. They can be isolated from embryo, and grown in Petri dishes in laboratory. They can grow continuously in culture.
The importance of an attitude, as assessed by how quickly it comes to mind, is known as attitude strength. Some of our attitudes are strong attitudes, in the sense that we find them important, hold them with confidence, do not change them very much, and use them frequently to guide our actions. These strong attitudes may guide our actions completely out of our awareness. Strong attitudes are
attitudes that are more cognitively accessible—they come to mind quickly, regularly, and easily. We can easily measure attitude strength by assessing how quickly our attitudes are activated when we are exposed to the attitude object. If we can state our attitude quickly, without much thought, then it is a strong one. If we are unsure about our attitude and need to think about it for a while before stating our opinion, the attitude is weak. Attitudes become stronger when we have direct positive or negative experiences with the attitude object. Other attitudes are weaker and have little influence on our actions.
Plato and Aristotle introduced this concept. It is the highest good, especially as the ultimate goal according to which values and priorities are established in an ethical system. Individual actions of men aim at particular ends. The particular ends are in turn means for achieving other ends. However, this means-ends series finds closure in a final or ultimate end which has no reference to any other end. This ultimate value or end is summum bonum. Aristotle identified it with serene philosophical contemplation.
Aquinas took from Aristotle this notion of an ultimate end, or goal—a summum bonum—at which all human action is directed; and, like Aristotle, he conceived of this end as necessarily connected with happiness. This conception was Christianized, however, by the idea that happiness is to be found in the love of God.
(Partly from Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Surrogacy means a practice whereby one woman bears and gives birth to a child for an intending (mainly infertile) couple with the intention of handing over such child to the intending couple after the birth.The SurrogacyregulationBill (whichunioncabinet recentlyapproved) makes a distinction between altruistic and commercial surrogacy. In altruistic surrogacy, no monetary incentives of whatever nature (other than medical insurance and expenses) are given to the surrogate mother or her dependents or her representative.. Commercial surrogacy refers to commercialisation either in whole or part of surrogacy services or procedures. Commercialization may cover selling or buying of human embryo or trading in the sale or purchase of human embryo or gametes or selling or buying or trading the services of surrogate motherhood by giving incentives in cash or kind, to the surrogate mother or her dependents or her representative.
Human moral values can be arranged in a hierarchy from the lower to the higher. THE TABLE OF VALUES (ascending order)
I. Bodily Values
II. Economic Values
III. Values of Recreation
IV. Values ofAssociation
V. Character Values
VI. Aesthetic Values
VII. Intellectual Values
VIII. Religious Values
The values in this table of values fall into three distinct groups.
The bodily, economic and recreation values go together since they all involve the satisfaction of wants connected with what we may call the bodily self. The character values and the values of association form a distinct group because they are connected with the social self and arise only in relation of the self to others. The aesthetic, intellectual and religious values also go together. They are no doubt related to the bodily and social self, and conditioned by them. But these values arise only in some functioning of the self that goes beyond man’s bodily and social self.
The values arise from certain dispositions or tendencies which may be taken as fundamental springs of action. The dispositions can be instincts or cultivated habits. There are certain dispositions or tendencies which, whether innate or acquired, are fundamental and universal enough to be made the basis of human values. All these values correspond to fundamental instinctive needs or wants of men.
Self-realisation requires the satisfaction of all these tendencies, or the realisation of all these values. It is only an ideal, in the sense that it describes only a direction in which man’s conscious activity may be directed. There is no such thing as total self-realisation, realisation of the self all at once, or in one act. Life is a process.
Government procedures or methods often have an inbuilt scope for corrupt operations. The operating environment is marked by monopolistic structures, opaque procedures, discretionary decision-making, dilatoryprocesses and lack of accountability to public. Further, government tends to allocate public or natural resources at much below their market price. This environment reduces the chances of speedy detection of malfeasance and creates incentives for collusive corruption. Systemic reforms can follow four main routes: deregulation and reducing government controls; creating competition by providing alternative service providers; speeding up work and increasing transparency through use of ICT; and streamlining work procedures.
Teleological or End-based Ethics
Some moral standards propose that the actions of moral agents should serve harmonious social ends, or lead to maximum social welfare. Such standards are in fact saying that an action should be judged based on the end or objective which it seeks. This type of moral justification of an act based on the end which the moral agent has in view is called teleological. The classic example of teleological ethics is utilitarianism. Deontology on the other hand holds that moral agents should obey their duty or moral commands without worrying about the likely consequences.
Terrorism is defined in many ways. Its main attributes are the following:
• A type of violence harming people and damaging property
• Specific use of violence for achieving social and political ends
• Creating great fear, alarm and a sense of panic among people
• Reliance on random or arbitrary use of violence
• Targeting innocent people or non combatants
Another definition of terrorism which Caleb Carr gave is: “... the contemporary name given to, and the modernpermutationof, warfaredeliberately waged against civilianswiththe purpose of destroying their will to support either leaders or policies that agents of such violence find objectionable.” It is noteworthy that terrorism is warfare and aims at undermining peoples’ will and belief in their way of living.
There is an age old debate on whether men are free or dependent beings. Some philosophers argued thatthere is no real humanfreedom,sincemenaredetermined by circumstances.Othersconsidered this as a “lazy sophism” or an excuse to avoid moral effort.
Moral judgement maintains that we ought to act in one way rather than in another, that one manner of action is good or right, and another bad or evil. As Kant remarked, there would be no meaning in an ‘ought’ if it were not accompanied by a ‘can’ – i.e. if men have no freedom or ability to act. But ability or habit needed for moral action cannot be instantaneously generated. The ‘can’ may not be an immediate possibility. A man ought to be wise, for instance; but wisdom is a quality that can only be gradually developed. Thus, virtues have to be cultivated over time.
Now if a man’s will were absolutely determined by his circumstances, it would be strictly impossiblefor him to become anythingbut that which he doesbecome.Moral imperatives(‘ought to’) would cease to have any meaning. If the moral imperative is to operate, human will must in some sense be free.
This model depicts how general attitudes affect evaluations of the attitude object. General attitudes introduce bias in perceiving and judging information relevant to the attitude object. The bias depends on how strong or weak the general attitude is. If the general attitude is strong, the bias will be high. If it is weak, bias will be low.
Many theorists regard that the nearest cognitive antecedent of actual behavioural performance is the agent’s intention than his attitude. It means that one can accurately predict specific behaviours from the intentions of their performers.
The Nine Types of Intelligence
1. Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)
This refers to the human ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in
such roles as botanist or chef. Present day consumer society exploits the naturalist intelligence by creating discriminatingtastes amongcars,dresses, shoes,different types of makeup, andthelike.
2. Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”):
Musical intelligence is the capacity to follow musical qualities like pitch, rhythm, timbre, and tone. Composers, conductors, musicians, vocalists, and sensitive listeners are endowed with these qualities.Manythinkers havecommented on the linkbetween musicandtheemotions, andbetween mathematical and musical aptitudes.
3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart):
Logical-mathematical intelligence denotes skills of calculation, quantification and problem solving. It involves the ability to visualize relationships and connections and to use abstract, symbolic thought. It is also reflected in sequential reasoning as well as in inductive and deductive thinking. Logical intelligence is associated with mathematicians, physical scientists, statisticians and computer programmers.
4. Existential Intelligence:
This indicates sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here and why we are born on earth. In this concept, Martin Gardner is referring to philosophical, theological and metaphysical interests of people. Adi Sankara, Plato, Pascal, Spinoza and Kant will fall in this category.
5. Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart):
Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand and interact effectively with others. It involves effective verbal and nonverbal communication, the ability to appreciate differences among people, awareness of the moods and temperaments of others, and the capacity for viewing matters from multiple perspectives. These skills are usually present in teachers, social workers, actors, and politicians.
6. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart):
This involves the ability to manipulate objects and use various bodily skills. It includes a sense of timing and fine tuning skills through mind–body coordination. These skills are commonly found among athletes, dancers, surgeons, and various categories of craftsmen.
7. Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart):
These skills relate to verbal thinking and linguistic usages for expressing complex and difficult involved ideas. This forms the essence of written communication skills. It enables one to express and communicate ideas clearly and coherently. Masters of prose and poetry use this intelligence to create appropriate ambience in fiction, drama and verse.
8. Intra-personal Intelligence (Self Smart):
Intra-personal intelligence signifies self-understanding – one’s personality, abilities, motives and aptitudes. By understanding our thoughts and feelings we can plan and direct our life. This skill
also involves understanding the human predicament or the general situation of man in society and nature, and the common course of man’s life. Psychologists, spiritual leaders, philosophers and great literary artists possess this type of intelligence.
9. Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart):
Spatial intelligence refers to skills in visualizing three dimensional entities. It involves imaginative facultyand configuration of things in threedimensional spaces.The specificskillswhichfall intothis category include: mental imagery, spatial reasoning, image manipulation and graphic and artistic skills. Sailors, pilots, sculptors, painters, and architects all have these skills.
William Frankena defines beneficence as the obligation to do good and prevent harm. Beneficence implies four things.
1. One ought not to inflict harm or evil. (What is bad)
2. One ought to preventharm or evil.
3. One ought to remove evil.
4. One ought to promote or do good.
Morality strictly prohibits doing harm to anyone. However, helping others, except when they are in dire need or extreme difficulty (covered in 3), may not be obligatory though desirable.
(William Frankena, Ethics)
The Theory of Planned Behaviour
Although there is generally consistency between attitudes and behaviour, the relationship is stronger in certain situations, for certain people, and for certain attitudes. The theory of planned behaviour outlines many of the important variables that affected the attitude-behaviour relationship (summarized in the list that follows).
¤ When attitudes are strong,rather than weak
¤ When we have a strong intention to perform the behaviour
¤ When the attitude and the behaviour both occur in similar social situations
¤ When the same components of the attitude (either affect or cognition) are accessible
¤ When the attitude is assessed and when the behaviour is performed
¤ When the attitudes are measured at a specific, rather than a general, level
¤ Forlowself-monitors(rather than for high self-monitors)
The above factors determine whether attitudes lead to corresponding behaviours.
From moral point of view, man’s rational self alone counts as his real self. Man’s genuine freedom consists in acting from this rational self. The man who acts irrationally is said to be “enslaved by his passions.” He is thus not really free.
There can be said to be threeselvesinevery man. One is theselfrevealed in momentaryimpulses which men cannot subdue. The second is the man’s permanent character which habitually guides
his actions. The third is the true or rational self which expresses what is best in man. These ideas find expression in modern terms in Freud’s id, ego and superego.
Transparency signifies openness and accountability of administration. An organization is transparent when its decision–making and mode of working is open to public and media scrutiny and public discussion. A transparent system of administration encourages public participation in government’s decision–making processes. It is especially useful in promoting grass root level democracy. RTI Act is the foremost measure that government tookfor promotingtransparency in administration.
Thistheorypositsthat attitudes of people on any subject can be changed by suitablycommunicating appropriate information to them. Many aspects are relevant in trying to persuade people to change their attitude on any subject. These are:
(i) object of theattitudei.e.thing,person,group or ideatowardswhich an attitudeisdirected;
(ii) the message or information;
(iii) the manner in which it is delivered;
(iv) the messenger and
(v) the target audience i.e. individuals whose attitudes need change.
In some of our moral judgements we say that a certain action or kind of action is morally right, wrong, obligatory, or ought or ought not to be done. In others, we talk not aboutaction or kind of action, but about persons, motives, intentions, character traits and the like. We may say that they are morally good, bad, virtuous, vicious, responsible, blameworthy, etc. The things talked about in these two kinds of judgement and what is said about them is different. The former judgements are called judgements of moral obligation (deontic) and the latter as judgements of moral value (aretaic). It is better to avoid expressions like ‘good actions’ and ‘good deeds’. Here, good refers to intentions or consequences. However, judgements of events and values are interrelated.
Two particular types of individual differences in self-awareness have been found to be important, and they relate to self-concern and other-concern, respectively. Private self-consciousness refers to the tendency to introspect about our inner thoughts and feelings. People who are high in private self-consciousness tend to think about themselves a lot and to be attentive to their inner feelings. People who are high on private self-consciousness are likely to base their behaviour on their own inner beliefs and values—they let their inner thoughts and feelings guide their actions—and they may be particularly likely to strive to succeed on dimensions that allow them to demonstrate their own personal accomplishments
Public self-consciousness, in contrast, refers to the tendency to focus on our outer public image and to be particularly aware of the extent to which we are meeting the standards set by others. These are the people who check their hair in a mirror they pass and spend a lot of time getting ready in the
morning; they are more likely to let the opinions of others, (rather than their own opinions) guide their behaviours and are particularly concerned with making good impression on others.
Hedonism implies that people pursue pleasure. In doing so, the greatest attainable pleasure is always to be selected. In choosing our own pleasures, the future is to be regarded as of equal weight with the present. In like manner, also, the pleasures of others are to be regarded as of equal weight with our own. In this way, Dr. Sidgwick rejects egoistic hedonism, and argues universalistic hedonism to be the only reasonable hedonistic system. This is another way of describing utilitarianism.
UN Charter can be regarded as embodying the currently accepted code of international morality. The preamble refers to the great human misery which the First World War and the Second World War caused and to the need to end wars. It emphasises the value of human rights, and also the rights of small (and weak) nations. It highlights that nations should abide by treaties and should observe international law.
The Charter mentions the following as requirements for achieving the aims set out in the preamble.
¤ An environment of peace, tolerance and good neighbourly relations
¤ A commitment to act together for collective or international security
¤ Adoption of principle and institutions for avoiding use of armed forces
The main purpose of UN is to maintain international peace and security. From these two instrumental objectives follow: to act collectively to prevent and remove threats to peace; and to suppress acts of aggression or other breaches of peace. An allied purpose is to settle peacefully, and in accordance with the principles of justice and international law, international disputes or situations which can disrupt peace.
Utilitarianism recommends that an act or application of rule by a moral agent should seek to maximise the net balance of good over evil (the “greatest good”) for as many members of the society as possible (the “greatest number”). Utilitarianism requires measuring and aggregating (at least in rough quantity) the relative benefits and burdens to an entire community of people of some act or rule. Consequences may be judged as good or bad from the individual moral agent’s perspective or on the basis of welfare or happiness or utility.
(Gerald M. Pops, A Teleological Approach to Administrative Ethics)
According to William Frankena, “values” in the narrower sense refer to that which is considered good,desirable or worthwhile, and in the broadersense, to “all kinds of rightness,obligation, virtues, beauty, truth, and holiness”. The anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn says: “A value is a conception, explicit or implicit, distinctive of an individual or characteristic of a group, of the desirable which
influences the selection from available modes, means, and ends of action.” David Hume refers to values as the ‘oughts’ and ‘ought nots’ of the world.
According to sociologists values are not strictly individual. Thomas McCullough defines values
as:
Values … are communal. They are public in that they are standardstranscendingindividual taste, carrying a
claim to be recognised by the community. They can be discussed, analysed, ordered, and justified in a rational discourse. A meaningful discussion about values presupposes a common lifeworld, a shared cultural context within which persons respect one another and care about ideas and values as determinants of life together.
Max Weber referred to “value pluralism” and observed that ultimately the possible attitudes towards life are innumerable and irreconcilable. However, as pointed out by Durkheim, human beings in society achieve some convergence in their values through “collective sentiments and collective ideas”.
(Harold F.Gortner, Valuesand Ethics) There can be values in different spheres of society as shown in the table
Social | Bureaucratic | Economic * | Democratic** | Professional |
Humanitarianism | Competence & | Rationality | Individual worth & | Expertise |
specialization | dignity | |||
Security, comfort | Externally | Economic | Personal achievement | Rejection of self interest |
established goals | efficiency | in action | ||
Equality | Impersonality | Measurability of | Minority rights | Independent decisions |
in action | values in material | |||
or monetary terms | ||||
External conformity | Rationality, | Quantifiable goals | Liberty, Freedom | Beneficence for clients |
stability | ||||
Efficiency | Career in | Minimum | Efficacy, empowerment | Recognition, identification |
organization | interference with | by community | ||
Practicality | Hierarchical | market forces | Lifetime work | |
obligation & | commitment | |||
accountability | Social obligation | |||
& self regulation | ||||
within profession |
*The reference to minimum market interference is derived from economic liberalism. Socialist can have different ideas.
**For a statement of these values in Indian context, refer to constitutional values in the text.
*** The table does not include the character virtues mentioned in Ethics. We have referred to them elsewhere in the text.
Vigilance is a generic term for the mechanisms and procedures followed in government organizations to curb corruption. Government agencies can adopt three broad approaches to reduce corruption. The three approaches are (i) Preventative vigilance; (ii) Punitive vigilance; and (iii) Surveillance and detection. Preventive vigilance refers to measures which are taken to reduce or eliminate the
likelihood of corruption in an organization. Punitive vigilance refers to actions including award of punishment which arise after commission of acts of corruption. Surveillance vigilance refers to ongoing monitoring of vigilance cases.
In his ethical discussions, Aristotle focuses on character, because by improving it, he thought men could also improve their virtues. Aristotle considered that virtue represents a balance between extremes. For example, courage is the middle between one extreme of deficiency (cowardice) and the other extreme of excess (recklessness). A coward would be a warrior who flees from the battlefield and a reckless warrior would charge at fifty enemy soldiers. This doesn’t mean that the golden mean is the exact arithmetical middle between extremes, but that the middle depends on the situation. There is no universal middle that would apply to every situation. Because of the difficulty the balance in certain situations can represent, constant moral improvement of the character is crucial for recognizing it. The golden mean applies only for virtues, not vices. Certain emotions and actions (hate, envy, jealousy, theft, and murder) are always wrong, regardless of their degree.
The importance of the golden mean is that it re-affirms the balance needed in life. It was recognised in ancient Greek: “Nothing in Excess”. This approach is very relevant to modern society which suffers from excessive wealth accumulation and consumption and neglect of education, healthy sports activities and of intellectual pursuits.
Virtue Ethics or Character Ethics
This is an approach to Ethics which regards notion of virtue (often conceived as excellence) as fundamental. Virtue ethics is primarily concerned with traits of character that are essential to human flourishing, not with the enumeration of duties. It considers that morality consists not in adhering certain principles (like hedonism), but consists in cultivating good character traits. According to virtue ethics, an ideal moral life can be led by cultivating good character.
This can be viewed as another approach to Ethics – along with deontological ethics and consequentialism. It has a closer affinity to deontological ethics in that it views morally right actions are constitutive of the end itself and are not mere instrumental means to the end.
(From Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia)
Widening The Definition of Corruption
SARC recommended widening the definition to include:
¤ Gross perversion of the Constitution and democratic institutions amounting to wilful violation of oath of office
¤ Abuse of authority unduly favouring or harming someone
¤ Obstruction of justice
¤ Squandering public money
