Conscience should not merely endorse the existing beliefs and opinions. Morality existing at any time is not likely to be perfect. One has to recognise both the possibility and the necessity of advance/ improvements in the prevailing morality. Reflective conscience has to find a mean between capricious self-conceit and deadconformity. It must be based on themoral consciousness expressed in existing institutions, manners andbeliefs.
In John Dewey’s words: “Reflective intelligence cross-questions the existing morality; and extracts from it the ideal which it pretends to embody, and thus is able to criticize the existing morality in the light of its own ideal. It points outthe inconsistencies, theincoherencies, thecompromises, thefailures,between the actual practiceandthe theory at the basis of thispractice. And thusthe new ideal proposed by the individual isnot a product of hisprivate opinions, but is the outcome of the ideal embodied in existing customs, ideas and institutions”.
Until now, we examined laws, rules, regulations and conscience as guides to ethical decision- making. Of course, they often provide a frame of reference for decision-making, and may not be amenable to direct application to a given situation. Further, there are innumerable laws, rules, regulations, opinions and court judgements on many subjects. Public administrators may not be able to internalize these in their thought. Besides relying on rules, government servants have to understand the moral nature of decisions. We have noted elsewhere that morality (from another perspective) depends on the object of action, circumstances of action and the purpose of the action. Public servants cannot act mechanically in applying rules. They have to identify situations with moral implications andthink through thepossible alternatives.
Summary
¤ We can seek ethical guidance (a) from moral criteria or standards; (b) from analysis of action in terms of its object, its surrounding circumstances and its purpose and;
(c) from laws, rules, regulations and conscience.
¤ The ordinary meaning of law is that it is an enactment of legislature.
¤ The concept of law historically arose from religion, philosophy and social norms.
¤ There are many branches of law – criminal law, civil law and laws covering specific sectors.
¤ Laws are divided into two categories as substantive and procedural.
¤ Substantial laws define offences, rights and obligations.
¤ Procedural laws specify the modalitieswhich courts have to follow while dispensingjustice.
¤ Constitution of any nation is regarded as its fundamental law.
¤ It embodies the basic values and ethos of a nation. The Preamble to our Constitution and the directive principles of statepolicy contain the constitutional values.
¤ The concept of law has a much wider connotation and associations in Ethics. This view of moral law is the outcome of centuries of philosophical and ethical speculation.
¤ John Austin propounded a positive theory of law. Law in its essential nature differs from moral and religious principles.
¤ Positivism in legal theory means that: (a) a law is a legal rule and that (b) if passed according to prescribed procedure, law is valid irrespective of its content.
¤ Austin’s theory is known as the command theory of law and we outlined its main features.
¤ Hart mentions that two categories of rules, called primary and secondary rules, together form the basis of a functioning legal system. He describes what they stand for.
¤ According to Fuller law seeks to achieve social “order through subjecting people’s conduct to the guidance of general rules by which they may themselves orient their behavior”. He lists such rules.
¤ Moral law is defined in old Ethics books as a general rule of right living; especially such a rule or group of rules conceived as universal and unchanging and as having the sanction of God’s will.
¤ According to St. Thomas Aquinas, law imposes an obligation on people. It makes people act or desist from acting; or it prescribes some actions and prohibits some actions.
¤ The terms ‘rules’ and ‘regulations’ have the same meaning in Ethics.
¤ Regulations can be laid down by one’s superiors, by organizations or by head of a family. Rules or regulations (in wider moral contexts) can be laid down by private persons and entities as well.
¤ Laws can only be made in exercise of sovereign power by legislature or in olden times by kings.
¤ Aquinas defines natural law in religious terms.
¤ Aquinas mentions the primary, secondary and tertiary principles of natural law.
¤ Natural law not only tells us what is good but also casts a moral duty on us to follow it.
¤ Primary principles of natural law are universal rules of conduct and can be easily perceived by human reason. Secondary principles can be derived without much difficulty from the primary principles. Tertiary principles of natural law cannot be easily derived from the primary principles. They often presuppose involved reasoning.
¤ According to Aquinas,lawshave to meet certainconditions to qualifyforpeople’sobedience.
¤ According to modern jurists, no one is above law.
¤ Aquinas’s analysis of law as a moral guide is still relevant if its religious ideas are replaced with contemporary secular ideas.
¤ Public servants should follow constitutional values while performing their official tasks.
¤ The concept of conscience has changed considerably over time.
¤ Modern writers consider conscience as a product of social evolution and of individual development. When our intelligence deals with the relations of persons and deeds we call it conscience.
¤ Conscience has three aspects – knowledge, authority and associated emotions.
¤ Our conscience or value commitments can be explained as resulting from our moral development, our education and our social environment.
¤ People generally remain loyal to the social morality imbibed in their formative years.
¤ Moral reformers seek changes even in social ideals and institutions esteemed as sacred.
¤ Moral relativism questions the validity of universal, objective moral values.
¤ It can be individual or cultural.
¤ Theidea of individual conscience which each one has to exerciseindependently of historical forms and contemporary ideals is misconceived.
¤ Reflectiveconsciencehas to finda meanbetweencapriciousself-conceitanddeadconformity.
¤ Public servants cannot act mechanically in applying rules. They have to identify situations with moral implications and think through the possible alternatives.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. What is the meaning attached to law in Ethics? How does it differ from the meaning attached to law in common usage?
2. Mahabharata contains moral discourses by one of the characters, Vidur. Will they qualify as law?
3. How are laws distinguished from rules or regulations in ethics?
4. What do you understand by moral law?
5. St. Thomas Aquinas argues that people can defy laws under certain circumstances. Do you agree?
6. What are the ethical values enshrined in the Indian constitution?
7. What is the difference between the intuitive and empirical conceptions of conscience?
8. What are the two different intuitive versions of conscience?
9. Explain the concept of moral relativism? Is it a suitable doctrine for adoption by civil servants?
10. According to the famous dictum of Nietzsche: “Nothing is true, all is allowed.” Discuss.
11. “Nothing is good or bad, but our own thinking makes it so”. Examine.
12. “To be moral is to live in accordance with the moral tradition of one’s country”. Discuss.
13. What is Austin’s positive theory of law? What seems to be its main purpose? What are the main objections to it?
14. Discuss Butler’s views on conscience. How can they be criticized?
15. What is Fuller’s contribution to law? In what sense can it be said to contain moral elements?
REFERENCES
Patrick J. Sheeran Ethics in Public Administration: A Philosophical Approach
John Dewey Outlines of a Critical Theory of Ethics
Wilbur Marshal Urban Fundamentals of Ethics: Introduction to Moral Philosophy
