Ethics

Booklet – 1
Santosh Sir Telegram: https://t.me/asksantoshsirGmail: asksantoshsir@gmail.com

CONTENTS
SYLLABUS ........................................................................... 3
SCHEME OF EXAMINATION ................................................. 4
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS .................................................... 5
WHAT IS HAPPINESS? ......................................................... 5
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS ................................................ 8
WHAT IS ETHICS? ............................................................. 8
HUMAN ACTION .............................................................. 10
ESSENCE OF ETHICS......................................................... 12
CONSEQUENCES OF ETHICS ............................................ 12
CONSEQUENCES OF LOSS OF ETHICS ............................. 13
DIMENSIONS OF ETHICS ................................................... 14
DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS ..................................................... 14
NORMATIVE ETHICS ....................................................... 14
APPLIED ETHICS ............................................................. 15
META-ETHICS .................................................................. 15
SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE ............................... 19
CASE STUDIES................................................................... 20

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Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude

SYLLABUS
This paper will include questions to test the candidates’ attitude and approach to issues
relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem solving approach to various issues
and conflicts faced by him in dealing with society. Questions may utilise the case study
approach to determine these aspects. The following broad areas will be covered.

 Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in

human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships.
Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and
administrators; role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating
values.

 Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and
behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.

 Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service: Integrity, impartiality and non-
partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and
compassion towards the weaker sections.

 Emotional intelligence: concepts, and their utilities and application in administration

and governance.

 Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.

 Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems;
ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules,
regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical
governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues
in international relations and funding; corporate governance.

 Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance

and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to
Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture,
Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.

 Case Studies on above issues.

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SCHEME OF EXAMINATION

This paper will include questions to test the candidates'

attitude and approach to issues relating to integrity,
honesty, probity in public life and his problem solving
approach to various issues and conflicts faced by him Greater
in dealing with society. Good of Ethics
People
This examination also evaluates the Candidate’s
approach while solving studies and their ability to Selfless
Civil
handle conflict of interests which arise due to Service to
Servants
different issues such as values, code of conduct, the Nation
probity and governance. Thus it will evaluate the
candidate’s approach to determine the best possible
solution and greater good while performing their duty.

Important Points to note

 This Paper carries a total of 250 Marks and it is divided into two sections of equal
weight-age with all questions compulsory.
 The word limit is indicated against every question along with the marks it carries.
 The first section (Section A) comprises of theoretical aspect of the paper. In the 2017
question paper there were 8, 10 marker question with a word limit of 150 words.
 The second section (Section B) comprises of application aspect tested through case
studies.
 In 2018 paper, there were 6 questions of 20 marks each with a word limit of 250 marks.

Important note –
 While attempting the questions kindly keep a check on the time as we have limited time
to express our vast knowledge.
 Ideally one should attempt a 150 words question in about 5-6 minutes. That means
Section A should be completed in about 50 minutes.
 Section B requires more analytical and creative approach. Therefore we need to spend
more time while answering the case studies. So, around 120 minutes should be kept for
this section i.e. 20 minutes for each question.
 Lastly, we should also revise the paper in last 10 minutes and arrange everything in a
nice way.

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IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS
Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude or GS-4 was added in the year 2013. The reasons behind inclusion of
this paper can be seen below –

 Weberian concept of legal ration bureaucracy has been outdated.

 Importance of values in decision making has been accepted.
 World over especially in USA ethics has come to take centre stage in Public administration after
Watergate scandal.
 Rising cases of corruption in higher civil services .
 Thus it became essential to check the moral fiber of potential aspirants recommended by
various committees and commission such as HOTA COMMITTEE and ARC II.

From the point of view of aspirants, Ethics is quiet a high scoring paper and it can change the final
scores and help them to achieve a good rank in the end.

As seen in the table above GS4 marks make a lot of difference in the final ranking. In mains 2014
average marks in GS paper 4 were around 100.The highest speculated score was above 150.

I myself have score more than 100 in ethics. In CSE Mains 2016 I score 114. It was more than other
GS papers with least effort.

WHAT IS HAPPINESS?

Before we answer this, there is one question to be

answered first.

Is it simple to be happy?
To be happy in life, we must be ethical - Aristole

Dalai Lama said – The Purpose of life is to be

happy

Now let’s see what happiness is.

 There can be two views of happiness.

o One short term (outward happiness) defined by “ how do you feel now?” and
o long term” (inward happiness) how do you feel about your life?”
 Thus happiness can be described as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive
well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.
 Happiness thus can be defined as an emotional state of well being defined by positive
and pleasant emotions ranging from joy , contentment ,pride .

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Let’s look at small fable –

Buddha and Kisa-gotami

During Buddha’s time, there lived a woman named Kisa Gotami. She married young and
gave birth to a son. One day, the baby fell sick and died soon after. Kisa Gotami loved her
son greatly and refused to believe that her son was dead. She carried the body of her son
around her village, asking if there was anyone who can bring her son back to life.

The villagers all saw that the son was already dead and there was nothing that could be
done. They advised her to accept his death and make arrangements for the funeral. In great
grief, she fell upon her knees and clutched her son’s body close to her body. She kept
uttering for her son to wake up. A village elder took pity on her and suggested to her to
consult the Buddha.

“Kisa Gotami. We cannot help you. But you should go to the Buddha. Maybe he can bring
your son back to life!”

Kisa Gotami was extremely excited upon hearing the elder’s words. She immediately went
to the Buddha’s residence and pleaded for him to bring her son back to life.

“Kisa Gotami, I have a way to bring your son back to life.”

“My Lord, I will do anything to bring my son back”

“If that is the case, then I need you to find me something. Bring me a mustard seed but it
must be taken from a house where no one residing in the house has ever lost a family
member. Bring this seed back to me and your son will come back to life.”

Having great faith in the Buddha’s promise, Kisa Gotami went from house to house, trying to
find the mustard seed. At the first house, a young woman offered to give her some mustard
seeds. But when Kisa Gotami asked if she had ever lost a family member to death, the young
women said her grandmother died a few months ago. Kisa Gotami thanked the young
woman and explained why the mustard seeds did not fulfill the Buddha’s requirements.

She moved on to the 2nd house. A husband died a few years. The 3rd house lost an uncle and
the 4th house lost an aunt. She kept moving from house to house but the answer was all the
same – every house had lost a family member to death. Kisa Gotami finally came to realise
that there is no one in the world who had never lost a family member to death. She now
understood that death is inevitable and a natural part of life.

Putting aside her grief, she buried her son in the forest. She then returned to the Buddha
and became his follower.

Reflect

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The root cause of our unhappiness is our inability to observe ourselves properly. We are
caught in our own perspective, unable to appreciate the many perspectives of those around
us. And we are unaware of how insistently this way of perceiving drives us. Only through the
uprooting of our own self-centeredness can we find the key to happiness. Ethics helps in
moving from a self centered vision of life to society centered.

Why is happiness so important?

 Happiness is good for health: Happy people are less likely to get sick, and they live
longer.
 Happiness is good for our relationships: Happy people are more likely to get married and
have fulfilling marriages, and they have more friends.
 Happy people make more money and are more productive at work.
 Happy people are more generous.
 Happy people cope better with stress and trauma.
 Happy people are more creative and are better able to see the big picture.

Can money help in happiness: Easterlin Paradox(happiness economics)

After our basic needs are met research shows that money doesn’t bring us more
happiness. Research by Daniel Kahneman has found out that in America happiness
increased till $70,000, after their happiness plateaued. Research by Easterlin has
found that in the long run countries don’t become happy as they become wealthier.
That’s why people who priorities money over other values are less happy.

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INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
WHAT IS ETHICS?
 Ethics is a normative science of human action/conduct. It is a moral philosophy of right
and wrong Human conduct.
 Ethics is system of moral principles which influence the way people make decisions
which impact the lives of humans.
 It is a set of standard which the society places on itself and which guides behavior,
choices and action.
 Definition of Ethics is limited in two aspects –
o It refers to human conduct and not lower animals.
o It is confined to human action in society
 It should also be noted that ethics is not morality now what is morality? Morality can be
individual sets of commitments even when they are rejected by others cannot be ethical
alone. Ethics brings other people for realisation of the self. Morality does not demand
acquiescence from others the way ethics does.
 Ethics is also not religion. Many people are not religious, but ethics applies to everyone.
 Ethics is not following the laws. In law, a man is guilty when he violates the rights of
another. In ethics, he is guilty if he doing so (Immanuel Kant).
 Ethics is not following culturally accepted norms. Some cultures are quite ethical, but
some become corrupt or to certain ethical concerns. United States was to slavery before
civil war and India to caste system.
Law and conscience as source of ethical guidance

 For a man to be able to live in a society there must be laws to govern him. These laws
cease to exist, chaos. Different Scholars such as Plato Aristotle, Aquinas etc. have
developed concepts of law. Thomas Aquinas synthesized the ideas of philosophers and
defines law as an ordinance of reason what's the common good promulgated by the
ones who has the care of the community.

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 Law can be defined as a system of rules that are enforced through social institutions
regular behaviour. Law is seen as a rule and measure of acts, where bye man is induced
to act or is restrained from acting, because it binds one to act.
 It imposes an obligation. It draws up a course of action that must be followed. Laws
must confirm to human nature. It must be physically and morally possible to obey the
laws.
 Laws must also be just, distributing goods and burdens equally. The law is for common,
not private, good.
 It can be made by legislature through legislations, by executives through decree and
regulations judges binding precedents. Private individuals can also create legally binding
contracts.

What is the basis for any human being to arrive at a moral judgement?
 According to the teleological perspective, the end all good also serve as the basis for
moral judgement. So there are Two principal forms in which is expressed, namely
 The conduct as right and wrong and the criteria of good and bad
 When does implies to standards: Right and the standard of good.
 Right as the standard emphasizes importance of eternal and internal at the various
stages of moral life. In beginning he is guided from outside but later on he is guided by
the internal law the law of conscience or reason.
 Good as the standard emphasizes the importance of the end or ideal to which our
conduct must approximate or confirm. Pleasure, happiness or self-realization as the
moral ideal by different schools. The good as the standard emphasizes importance of
virtue.

Conscious
 Each one of us is born with a sense of what is right and wrong. However, without proper
knowledge you could end the forming a bad or malformed conscious. Therefore to live a
richer, and IMO moral life each one of us is obligated to know we know now, in order to
determine whether are present way of thinking is truly correct or not.
 Conscience is a psychological faculty that assist in knowing and responding to the moral
character of our action. It does helps in moral judgement. It leads to feeling of remorse
when a human commits action that go against his or her moral values of pangs of
conscience feeling of rectitude or integrity when actions confirm to such norms.
 The most popular understanding of conscience is that it is an inner feeling of voice acting
as guide whether behaviour or an act is right or wrong.
 In ethics, it is not just a by-product of processes like religious teachings, parental
guidance on indoctrination from groups like your peers, your school or the workplace.
Conscience is something within human beings that determine the morality of human
actions.
 From a deontological perspective, it is a judgement, an act of intellect which is not a
feeling or an emotion but rather an intellectual decision also a decision with a view to a
particular action.
 Conscience is different from law. Is a general rule concerning actions conscience Lays
down a practical rule for specific action. Conscience applies the rule of law to a specific
action therefore it is wider than law.

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HUMAN ACTION
 Human conduct/action is collective name given to any deliberate voluntary action. There
is difference between “Actions of human”(Actus humanus= Deliberate Actions) and
“Human actions“(Actus hominis=Undeliberate Actions).
 The human activities such as blood circulation, heart beat,etc ,over which normal people
have no control are actions of humans. They are involuntary.
 Human action proceeds from knowledge and consent of free will. That is to say it
emanates from the will with knowledge of the end or goal to which the act leads.
 An act is termed distinctively human act if it is voluntary in character, that is human
person under consideration could have done it differently if he/she so willed.

ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACTION

 Three things are necessary for an action to be qualified as HUMAN CONDUCT:

o Knowledge
o Voluntariness
o Free Will
 Knowledge –
o The faculty of willing can make a choice for something and seek it only when it is
first known.
o This act of knowing is undertaken by faculty of intellect. A human act is
voluntary when different elements and its implications are sufficiently known by
the agent to the operation of the will.
o The process of knowing entails three conditions:
 Adequate knowledge of the aspired objects
 Attention to the action
 Judgment on the value of the act
o Above conditions are essential for human person to consciously and with free
will decide something. Example : Mahabharat, Arjun killing Karan.
 Volitive Element
o Any act to be voluntary “ the act must be foreseen” .Voluntary action stems from
the fact humans and animals have desires and the wish to fulfill them.
o To do this, goals are developed and voluntary action undertook to achieve the
goals. Example gun.
 Free Will
o It is a faculty that enables us to incline or strive after an object apprehended as
good. It is simply the capacity to make choices (act or not act or act in one way or
another).
o Some actions can be voluntary but they might not emanate from free will, but
free actions are voluntary, that is action carried out without restraint.

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IMPEDIMENT TO HUMAN ACTION

 If the above three criteria are absent the actions are nonhuman and therefore are not
subject to scrutiny in ethics.
 Apart from above there are various other factors or impediments to Human Actions as
mentioned below –
o Ignorance (fact and law)
o Violence
o Fear
o Passion
o Habit
o Temperament
o Pathological state
 IGNORANCE –
o Ignorance is absence of knowledge on the part of somebody who is capable of
knowledge and should have the knowledge of the subject in question.
o Types of Ignorance –
 Ignorance of law
 Ignorance of fact
 Vincible ignorance
 Invincible ignorance
o In legal terms, for a public servant ignorance of law is not applicable as he is
expected to know the law once it is promulgated. Whereas in ethics ignorance of
existing law does not diminish the humanness of the action.
o However, if the doer violates the law through such ignorance, the action is not a
human action and therefore, not a fit case for scrutiny of ethics.
o Invincible ignorance is when the doer is either aware or is in doubt of the nature
of the action but doesn’t have the access to clear or dispel that doubt.
o Vincible Ignorance – Under this through some ordinary means or common sense
the doer of action is able to dispel the doubt regarding his/her action. Thus, it
doesn’t destroy the voluntariness of the action as the doer.
 PASSION –
o It is a powerful emotion arising out of something perceived as good or evil. They
are usually accompanied by bodily changes. If a passion is very strong it reduces
free will.
 Instantaneous Passion/Antecedent: It reduces free will adversely. For
example a man sees a criminal committing a murder.
 Gradual Build of Passion/Consequent: It doesn’t reduce free will. Thus
comes under ethical domain For example revenge.
o Also if the passion is aroused deliberately then the element of free will and
voluntariness makes the human action subject to scrutiny under ethics. However,

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 if it is not deliberately aroused then the element of free will and action is unlikely
to be questioned.
 VIOLENCE –
o It is exertion of physical force, which a person cannot resist .It affects the degree
to which actions are human or not.
o Action done when the person offers all the resistance he can, in these
circumstances are not human action.
o If he doesn’t offer as much resistance as possible, the actions performed may be
less free so human in proportion to the resistance not exerted.
o Example: A hero whose family is kidnapped and is forced to set off a bomb.
 TEMPERAMENT
o It is natural propensity to act or behave in a particular manner. It is opposed to
character, which is the collection of person’s acquired propensities, such as
habits.
o It decreases the free will but doesn’t take away free will completely. So it comes
under the domain of Human action.
 PATHOLOGICAL STATE –
o There are many pathological conditions which interfere with the voluntarism
such as sleepwalking, mental illness.
o This in turn blurs the knowledge and weakens the free will thus it impacts the
human actions.
o Example: A crime committed while in sleepwalking state will get the pardoned
ethically.

ESSENCE OF ETHICS
 It refers to intrinsic or indispensable properties that characterize ethics.
 These are :
o Ethics cannot be shaped and sustained in isolation. It is society and interactions
which give sanctions to ethics.
o Standards of conduct: deontology, teleology, virtue etc.
o The principles through which ethical problems are solved: law, rules, regulations,
conscience.
o The values that shape the nation and political system : constitution
o Ethics is private relationships (love, trust, care etc.)
o Ethics of an Individual character (courage, prudence, faithful etc.)

CONSEQUENCES OF ETHICS
 Material well being of society by behavior regulation.
 Check against blatant exercise of self interest.

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 Brings credibility ( leader –follower, organization and customer)
 Generates trusts (eg. Agandia)
 Basic Human need
 Brings permanence and immutability. They are not established by law but consensus in
society.

CONSEQUENCES OF LOSS OF ETHICS

 Political: corruption and criminalization.
 Organizational: nepotism, lack of trust, decrease of efficiency, work culture deterioration
 Social: rising crime, racism, casteism
 Individual: fights, petty crimes, domestic violence, disrepect to old.
 Environmental: pollution, degradation etc.

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DIMENSIONS OF ETHICS
There are four branches or dimensions of ethics –

 Descriptive Ethics
 Normative Ethics
 Meta-Ethics
 Applied Ethics

DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS
 Descriptive Ethics is the study of people’s beliefs about morality. It involves empirical
investigation and gives us a pattern or a way of life of people in different types of
communities.
 It studies the evolution and history of ethics and investigates people’s ethical ideals
or what are condemned by the society.
 It seeks to find the explanation of actual choices made by moral agents in practice.

NORMATIVE ETHICS
 It tries to arrive at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. Thus
deals with practical issues.
 Normative ethics is the study of ethical actions. It investigates the questions of how
one or two act. It includes the formulation of moral rules that have a direct
implication on what human actions,institutions and ways of life should be like.
 Normative ethics are also distinct from descriptive ethics later make an empirical
investigation of people’s model believes.
 Descriptive ethics are concerned with determining what proportion of people
believe that moral policing is wrong, while normative ethics is concerned with
whether it is correct to hold such a belief.
 Normative ethics is also referred to as prescriptive ethics. Broadly speaking,
normative ethics can be divided into sub disciplines of moral theory and applied
ethics. In recent years, the boundaries between the sub disciplines have increasingly
dissolved with moral theorists becoming more interested in applied problems and
applied ethics becoming more profoundly informed.
 It is search for an ideal litmus test of proper behavior.
 Types:
o Consequentialism
o Deotolgy
o Virtue Based Ethics
o Rights Based Ethics

(Covered in later sections)

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  The golden rule is a classic example of normative principle; we should do to others
what we would want others to do to us.
 Since one would want people to feed him if he was starving, then he should help
feed Starving people. The golden rule example of normative theory that establishes
single principles against which we judge all actions.
 Latest theories focus on a set of foundational principles is a set of good character
traits.

APPLIED ETHICS
 The application of normative theories and Standards to practical moral problems is
the concern of applied ethics. This sub principle of ethics with many major issues of
contemporary scene including Human Rights social equality and moral implication of
scientific research in areas such as genetic engineering
 It relates to examining the certain controversial issues such as abortion, animal
rights, gay marriage. It helps to use knowledge of moral principles to present
dilemmas as mentioned above.
 Two features necessary for an issue to be considered an applied ethics issue are
 First the issue needs to be controversial in the sense that there are significant groups
of people both for and against the issue at hand.
 Second requirement for an issue to be an applied ethical issue is that it must be
distinctly moral issue and not just a social controversy.
 Various approaches to arriving at in applied ethics are - Compliance
approach,integrity approach and fusion approach.
 Fields of applied Ethics –
o Bioethics
o Military Ethics
o Business Ethics
o Environment Ethics

META-ETHICS
 It is defined as the study of Origin and meaning of ethical concepts. “Meta” means
after or beyond and consequently the notion of Meta ethics involves a removed or
bird’s eye view of the entire project of ethics.
 Meta ethics are concerned with the nature of ethical theories and moral
judgements. It seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties, statements,
attitudes and judgements.
 Ethics is concerned with ethical evaluation addressing questions such as what should
we do mathematics on the other hand addresses question such as what is goodness.

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VALUES
WHAT ARE VALUES?

 Values are essential for positive human behaviour, they regulate and guide human
behaviour and action in daily life. Values of formed on the basis of interest, choices,
needs, desires and preferences.
 Values describe ideas that we value or price to value something means that we hold it
dear and feel it has word to us as such there is often a feeling or affective components
associated with values those that we Aspire to achieve like equality and Social Justice.
Values involve the process of thinking, knowing our understanding feelings and actions.
 Values which are without reference to any end an intrinsic on eternal values, these are
good in themselves and in their own right, and are not the means for something else.
 Values such as truth happiness peace and beauty are considered intrinsic value still
perspective the basic human values which are at the core of what it means to be human
need to be developed.
 Truth, honesty, loyalty, love, peace, etcetera are examples of basic values inherent in
human nature. These values promote fundamental goodness of human beings and
Society at large. These are considered as being universal, timeless applying to all human
beings.

WHAT IS THE NEED OF VALUES?

 To guide human beings in the right path, to inculcate the concept of universal
brotherhood and to achieve the absolute values of truths, goodness and beauty.
 To give direction and formulas to life and bring joy satisfaction and peace to life our
culture and heritage and to develop morality and character.
 Bring the behavioral changes towards positivism.
 To promote peace and harmony in individuals and in the society.
 To bring quality of life or lead a good life and sustainable development in society.

WHAT IS GOOD LIFE?

 Here the word goodness is a measure of overall quality of life. There are different
answers to this question depending upon the philosophy of life from which it is being
examined
 According to a General view good life is a happy life. Pursuit of happiness is a natural
inclination of human beings devoid of happiness cannot be called a good life but
happiness is subjective experience and there is a wide divergence of views as to what
constitutes happiness.
 A good life must certainly be an inspired one full of interest and enthusiasm for living a
dynamic and creative life. All great achievers, in any field music, art, literature, politics
and business lived such an inspired life.

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 It is love which provides the very foundation of all goodness in life however why the
inspiration for a good life certainly comes from love the course of life its goals choices
decisions must be guided by Rational thinking based on correct knowledge.
 It is not really intellectual or academic knowledge we talk here but also the ability to use
knowledge for guiding the course of human life for resolving its problems and for
enriching it and uplifting it to higher levels of existence such knowledge can be rightly
called wisdom. Thus love and wisdom are two fundamental values on which rest of the
structure of human values are based
 If you look from a different view, happiness comes from fulfilment of needs and desires.
Its validity is obvious. Life would certainly be poor if economic and material conditions
are of inadequate standard.
 Beyond that one also wants satisfaction of desires and enjoyment of pleasures which life
affords. The Pursuit is certainly a valid goal of life. This view of happiness can be called
materialistic view of happiness.

VALUE SPECTRUM FOR A GOOD LIFE

 We can put different value dimensions of a good life into following 7 categories -
o Material values- A good life will have an adequate level of material decencies to
provide material Comforts and conveniences for the enjoyment and enlargement
of life. Mere biological level subsistence and today's struggle for working out a
living cannot be called a good life. There should be adequate space for relaxation
and Recreation. Values associated with material aspect of living are called
material values.
o Societal values – A good life can be lived only in good society. Such a society is
organised to achieve peace, harmony, well being and growth of all. Its economic
and political life is governed by principles of justice and equality. In a good
society individuals are assured of their human rights, a dignified way of earning a
livelihood, and freedom to grow to their full potential. It is termed as societal
values.
o Psychological values - A person should also have emotional maturity and
intelligence sound mental health to lead a good life. Vision of these concepts will
be under heading of psychological values.
o Aesthetic values - Creation and enjoyment of beauty is an essential part of good
life. However it needs conscious cultivation to develop appreciating beauty in art,
and life. Values related to this aspect of life are called the aesthetic values.
o Ethical values - A good life for all can be assured only on the basis of personal
virtues, ethical sensitivities and moral conduct of individuals. Person must be a
moral person and his conduct and social interrelations must be based on ethical
principles. Thus, ethical and moral values occupy the centre-stage in a good life.
o Spiritual values - The vision of a good life and understanding different value
components is based upon certain conceptions of through code of human nature

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 and personality, mental truth of reality, ultimate purpose of life, and the right
place of human being in the whole scheme of things. Believes and convictions
regarding this matter give rise to a set of spiritual values which the aspect of our
life.
o Human values - All these values discussed above are essential for making a good
human being and a good human society there actually they constitute human
values.

Value Crisis in Contemporary Indian Society: The deepening value crisis in contemporary
society is casting its evil shadow in all walks of life. Even after more than seventy years of
progress it is doubtful if we are moving towards creation of a just society, a happy society, a
good society. The value crisis in society is being manifested at various levels.

o Individual level:
o The sole aim of live at individual level has become attainment of personal
success. Success is defined as worldly and material success such acquisition of
money, power and prestige. All other human values are neglected.
o The concept of good life has been restricted to enjoyment of sensual
pleasures.
o Increasingly in society there is a tendency to respect selfish individualism.
People who care career oriented and successful are appreciated and
worshiped even though they may have compromised values in their life.
o There has been steep rise in rights consciousness and fall in duty
consciousness.
o Another dimension of value crisis in society is mentality of double standards
of value judgment, much higher ones for others and much lower ones for our
self.
o Societal Level:
o The rise of selfish individualism and fall of community orientation.
o Deadening of social consciousness.
o Fall in sensitivity towards problems of society.

o Intellectual Level:
o Lack of intellectual honesty, humility and objectivity which were considered
true hallmarks of a scholar.
o Divorce of knowledge from learning.
o Unquestioned acceptance of patently irrational and superstitious belifes.
o Lack of scientific temper.
o Cultural Level:
o Confusing and ambivalent attitude of educated Indians towards their culture.
o Blind imitation of western way of life like lifestyle changes, food habits, dress,
forms of greeting, common courtesies, etc.

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Way Out:
The crisis demands inculcation of values-social, ethical and spiritual. There is a need for
value revolution. The process by which a new born starts acquiring pro social behaviour is
called socialisation .It begins from the time of his birth on this earth. There are majorly five
institutions of socialisation.
1. Family: It is a network of relationships marked by continuity, cooperation and
emotionality not duplicated by any other institution. Family has the responsibility to
pass on to the children many truths and values. The eternal values of Truth, Peace,
and Love are passed on through the family. Father and mother through various
techniques inculcate values in the child. From mothers children acquire self
confidence, self worth, self satisfaction, self sacrifice, kindness, friendship, and
compassion. The methods used by family for value inculcations are are :
1.1 Role modelling
1.2 Lecturing
1.3 Discussion
1.4 Allegoric Method

If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly

feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the
father, the mother and the teacher.- APJ Kalam

2. Educational Institute:
Education is powerful tool of human progress and social change. In schools values
are inculcated through various techniques such as books, multi media through
teacher. Teacher must be a role model of truth and love. Various activities are
conducted to get experiential knowledge of values.
Valuable quotes on Education and values by APJ Kalam

” A teacher’s life lights many lamps”.

“The role of the teacher is like the proverbial ‘ladder’, it is used by everyone to climb up in
life, but the ladder itself stays in its place”.
“The purpose of teaching is to create nation building capacities in students”
“Give me a child for seven years, afterwards, let the God or the devil take the child, they
cannot change the child”.
“I believe there is no other profession in the world that is more important to society than
that of a teacher”.
“Teachers are the backbone of any country, the pillar upon which all aspirations are
converted into realities”.
“A teacher has to create a lifelong autonomous learner”.
“Your best teacher is your last mistake”
SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE

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 1. What do you understand by ethics and values? In what ways it is important to be ethical
along with professionally competent?( CSE 2013)

2. Many argue that it is difficult to be ethical these days. One who follows ethics falls behind
the race. Do you agree with the opinion? Give your arguments

3. Explain how ethics contribute to social and human well-being.( CSE 2017) 10 marks
4. Is it desirable to sacrifice ethics to succeed in the competition these days? 10 marks
5. Relativity applies to physics, not ethics. Do you agree with this statement .Give your
arguments with examples?
6. Some people feel that values keep changing with the time and the situations, while others
strongly believe they don’t. What is your perception? CSE 2013
7. What are different dimensions of ethics? Explain with examples 10 marks
8. What do you understand by environmental Ethics? Comment upon its relevance in the
contemporary time.
9. “Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform
very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.” – Napoleon
Bonaparte.
Stating examples mention the rulers (i) who have harmed society and country, (ii) who
worked for the development of society and country. (150 Words, 10)
10. “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel
there are three key societal members who can make a difference. they are father, the
mother and the teacher.” – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Analyse. (150 Words, 10)

CASE STUDIES
 Today there is a rapid increase in the world population and the consumption of
natural resources has also increased several times. The consumption levels have
grown beyond the carrying capacity of the nature which has degraded our planet’s
ability to provide the services to fulfil the human needs.

The stronger demand for resources is also a factor that contributes to the problem
as we all need food and shelter. When these things are so desired and need the
natural balance of the environment is disturbed. Engineering developments are
resulting in resource depletion and environmental destruction.

The major environmental issues include Pollution, Overpopulation, Industrial

and Household Waste, Acid Rain, Climate change, Ozone Layer Depletion, Urban
Sprawl, Genetic Engineering, Deforestation and Global Warming. These
environmental issues have taken toll on our environment and we’ve already started
seeing some disastrous effects in the form of effect of health on humans, rise in sea
level, depletion of non-renewable resources, melting of glaciers, extinction of
species, polluted landfills, toxic dust, decreasing soil fertility, rise in air and water
pollution and many more.

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 1. Highlight the ethical issues in the above case study.

2. Why Global Environmental problems entail ethical obligations?

 Ram along with his friends recently visited a hill station for a study tour on child
laborers. While he was distributing sweets to children there, a group of men
surrounded them accusing of being child lifters. Few men started man handling
them. Fortunately a sub inspector was passing by and he rescued the boys from the
mob. Off late such incidents have increased in India

1. What is mob lynching?

2. Why people form mobs and carry such activities?

3. What are the ethical issues in such incidents?

4. As administrators how will you prevent such incidents?

 Senilicide/senicide (the killing of old people) is a traditional practice of killing elderly

common among Eskimos and other parts of the world (like the practice of
Thalaikoothalin Tamil Nadu).

1. Critically examine this practice from an ethical stand point.

2. Why such practices are considered unethical in common culture but

acceptable in above cases

 Why ethical treatment of animal is a highly complex and subjective issue? What
yardstick can we use to measure animal cruelty? Answer in the light of practice of
Jallikattu.

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