ST JOHN’S UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA

INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

IN COLLABORATION WITH
THE DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS
STUDIES

DEVELOPMENT SUDIES 1 (111) - DEVELOPMENT

ETHICS
Dr Alfred Sebahene, PhD & Manase Lusega
 RATIONALE FOR ETHICS IN
DEVELOPMENT WORK
1.The commonly accepted final goal of
development is to develop a more
human life for each person and a more
human society for all.
2.Any work for development attempts to
attain internal goods, which are those
that give it meaning and social
RATIONALE FOR ETHICS IN DEVELOPMENT WORK
contd.
Examples:
If the internal good of health services is to
achieve what have been called the “goals of
medicine” - preventing illness, curing and
caring for should be done well, properly and
rightly.
If the internal good of education is to
RATIONALE FOR ETHICS IN DEVELOPMENT WORK
contd.
3.To attain those goods the people who work in
development must abide by ethical principles

4.As agents of development we should attempt

to embody moral values in society.

5.Development’s true task is precisely this: to

abolish all alienation—economic, social,
political, and technological.
RATIONALE FOR ETHICS IN DEVELOPMENT WORK
contd.
6.It is me and you who will guarantee that
development processes ensures a future.
7.We human agents are the responsible
stewards, and with future generations, is the
ethical key to achieving a development that is at
once human and sustainable.
8.Development ethicists reflect on and assess
THE TASK AND MISSION OF DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
The essential task of Development Ethics includes:
1.To keep hope alive in the face of the seeming impossibility
of achieving human development for all.
2.To render the economy, development decisions and
actions more human.
3.To diagnose value conflicts, to assess policies both
actual and possible.
4.To justify or to refute valuations (assessment) placed on
development performance.
NOTE: The true indicator of development is not increased
production or material well-being but qualitative human
 DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
It all begins with God!
The study of the principles and practices of right and
wrong in the light of the Scriptures;
The application of Christianity to conduct;
Translating doctrine into deeds, i.e., the study and
application of the Christian faith.
The study of the way of life that conforms to the will of
God—the way that is good, that pleases God and fulfils
human nature.
 DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
KEY FOUNDATIONS
1.Who God is must be the root for standards of right and wrong.
2.God’s glory must be the goal of ethics.
3.Love for God must be the basis for one’s love for and behaviour
toward his fellow man.
UNDERLYING CHRISTIAN POSITION AND TEACHING ON
DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
Any Christian Development worker needs to be a student of
Scriptures to the extent that he or she comprehends a
systematic theology that becomes the foundation for his or
 DOING DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
CONCEPTUALISING THE SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT
ETHICS
To understand concept (impression and model) and concept (choice
and range) of development ethics, the following common
standards/norms/benchmarks are used;
1. Criteria for what is good societal and global development
2. Equity in the distribution of the benefits and burdens of
development; the meanings and varieties of ‘equity’; who
bears the costs of various types of ‘development’, and
how equity is often neglected.
3. Criteria regarding good/bad process, not only good/bad
 DOING DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
CONCEPTUALISING THE SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT
ETHICS contd.
To understand concept (impression and model) and concept (choice
and range) of development ethics, the following common
standards/norms/benchmarks are used;

1. The ethically appropriate design and

management of development policies and
actions, including the rights and duties of the
various participants
2. Understand and be able to distinguish between
 DOING DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
CONCEPTUALISING THE SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT
ETHICS contd.
To understand concept (impression and model) and concept (choice
and range) of development ethics, the following common
standards/norms/benchmarks are used;
LEVELS OF INQUIRY IN DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
LEVEL ONE - REFLECTION: Philosophical thinking can
clarify what development is; it can defend normative
positions by critical and rational thinking about ethical
alternatives; it can identify the complexities involved
in the rational choice of means. Philosophical and
 DOING DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
CONCEPTUALISING THE SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT
ETHICS contd.
To understand concept (impression and model) and concept (choice
and range) of development ethics, the following common
standards/norms/benchmarks are used;
LEVELS OF INQUIRY IN DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
LEVEL TWO - APPLICATION: The social scientist,
technologist, economist, medical expert, or
agriculturalist can integrate their expertise with
properly articulated values to make their
prescriptions and policies more ethically
 DOING DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
CONCEPTUALISING THE SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT
ETHICS contd.
To understand concept (impression and model) and concept (choice
and range) of development ethics, the following common
standards/norms/benchmarks are used;
LEVELS OF INQUIRY IN DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
LEVEL THREE - PRACTICE: The committed
development worker or policy maker engaged with
concrete problems can gain from more abstract thinking
and at the same time keep such reflection firmly rooted in
and informed by development practice. Processes of
 DOING DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
META-ETHICAL ANALYSIS
In meta-ethical reflection we consider higher order
questions of value, the meaning of concepts, and any
universal truths about ethics.
Examples;
What is the good?
What is the good life or the good society?
Is freedom intrinsically valuable? Are there moral duties?
What is development (vs. anti-development)?
What does it mean to be more or less human?
 DOING DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
NORMATIVE ANALYSIS
This ethical reflection is concerned with the principles
or other action guiding content or standards of moral
behaviour.
Examples:
a.Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative
“We ought never to treat humanity whether in ourselves or another person
merely as a means, but always as an end.”
b.Jeremy Bentham’s Grounding of Utilitarianism
“We ought to approve or disapprove of every action according to the
tendency it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the
 DOING DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
PRACTICAL, OR APPLIED ANALYSIS
This ethical reflection considers more specific issues or realms of human
action in a way that generates subject specific guidelines or
positions on specific questions.

For example:

The realm of medical ethics, or the specific question of whether or not physician-
assisted suicide is morally permissible.

The realm of agricultural ethics, or the specific question of whether or not it is

morally permissible to use agrochemical inputs that generate higher yields, but
undermine sustainability, and may have long-term implications for human health.
 DOING DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
3.FURTHER ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT ETHICAL REFLECTION
contd.
PERSONAL OR INTEGRAL ANALYSIS
Is the level at which we as individuals must consider the moral
dimensions of our particular actions as an individual part of the
various realms of life in which we participate.

It is about navigating the moral dimensions of our particular actions

as an individual part of the various realms of life in which we participate.

It emphasizes the recognition that each of us must deliberately

consider our own particular actions and how we integrate choices
made in various spheres of our lives so that we can live with
PERSONAL ANALYSIS – PHOTO 1
 RELEVANCE, SIGNIFICANCE AND APPLICABILITY OF
DEVELOPMENT ETHICS FOR SONU, SOPH, FAHE, FANAS, SOTR
AND FOCB STUDENTS
As Development Ethicist, after identifying the final
goal of development we ask key questions;
1.What are the means for achieving this goal?

2.How do we ensure that they are effective and thereby

ethical?

3.What are the effective and ethical means to the means?

4.How do we achieve the intermediate goals without

RELEVANCE, SIGNIFINACE AND APPLICABILITY OF DEVELOPMENT
ETHICS FOR SONU, SOPH, FAHE, FANAS, SOTR AND FOCB
STUDENTS contd.
As Development Ethicist, after identifying the final
goal of development our undertaking becomes
unique;
1.Our task is to provide more and better means to sustain the
lives of society members.
2.We are called to create better conditions in relation to peoples’
need for esteem (honour or respect); releasing men and women
from oppressive servitudes - bondages (of nature, ignorance,
and other people).
3.Our responsibility is huge: We are to empower people we shall
RELEVANCE, SIGNIFINACE AND APPLICABILITY OF DEVELOPMENT
ETHICS FOR SONU, SOPH, FAHE, FANAS, SOTR AND FOCB
STUDENTS contd.
As Development Ethicist, after identifying the final goal of
development our undertaking becomes unique;
What principles? Understanding Ethical Principles of
Development work!
1.The first is the principle of “not manipulating” people, because people
are ends in themselves and cannot be treated simply as means.
2.The second is the principle of “empowering” them to be able to
develop the plans for life which they choose, precisely because, as human
beings, they are basically free.
3.Third is to abide to the fact that in order to introduce substantial changes
THANK
YOU