Citizenship Grade 9 lesson notes, 2018

UNIT 1: ETHICAL VALUES

1.1. The meaning of ethics

 Etymologically, the word “ethics” is derived from Greek word- Ethos or Ethikas”- means
Character-the permanent inner bent of mind.
Habits- are the settled dispositions of character
conduct-is the outer expression of human character
Disposition-
Customs-
Behavior-
Values-are the beliefs about what is rights, good, desirable, and important in human life.
 Emerged through the interaction between nature and spirit, reality and mind.
 are specific principles, beliefs and standards, ideals that are hold as important and right
 Are rules by which one makes decisions about right and wrong.
 It gives us a moral compass or directions.
 includes a deep-rooted system of beliefs
 are the foundation of a person’s ability to judge between right and wrong.
The functional definition of Ethics
 is a field of study which is concerned with what is good or bad, right or wrong actions.
 it is a practical and normative science based on reason which studies human acts and provides norms for
their goodness or badness.
 Ethics is a guide book of moral rule.
 ethics covers the following dilemma
 How to live a good life the language of right and wrong
 Our rights and responsibility moral decisions-what is good/bad
As a discipline
 ethics is a branch of moral philosophy that explores the nature of moral virtues and evaluate human
actions.
 Ethics is a discipline that studies the morality of the people.
 it is the rational reflection on the rightness and wrongness of the actions/decisions taken by a moral
agent.
 it is the scientific study of morality.
 Ethics is a discipline that deals with morality. It is concerned with what is right or wrong, what is good
or bad, what is acceptable or not acceptable.
 Ethics deals with those values that impose obligations on human beings to do the right thing and refrain
from bad or wrong doings
 It refers to a systematic body of rules that governs the whole society and the actions of its individual
members.
 It is a systematic approach to understanding, analyzing and distinguishing matter of right/wrong and
good/bad.
 Ethics involves making judgment about what is right or wrong, good or bad
 a system of moral principles that guide human conduct for peaceful co-existence.
 Ethics also refers to those values and principles that oblige someone to refrain from unethical acts such
as rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud.
 Only can be applied to human beings.
 we cannot expect ethical behavior from animals as they are not intelligent as human beings are.
 Ethical reason should be based on moral standards, norms, and principles.
 More objective; often based on reason, professional codes or social contract.
 Ethical principle emphasizes being truthful and straightforward in professional dealings.
 In ethics, virtue refers to moral excellence
 Virtue should be for the right person, for the right object, in a right amount, at the right time, for a right
end in a right or appropriate way.
 Habit or disposition of the soul (our fundamental character) which involves both feeling and action.
  It is the character that strengthens human being to flourish.
 “The virtuous person has practical wisdom, the ability to know when and how best to apply these
various moral perspectives.”
Source of ethics: external
 family  God/religion
 political power  profession
 human conscience and intuition  society
 example of good human beings  experience/age
 Best friends  religious fathers

Morality

 Derives from latin word-mores or moralitas- means character,

manner, proper behavior”
 refers to the standards and principles used to determine the behaviors,
decisions or actions of individuals as right or wrong, good or bad,
acceptable or unacceptable.
 Seen from the perspectives of an individual.
 are internal, personal beliefs about right/wrong
 basis: often based on custom, intuition or emotion
 guides personal behavior; often subjective and all morally good acts are
morally right.
 Morals are related to personal beliefs, whereas ethics refers to community
or group values.
 Moral rules are personal and vary from individual to individual while
ethical principles remain constant.
 Moral behaviors can depend on:
 Consequences- what will happen if they do it/does not do it
 Individual emotions-how will they feel about their decisions
afterwards?
 the situations  laws and rules
 authority-  common practice

 conscience(ህሊና) -sth that tells them its right/wrong

The difference between ethics and morality

compariso Ethics Morality
n
origin Societal rules and professional Personal beliefs and
codes(greek term ethos or values(Latin term mores or
ethikas) moralitas)
Scope Broader, applicable to groups and Personal, internal beliefs
and professions
source
 Ethic is a discipline in philosophy Morality is a principle or
standard in philosophy
Ethics is a discipline that studies Morals are personal belief of
the morality of the people. right and wrong
a system that tells you how to
act

1.2. MAJOR ETHICAL VALUES

 As it has been discussed above, ethics deals with those values that impose
obligations on human beings to do the right thing and refrain from bad or
wrong doings.
 Values are specific principles, beliefs, and standards, ideals that one holds
as important and right.
 Values are the rules by which one makes decisions about right and wrong.
 It gives us a moral compass or direction.
 The major ethical values are discussed below in detail include; integrity,
promise keeping, loyalty, concern for others, respect for others, abiding by
the law, commitment to excellence and etc.
1. Integrity
It refers to devotion to moral and ethical principles regarding our decisions
and actions in our daily life.
 It also implies the quality of being honest or having strong moral
principles.
 The quality of a person being sincere, faithful and trustful in appearance,
speech and action.
 The inner voice that warms us somebody is looking.
 fail with honor than succeed by fraud
 What you are is more important than what you say.
 Stand up for what is right even if you are standing alone.
 Integrity is when our behavior matches our beliefs.
 It’s when what we say and what we do match
 People with integrity are generally known to be trustworthy, honest, and
kind.
 In today’s Ethiopia, developing and preserving all necessary moral
integrity as citizens is not a matter of choice, rather it is the responsibility
of all of us.
 Truthfulness-saying what is real, not false or misleading
 trustworthiness- others can rely on your word
 For instance, a person who has integrity has different responsibilities such as
responsibility to
 humanity,  him/herself,  his/her family,
 His/ her society,  his/her religion and  his/her
country.
 So, integrity is about thinking critically and deciding on your behaviors and
actions based on the moral values and principles rather than simply attending
your personal interest.

Importance of integrity
  it used to describe a person’s level of honesty, moral commitment and
willingness to do what is right.
 makes a person free from guilty(crime)
 makes people to live a peaceful and happy life
 makes people always respected and accepted in the society.

Attributes of a person who has true integrity

 Peoples with integrity have important qualities which we all should possess.
Such people:
A. Respect humanity: People with integrity believe that everyone deserves respect
for the mere reason that he/she is a human being regardless of any
considerations such as race, ethnicity, language, religion, place of
birth, etc.
B. Walk their talk: Persons with integrity are characterized by suiting their actions
with their words.
 They have the moral courage and determination to do what they
say.
 Such people have a good understanding about their moral
obligations in the community and are committed enough in
discharging those obligations.
C. Are honest: persons of integrity are characterized by devotion to the facts.
 Such kind of persons does not have unethical behaviors such as
lying, stealing, cheating, corruption, etc.
 are honest to themselves and don’t engage in activities that cheat
and harm the public for the satisfaction of their self-interest.
D. Kind hearted. happy with the change and success of others
 free from abnormal jealousy that can harm others
 they do not take the advantages of others

E. knows well their strength and weakness: they appreciates their strengths and
learn from their shortcomings for further self-improvements.

F. Take responsibility for their actions: Taking responsibility for any action that we
do in our daily life is a great moral excellence which is
expected from us.
 Taking responsibility is not a loss, rather it is a kind of
ladder to success.
G. Are hard workers: they believe that, a relief from poverty and

 Hardships can be achieved only through the culture of working

hard.

H. Free from addiction: Addiction is misuse of substance (alcohol, smoking cigarette,

chewing khat and drugs) and non- substance (gambling, etc) things that can
affect one’s health, socio-economic and work performance.  So,
persons of integrity are free from those addictions.

How to enhance your integrity?

 You can enhance your integrity in the following ways.

 Make and keep commitments to yourself
  Stand for something – know your values and stick to them
 Be open – open your mind, heart and ears
 What are the advantages of having the qualities of persons with true
integrity for yourself and your community?
 For themselves

• They live happy life, because they are honest, free of guilt (not committing
corruption, not stealing, not cheating, not lying, and admitting mistakes).
• To have self-discipline
• They get respect from the community, because they stand with the right thing.
• They are always trusted
• Integrity enables them to be peoples of principles and actions
• Integrity enables them to be responsible for their actions
• Integrity enables them to be hard workers and resilient citizens.
• It enables them to have self-confidence
• Generally, integrity enables them to have strong moral principles
 For their community
• It creates peaceful community
• It enhances rapid socio-economic transformations of the community
• It ensures prevalence of rule of law
• It promotes unity among members of the community
• It creates corruption-free and guilty- free community
• It creates virtuous citizens who give priority for the common goods of the
community than their private desires.
 Can you mention the effects of loss of integrity on yourself, your community
or your country?
 Absence of integrity has serious impacts on individuals, communities and the
country at large.
 Absence of integrity creates distrust among each other
• It leads to corruption
• It leads to lack of peace and security
• It erodes social respect
• It highly affects the socio-economic development of the society
• It leads to failure to take responsibility for one’s own actions
• It creates extremely selfish citizens
• It leads to lack of self-confidence
2. Promise keeping
 Promise refers to keeping a verbal commitment to do something to
someone else.
 Promises are actions that can create love, strong, friendships and smooth
relationships with others.
 Promise is not something you do only for others.
 Promise cannot be always made only between two individuals.
 Promise can be pending, fulfilled or rejected.
 Keeping promise sometimes require sacrificing one’s own interests in
order to fulfill something for other people.
 A person who makes a promise/proposal is called promisor or offeror.
 a person who accept the benefits of promise from a promisor is called
promise or offeree.
The effects of breaking promise
 it damages our/people’s confidence
  Lose your trust
 Your relationship poisoned by mistrust
 Creates emotional conflict
3. Loyalty (Be friend to have a friend)
 Loyalty is the attribute of being truthful/honest to an individual, a society,
an institution or a country.
 It refers to the qualities and values of a person who is honest.
 Loyalty is needed at work place, between friends, between a husband and
a wife, between a lender and a debtor.
 It is a very essential ethical value in the socio-economic and political
activities of a country.
 loyalty can be characterized by:
 Honesty-telling the truth or devote to the facts
4. Respect for persons: is
 Ethical principle emphasizes treating others with respect and dignity.
 Having positive feelings or esteem toward a person or treating a person
with dignity regardless of ethnicity, religion, language, color, sex,
economic background, disability and age (being a child or an adult).
 Thus, we have to respect each other for the mere reason that we are
being human not for any other reason.
 It also known as Golden Rules- treating, looking or seeing others in the
way you want to be treated.
 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'
 We can be respectful to the people, things and places in the
following ways.
Using kind or polite words even when we are upset;
o
Using manners like sharing, waiting our turn, saying please and thank
o
you;
o Accepting difference or at least disagreeing with kind words;
o Being careful not to damage places or things;
o Using a quiet voice or calm behavior in public places;
o Sharing resources, only taking what we really need.
 On the other hand, a person who may not respect others may:
o Face exclusion from other people
o Not get respect from other people
o Not have love of other people and good friendship
o Not get support in time of hardship
 Why is being respectful important in our life?
 To get respect from others. When we respect others, we reciprocally get
respect from other people.
 To be a role model for others.
 When we have the culture of showing respect to others, other
individuals may learn from our acts.
 Being respectful is a key for good friendship and relationship with
others.
5. Honesty
 is a moral quality that entails positive and virtuous characteristics such as being
truthful, trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere.
 It is defined as the behaviour and attitude of not telling or accepting lies.
 It is the practice of not stealing or cheating.
 Being honest means being loyal to one’s fellow, one’s responsibility, and one’s
country.
 At home, with our friends, in our community, at work, and at any other time in our
lives, we must all be honest.
 Honesty is always admired in the family, among friends, in civil society, and
throughout the world. Everyone respects someone who is truthful.
 Being regarded as an honest person by society is one of the best compliments a
person can receive in his or her entire life.
 In today’s society, a lack of honesty is a way for disaster.
 leads to corruption, mismanagement
6. Abiding by the law
 refers to our willingness, commitment and responsibility to obey or follow
the rules and regulations.
 Rules are prescribed standards, or guides, for our conduct in a society or
in an organization, like school.
 Rules are principles and they help us to follow basic values and principles.
 If we violate these rules, we will be punished, face condemnations and
exclusion from the society.
 Laws and regulations, on the other hand, are written standards of
action endorsed by authority. They are binding and you will be punished if
you break them.
Why do we need to abide by the law? b/se
 It is the responsibility of every one.
 It is one of the most important attributes of good citizens.
 It has significant roles in ensuring justice, order and security in the given society.
 It avoids criminal acts like corruption, stealing, violating the rights of others and
being responsible.
 What are the consequences of not abiding by the laws?
 When we do not abide by the law, there will be
 chaos,  insecurity or absence of peace,
 mob justice,  anarchy,
 Prevalence of corruption,  under development, etc.
7. Commitment to excellence

 Commitment refers to one’s dedication to do something,

 Excellence refers to continuously building our inner strength and to face
challenges.
 The journey of our life is not always smooth and luxurious. Rather it is full
of ups and downs or hardships.
 However, our commitment to continuously face challenges or hardships
that we face in our daily life can make us excellent and resilient citizens.
 The path that takes us to excellence is not short and easy. It is challenging
and painful.
  Thus, commitment to excellence refers to taking full responsibility for our
behaviors, decisions and actions or endeavors in every single situation in
order to do great things or being excellent and resilient person in our life.
8. Courage

 it is a quality of being fearless or brave.

 It means trying again and again until you succeed.
 It is the determination to work hard despite any odds or obstacles that
may exist.
 Nobody can succeed in life unless they have the courage.
 There is no shortcut to success.
 A courageous person never loses heart despite failing once or twice.
 All great men’s lives were filled with difficulties and sufferings.
 They become great and noble as a result of their battles and victories.
 We must try again and again until we achieve our goal.
 As a result, it is said that courage is the key to all success.

9. Compassion: is

 an empathic understanding of another person’s feelings, accompanied by

unselfishness or a desire to act on that person’s behalf.
 the ability to empathies with others and care about their well-being, and it
is thus an essential characteristic of citizens in a society dedicated to the
common good. e.g
 Helping someone in pain
 Understanding another personal feeling
 Expressing appreciation to another person
10. Generosity (Kind)
 is defined as a moral disposition to expend time, effort, and resources for the benefit of others.
 It is the quality of being kind and understanding, as well as the willingness to give others valuable
things that is frequently defined as an act of selflessness.
 Importance Generosity
 Generosity is a natural confidence booster as well as a natural repellent of self-hatred.
 It also fosters social connections and strengthens relationships.
 When we give to others, we not only bring them closer to us, but we also bring ourselves closer to
them.
 This is due to the fact that being generous and kind encourages us to see others in a more positive light
and fosters a sense of community, a sense of interconnectedness.
11. Fairness
 Fairness entails treating people fairly and not allowing your personal feelings to influence your
decisions about others.
 Fairness is frequently defined as a method of evaluating people or situations that is free of bias.
NB: We must recognize that being fair does not always imply treating everyone
the same way in every situation.

In short, fairness requires that we:

@ Treat all people equitably based on their merits and abilities;
@ Handle all essentially similar situations similarly and consistently;
@ Base all decisions on appropriate criteria, free of undue favouritism or
prejudice.
12. Self-Discipline:
  Entails acting and behaving in accordance with certain acceptable
standards.
 Arises from within us without being forced or controlled by outside
expectations, and we believe that the behaviour is good.

 Self-discipline enables you to stay focused on your objectives.
 It allows you to maintain control over yourself and your reaction to any
situation
 a disciplined person are honest and tolerant, patient, free from abnormal
Jealous and self-control.
 Furthermore a discipline person greet, respect and honor others.

13. Prudence

 is the ability to make sound decisions in order to avoid danger or risk.

 It is an act of care, caution, and good judgement, as well as foresight.
 It entails exercising caution in your decisions and pausing to reflect before
acting.
 When you are prudent, you avoid unnecessary risks and do not say or do
things that you may later regret.
 It is also known as prudent wisdom, practical wisdom, and practical
reason.
 It is the ability to objectively examine the potential consequences of your
actions and control yourself based on that examination.
 Prudence entails both long-term and short-term goal-oriented planning.
Remember
A prudent person is someone who:
@ Take the time to think before making a decision.
@ Asks within her or him, “What is the right and kind thing to do?”
@ Recognizes and learns from past mistakes.
1.3 The Importance of Ethical Values of Citizens
 Why possessing ethical values are important for citizens?
o Ethics, by guiding the behavior of people, makes a society peaceful and
harmonious and helps to live better life.
o Ethical values strengthen mutual trust and reduce social conflicts.
o No society can survive without ethical code of conduct.
o It is even more important where laws do not reach.
o Ethics also helps persons to look at their own life critically and to evaluate
the morality of their actions/choices/decisions.
o Serve as standards to praise or blame the actions of individuals/group.
o It helps people to keep their words, fight injustices and corruption, and
prevent crimes and lawlessness and other unethical behaviors.
 It helps one to distinguish between right and wrong: it teaches values
such as diversity, tolerance, mutual respect, and pluralism.
 Enables to become responsible and contributing members’ in the
society:
 It helps in finding out the true purpose of life: There can be no future
human civilization if this value is not taught to students, we as a society rely on
one another to survive. Morals such as respect, love, compassion, kindness,
 forgiveness, and honesty aid in instilling this essential value in citizens from a
young age
 It also helps in building a positive approach to things: ethics would
help learners develop a positive attitude towards difficult situations and boost
their self-esteem. It assists them in discovering their life’s purpose, motivations,
and goals, and it inspires them to devote themselves to the cause of social well-
being.
 It helps to eliminate problems of social evils from one’s life: In the
process of eradicating social evils such as gender discrimination, oppression,
violence, racial discrimination, and violence against minorities, virtue ethics is
humanity’s only hope. In order to create a better tomorrow and ensure the
continuation of overall development, students must be taught virtue ethics.

What kinds of problems or crises can occur in your family, community

and school due to people who do not possess ethical values?

 Absence of love, harmony and the culture of respect within the family
 Absence of students who act according to the rules and regulations of the school,
for instance, lack of respect teachers, cheating exams, poor culture of hard
working
 Existence of irresponsible citizens in the community
 Existence of generations who are deviant from the existing moral values,
principles and norms of the society

1.4. ASPECTS OF APPLIED ETHICS

Applied ethics:
is the domain of ethics that includes professional ethics
environmental ethics.

 is called practical ethics- the application of ethics to real world problems

 deals with difficult moral questions and controversial moral issues like
abortion, sex before marriage, death penalty
 Applied ethics are a sub-branch of normative ethics which are specific to a
particular field.
 is the art or science of reflecting on moral dilemmas and moral problems
in different social contexts.
 is a growing, interdisciplinary field dealing with ethical problems in
different areas of society.
 It includes for instance: social and political ethics, computer
ethics,
Medical ethics, Bioethics,
environmental ethics, business ethics,
 From the perspective of ethics, applied ethics is a specialization in one
area of ethics.
  From the perspective of social practice applying ethics is to focus on
ethical aspects and implications of that particular practice.
 Profession is a vocation founded upon specialized high educational
training.
 Profession is defined as any occupation/job/vocation that requires
advanced expertise (skills and knowledge), self-regulation, and concerned
service to the public good.
 Professionals are governed by codes of ethics and profess a
commitment to competence, integrity, altruism, and the promotion of the
public good within their domain
 Professional- a member of profession or one who is associated with a
profession. e.g doctor, lawyer
 Professionalism- a professional character, spirit or method or proper or
accepted behaviors an attitudes of a profession; skills or ethics expected
of a professional. e.g fidelity, loyalty, honesty……
 Professional Ethics is a set of standards that describe the professional
behavior that is expected in all fields of work.
 Professional ethics refers to the moral obligations, rules and principles that
professionals should employ to achieve the main objective of their
profession.

 Environmental ethics is concerned with the established values,
principles and set of beliefs between human beings and the surrounding
environment.
 Environmental ethics implies the obligations of citizens, government
and organizations to protect and maintain the well-being of their
environment from damage,
a. Medical ethics is a branch of applied ethics that studies the philosophical,
social and legal issues arising in medicine and the life sciences.
The following are some principles of professional ethics
 Integrity  Responsibility  Compassion
 Forgiveness
 Trustworthiness  Generosity  Faith 
Honesty
 Discipline  Obedience(መታዘዝ)  Courtesy(  Friendliness
 Wisdom  Courage  Loyalty  Kindness
 Cheerfulness  Perseverance  Swift Decision-making 
Humility(ትህትና)
 Punctuality Mercy ምህረት Fairness
 Professionalism Appearance/dress Eager to learn
open minded
 benevolence: support those in need