Concept of Ethics and

Morality
Definition of Moral
• Morals are the social, cultural and religious beliefs or values of an individual
or group which tells us what is right or wrong. They are the rules and
standards made by the society or culture which is to be followed by us while
deciding what is right. Some moral principles are:
 Do not cheat
 Be loyal
 Be patient
 Always tell the truth
 Be generous
• Morals refer to the beliefs what is not objectively right, but what is
considered right for any situation, so it can be said that what is morally
correct may not be objectively correct.
Definition of Ethics
• Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the principles of conduct of
an individual or group. It works as a guiding principle as to decide what is
good or bad. They are the standards which govern the life of a person.
Ethics is also known as moral philosophy. Some ethical principles are:
 Truthfulness
 Honesty
 Loyalty
 Respect
 Fairness
 Integrity
• The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom,
habit, character or disposition.
• Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also
described as moral philosophy.
• Ethics covers the following dilemmas:
 how to live a good life
 our rights and responsibilities
 the language of right and wrong
 moral decisions - what is good and bad?
• It also deals with what we should or should not do, but it does so by
applying reasoning, for or against, in order to decide on the conduct to be
taken when faced with a moral problem. It is in fact a critical examination of
morals, questioning its rules and seeking orientations which are well thought
out and correct.
• The term bioethics, refers to reflections on life and death. And as you
already know, this discipline sheds light on the big questions.

Why we need ethics:-

• Constant changes in society require that we adapt our rules of conduct.
• Social pressures for individual rights require that we find an optimal balance
between individual and collective rights.
• The progress of science and medicine and the new technologies.
• The power of care givers in the face of life and death.
 Laws
• Laws are brought about by tension, agitation and conflict by dramatic
situations.
• Laws are societal rules or regulations that are obligatory to observe.
• Laws protect the welfare and safety of society, resolve conflicts, and are
constantly evolving.
• Laws have governed the practice of medicine for over one hundred of
years.

Bioethics
• Bioethics refers to the moral issues and problems that have arisen as a
result of modern medicine and medical research.
• Issues in bioethics are usually life- and-death issues!
• Ethical and bioethical principles can be personal, organizational, institutional
or worldwide.
Key Differences Between Morals and Ethics
The major differences between Morals and Ethics are as under:
• Morals deal with what is ‘right or wrong’. Ethics deals with what is ‘good or
evil’.
• Morals are general guidelines framed by the society E.g. We should speak
truth. Conversely, ethics are a response to a particular situation, E.g. Is it
ethical to state the truth in a particular situation?
• The term morals is derived from a Greek word ‘mos’ which refers to custom
and the customs are determined by group of individuals or some authority.
On the other hand, ethics is originated from Greek word ‘ethikos’ which
refers to character and character is an attribute.
• Morals are dictated by society, culture or religion while Ethics are chosen by
the person himself which governs his life.
• Morals are concerned with principles of right and wrong. On the contrary,
ethics stresses on right and wrong conduct.
• As morals are framed and designed by the group, there is no option to think
and choose; the individual can either accept or reject. Conversely, the
people are free to think and choose the principles of his life in ethics.
• Morals may vary from society to society and culture to culture. As opposed
to Ethics, which remains same regardless of any culture, religion or society.
• Morals do not have any applicability to business, whereas Ethics is widely
applicable in the business known as business ethics.
• Morals are expressed in the form of statements, but Ethics are not
expressed in the form of statements.

Examples
• If the son of a big politician has committed a crime and he uses his powers
to free his son from legal consequences. Then this act is immoral because
the politician is trying to save a culprit.
• A very close friend or relative of an interviewer comes for an interview and
without asking a single question, he selects him. This act is unethical
because the selection process must be transparent and unbiased.
• A grocer sells adulterated products to his customers to earn more profit.
This act is neither moral nor ethical because he is cheating his customers
and profession at the same time.
 BASIS FOR COMPARISON MORALS ETHICS

Meaning Morals are the beliefs of the Ethics are the guiding principles
individual or group as to what is which help the individual or group
right or wrong. to decide what is good or bad.

What is it? General principles set by group Response to a specific situation

Root word Mos which means custom Ethikos which means character

Governed By Social and cultural norms Individual or Legal and

Professional norms

Deals with Principles of right and wrong Right and wrong conduct

Applicability in Business No Yes

Consistency Morals may differ from society to Ethics are generally uniform.
society and culture to culture.

Expression Morals are expressed in the form Ethics are abstract.

of general rules and statements.

Freedom to think and choose No Yes

 Comparing Law and Ethics
• Law, ethics, and bioethics are different but related concepts.
• Laws are mandatory to which all citizens must adhere or risk civil or criminal
liability.
• Ethics relate to morals and help us organize complex information and
competing values and interests to formulate consistent and coherent
decisions.
• Value conflicts, no clear consensus as to the “right” thing to do. A conflict
between moral obligations that are difficult to reconcile and require moral
reasoning.
 Theories of Ethics
1. Deontology /Nonconsequentialism: Derived from the Greek word, Deon,
meaning duty. Considers that some acts are right or wrong independent of
their consequences. Looks to one’s obligation to determine what is ethical
and answers the question: What should I do and why should I do it?
• A duty Example: Zelda, a practitioner, believes she has a duty to give
cardiac clients detailed information on the pathology involved in their
condition even though the client has indicated that they are not ready or
may be terrified to hear the information causing the client distress.
2. Consequentialism: Also called Teleological, Greek word, Telos, meaning end
or consequence. Actions are determined and justified by the consequence
of the act. Consequentialists consider all the consequences of what they are
about to do prior to deciding a right action. This also answers the question:
What should I do and why should I do it?
• Action Example: Had Zelda respected the wishes of her clients, she would
have given them only the information which would have been a benefit to
them and not caused them undue stress. She would have been motivated
by her desire to do good (beneficence), rather than her sense of duty. This
is a Deontological betrayal.
 Theories of Ethics(contd.)
3. Utilitarian Ethics: Considers the greatest good for the largest number of
people. Also answers the question: What should I do and why should I do
it?
• Intuitionism: Resolves ethical dilemmas by appealing to one’s intuition, a
moral faculty of a person which directly knows what is right or wrong. (A gut
feeling of knowing what is right).

4. Rights: This popular American theory resolves ethical dilemmas by first

determining what rights or moral claims are involved and take precedence,
(consider the abortion debate- personal – mom vs. fetus/child, societal-
women’s choice vs. murder.

5. Virtue Ethics: Contrary to other ethical theories, virtue ethics tells us what
kind of person one ought to be, rather than what they do. The focus is on
the character (goodness) of the person.
Theories of Ethics
 Types of Business Ethics with Examples
1. Personal responsibility.
2. Representative or official responsibility.
3. Personal loyalties.
4. Corporate responsibilities.
5. Organizational loyalties.
6. Economic responsibilities.
7. Technical morality.
8. Legal responsibility.
1. Personal Responsibility
• It refers to a man's personal code of ethics. If a man behaves in honesty, he
will behave in a very honest and straight forward manner. According to
Walton, "A morally responsible executive is one who knows the various
kinds of value systems that may be employed in a particular situation and
has a rather clear idea of what values hold ascendancy (precedence or
priority) over others in a conflict ". This definition of Walton is rather an over-
simplification. A business man may think he is acting ethically but others
may not consider his behavior as ethical.
2. Representative or Official Responsibility
• A manager's action often represents the position he holds or the office he
occupies rather than his personal beliefs. This is so because the manager
represents the business. He has to follow the rules and regulations of the
business, e.g. a manager may want to do something but the regulations
may forbid him from doing it and therefore his hands are tied and he may
not do it.
3. Personal Loyalties
• Sometimes personal loyalties are so strong that ethical standards may not
be applied when acting towards a particular individual. Personal loyalties
include the loyalties of a subordinate to his superior and superior's loyalty
towards his subordinate.
(a) Loyalties of a subordinate to his superior: If a subordinate has strong
personal loyalty towards their superior, they turn a blind eye towards the
blunders committed by their superiors and attempt to defend their omissions
and commissions. For example, if the branch manager of a bank is
sanctioning loan without any security and this act on his part may bring
disastrous financial troubles to the organization, his subordinates who were
men of high moral character and who had close connections with the head
office did not inform them of the financial irregularities because of strong
personal loyalty towards their branch manager.
(b) Superior's loyalty towards his subordinate: If a superior has strong
personal loyalty towards their subordinates, they turn a blind eye towards
the mistakes committed by their subordinates. This is done because the
superior does not want to hurt the feeling of his subordinates because of
their close personal contact. For example, if the subordinates who are close
to the manager do not do their work properly, the manager may not
reprimand (rebuke or scold) them for their poor performance. He may rather
defend their poor quality work with his superiors because of his personal
attachment towards his subordinates.
4. Corporate Responsibilities: Every individual living in society has a moral
obligation towards it. Corporations are entities which are "artificial persons",
therefore they too have moral responsibilities towards the society. There moral
responsibilities are not necessarily identical with the personal moral codes of
the executives who run them. Every corporation must have moral codes which
help it in deciding matters connected with shareholders, employees, creditors,
customers, government and society.
5. Organizational Loyalties: Some employees have a deep sense of loyalty to
the organization. Their loyalties to their organization are so strong that they
even neglect their own self interest for the sake of the organization
6. Economic Responsibility: According to Milton Fried man, "there is one and
only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources efficiently and
engage in activities designed to increase profits without deception or fraud".
Therefore, every business must contribute to the general welfare of the society
by making efficient and economical use of resource at their command. This
type of morality guides individual action towards economy in the use of
resources put at his disposal.
7. Technical Morality: In any country, the state of technology plays an important
role in determining what products and services will be produced. Technological
environment influences organizations in terms of investment in technology,
consistent application of technology and the effects of technology. A manager
having technical morality will refuse to compromise with quality. Every
organization which is actively engaged in technological advancement will
create more challenging situations for the organizations because they are not
prepared to accept lower standards.
8. Legal Responsibility: Legal environment provides the framework with in which
the business is to function. The viability of business depends upon the ability
with which a business can meet the challenges arising out of the legal
framework.
 Principles of Ethics
1. HONESTY. Ethical executives are honest and truthful in all their dealings and
they do not deliberately mislead or deceive others by misrepresentations,
overstatements, partial truths, selective omissions, or any other means.
2. INTEGRITY. Ethical executives demonstrate personal integrity and the courage
of their convictions by doing what they think is right even when there is great
pressure to do otherwise; they are principled, honorable and upright; they will
fight for their beliefs..
3. PROMISE-KEEPING & TRUSTWORTHINESS. Ethical executives are worthy of
trust. They are candid and forthcoming in supplying relevant information and
correcting misapprehensions of fact, and they make every reasonable effort to
fulfill the letter and spirit of their promises and commitments.
4. LOYALTY. Ethical executives are worthy of trust, demonstrate fidelity and loyalty
to persons and institutions by friendship in adversity, support and devotion to
duty; they do not use or disclose information learned in confidence for personal
advantage. They safeguard the ability to make independent professional
judgments by scrupulously avoiding undue influences and conflicts of interest.
They are loyal to their companies and colleagues and if they decide to accept
other employment, they provide reasonable notice, respect the proprietary
information of their former employer, and refuse to engage in any activities that
take undue advantage of their previous positions.
 Principles of Ethics(contd.)
5. FAIRNESS. Ethical executives and fair and just in all dealings; they do not
exercise power arbitrarily, and do not use overreaching nor indecent means
to gain or maintain any advantage nor take undue advantage of another’s
mistakes or difficulties. Fair persons manifest a commitment to justice, the
equal treatment of individuals, tolerance for and acceptance of diversity, the
they are open-minded; they are willing to admit they are wrong and, where
appropriate, change their positions and beliefs.
6. CONCERN FOR OTHERS. Ethical executives are caring, compassionate,
benevolent and kind; they like the Golden Rule, help those in need, and
seek to accomplish their business objectives in a manner that causes the
least harm and the greatest positive good.
7. RESPECT FOR OTHERS. Ethical executives demonstrate respect for the
human dignity, autonomy, privacy, rights, and interests of all those who have
a stake in their decisions; they are courteous and treat all people with equal
respect and dignity regardless of sex, race or national origin.
8. LAW ABIDING. Ethical executives abide by laws, rules and regulations
relating to their business activities.
 Principles of Ethics(contd.)
9. COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE. Ethical executives pursue excellence in
performing their duties, are well informed and prepared, and constantly
endeavor to increase their proficiency in all areas of responsibility.
10. LEADERSHIP. Ethical executives are conscious of the responsibilities and
opportunities of their position of leadership and seek to be positive ethical
role models by their own conduct and by helping to create an environment
in which principled reasoning and ethical decision making are highly prized.
11. REPUTATION AND MORALE. Ethical executives seek to protect and build
the company’s good reputation and the morale of its employees by
engaging in no conduct that might undermine respect and by taking
whatever actions are necessary to correct or prevent inappropriate conduct
of others.
12. ACCOUNTABILITY. Ethical executives acknowledge and accept personal
accountability for the ethical quality of their decisions and omissions to
themselves, their colleagues, their companies, and their communities.
 Features of Ethics
• Code of conduct
Business ethics is the code of conduct which businessmen should follow
while conducting their normal business activities.
• Based on moral and social values
Business ethics is based on well-accepted moral/principal values. It
suggests moral of conduct for businessmen. They include self-control,
service to society and fair treatment to social groups and not to harm/
exploit others.
• Provides basic framework
Business ethics provides the framework within which business is to be
conducted. It suggests legal, social, moral, economic and cultural limits
within which business has to be operated. It suggests what is good and
what is bad in business.
• Needs willing acceptance for enforcement
Business ethics cannot be enforced by law or by force. It must be accepted
as self-discipline by businessmen. It should come from within the
businessmen.
• Education and guidance required for introduction
Businessman should be given proper education, guidance and training in
order to motivate them to follow ethical business practices.
 Objectives of Ethics
• Study of human behavior and makes evaluative assessment about that as
moral or immoral (A diagnostic goal).
• Establishes moral standards and norms of behavior.
• Makes judgment upon human behavior based on these standards and norms.
• Prescribes moral behavior and makes recommendations about how to or how
not to behave.
• Expresses an opinion or attitude about human contact in general.

Nature of Ethics
• Concepts of ethics deals with human beings only. Human beings can
distinguish right or wrong, good or evil.
• The Study of ethics is a set of systematic knowledge about moral behavior
and conduct. Study of ethics is a science – a social science.
• Science of ethics (Normative Science) : it judges the value of the facts in
terms of ideal situation.
• Deals with human conduct which is voluntary, not forced or coerced by
persons or circumstances.
 Characteristics of Business Ethics
1. Ethical decisions differ with individual perspective of different persons.
Each person views the ethical question in terms of his or her own frame of
reference. And this frame of reference is the person’s own unique value
system.
2. Ethical decisions are not limited only to themselves, but affects a wide
range of other situations as well. Similarly, unethical decisions do not end
in themselves, but have widespread ramifications.
3. Most ethical decisions involve a tradeoff between cost incurred and
benefits received. Cost and benefits, profits and social responsibilities are
different ends of a single spectrum. All cannot be maximized
simultaneously.
4. The consequences of most ethical or unethical decisions are not clear.
The only certainty is that somewhere, sometime, somehow, something
positive will result from an ethical decision and something negative from
unethical one.
5. Every person is individually responsible for the ethical or unethical
decision and action that he or she takes. Taking an ethical decision cannot
be an impersonal activity as it involves the person’s individual unique
value system along with his moral standards.
6. Ethical decisions are voluntary human actions. A person cannot escape
his personal liability for his crimes citing force of circumstances or
pressure.
 Sources of Ethics
1. Genetic Inheritance : the qualities of goodness is a product of genetic
traits strengthened over time by the evolutionary process.
2. Religion : religious morality is clearly a primary focus in shaping our
societal ethics.
3. Philosophical Systems : the quality of pleasure to be derived from an act
was the essential measure of its goodness.
4. Cultural Experience : individual values are shaped in large measure by the
norms of the society.
5. The legal system : laws represent a rough approximation of society’s
ethical standards.
 Golden Rules of Ethics @ Workplace
• Body Language.
• Avoid Creating Disturbance.
• Trust & Respect for Others Work.
• Don’t Interfere In Others Work.
• Respect the Privacy of your Co-workers .
• Avoid Ethnic & Gender Biasness.
• Improve Your Self Presentation.
• Avoid Lobbying.
• No/Least Personal Work During Work Hours.
• Maintain the balance between transparency/openness and confidentiality
 Benefits of Ethics
The list of potential benefits:
• Fostering a more satisfying and productive working environment.
• Building and sustaining Organization reputation.
• Maintaining the trust of staff to ensure continued self-regulation.
• Providing ethical guidance for employees prior to making difficult
decisions.
• Aligning the work efforts of employees with the Organization's broader
mission and vision.
• Increased employee loyalty, higher commitment and morale as well as
lower staff turnover.
• Attraction of ‘high-quality’ staff.
• Reputation benefits (customers and suppliers).
• More open and innovative culture.
• Decreased cost of borrowing and insurance.
• Generation of good-will in the communities in which the business
operates.
 Where does ethics come from?
• God and religion
• Human conscience and intuition
• a rational moral cost-benefit analysis of actions and their effects
• the example of good human beings
• a desire for the best for people in each unique situation
• political power

God-based ethics - supernaturalism

• Supernaturalism makes ethics inseparable from religion. It teaches that the
only source of moral rules is God.
• So, something is good because God says it is, and the way to lead a good
life is to do what God wants.
Intuitionism
• Intuitionists think that good and bad are real objective properties that can't
be broken down into component parts. Something is good because it's
good; its goodness doesn't need justifying or proving.
• Intuitionists think that goodness or badness can be detected by adults - they
say that human beings have an intuitive moral sense that enables them to
detect real moral truths.
• They think that basic moral truths of what is good and bad are self-evident
to a person who directs their mind towards moral issues.
• So good things are the things that a sensible person realizes are good if
they spend some time pondering the subject.
• For the intuitionist:
 moral truths are not discovered by rational argument
 moral truths are not discovered by having a hunch
 moral truths are not discovered by having a feeling
 It's more a sort of moral 'aha' moment - a realization of the truth.

Consequentialism
• This is the ethical theory that most non-religious people think they use every
day. It bases morality on the consequences of human actions and not on
the actions themselves.
• Consequentialism teaches that people should do whatever produces the
greatest amount of good consequences.
• One famous way of putting this is 'the greatest good for the greatest number
of people'.
• The most common forms of consequentialism are the various versions of
utilitarianism, which favour actions that produce the greatest amount of
happiness.
• Despite its obvious common-sense appeal, consequentialism turns out to
be a complicated theory, and doesn't provide a complete solution to all
ethical problems.

Two problems with consequentialism are:

• it can lead to the conclusion that some quite dreadful acts are good
• predicting and evaluating the consequences of actions is often very difficult.

Non-consequentialism or deontological ethics

• Non-consequentialism is concerned with the actions themselves and not
with the consequences. It's the theory that people are using when they refer
to "the principle of the thing".
• It teaches that some acts are right or wrong in themselves, whatever the
consequences, and people should act accordingly.

Virtue ethics
• Virtue ethics looks at virtue or moral character, rather than at ethical duties
and rules, or the consequences of actions - indeed some philosophers of
this school deny that there can be such things as universal ethical rules.
• Virtue ethics is particularly concerned with the way individuals live their
lives, and less concerned in assessing particular actions.
• It develops the idea of good actions by looking at the way virtuous people
express their inner goodness in the things that they do.
• To put it very simply, virtue ethics teaches that an action is right if and only if
it is an action that a virtuous person would do in the same circumstances,
and that a virtuous person is someone who has a particularly good
character.

Situation ethics
• Situation ethics rejects prescriptive rules and argues that individual ethical
decisions should be made according to the unique situation.
• Rather than following rules the decision maker should follow a desire to
seek the best for the people involved. There are no moral rules or rights -
each case is unique and deserves a unique solution.

Ethics and ideology

• Some philosophers teach that ethics is the codification of political ideology,
and that the function of ethics is to state, enforce and preserve particular
political beliefs.
• They usually go on to say that ethics is used by the dominant political elite
as a tool to control everyone else.
• More cynical writers suggest that power elites enforce an ethical code on
other people that helps them control those people, but do not apply this
code to their own behavior.
 Meta-ethics, Normative Ethics and Applied
Ethics
 Metaethics
• It talks about the nature of ethics and moral reasoning. Discussions about
whether ethics is relative and whether we always act from self-interest are
examples of meta-ethical discussions.
• It is the source of ethical principles as well as their meaning. Such source
may be external or internal, meaning; there is a question of where exactly
these ethical principles stemmed from.
• It is a more outward general view of what is right or wrong.
• In connection, issues such as metaphysics and psychology arise and both
deal with the different faces of the coin. Metaphysics deals with the question
on whether morality exists independently of man, while the other questions
the psychological basis for man’s moral judgment and conduct.
• In metaphysics, the concepts of objectivism and relativism are explained.
• Objectivism suggests that our moral values come from God, and that they
are eternal and immutable.
• Relativism, on one hand, says that these moral values may also have been
formulated by human beings thus making them subjective and relative. The
concept on relativism is further divided into individual and social.
• An example of individual relativism is how a person deals with moral issues
from his or her personal set of moral standards. These standards serve as
the criteria that guide the individual person in his or her decisions.
• Social relativism concerns itself with what is right or wrong depending on
what is agreed upon by a society and not merely by the standards of an
individual. Thus, its implications are manifested in various nations around
the world. While some allow same-sex marriage, others forsake such even
by just the thought of it.
• The concepts of egoism and altruism explain the motivation for many
human behaviours.
• Psychological egoism supports the view that self-interests are the primary
motives of human behaviour and that this is hardwired in all of us. In relation
to economics as a social science, Adam Smith mentioned self-interest as
the governing force which balances out the needs of the society. Take for
example a businessman who envisions himself into becoming a
manufacturer of smart phones, and a student who wishes to acquire a
phone for academic and communications purposes. While the businessman
targets to make profits and the student desires to own a new gadget, both
are actually helping each other satisfy their respective interests. Thus, one’s
self-interest can become an instrument to achieve another’s. This
relationship is beneficial for everyone for as long as no particular individual
or group is ever enriched at the expense of another, most especially at the
disadvantage of the greater public.
• Psychological altruism, on the other side, holds that some of our behaviours
are motivated by benevolence or kindness towards others and that this
benevolence comes naturally. Meaning, we choose to give without
expecting anything in return. We learn to become selfless. Most of the time,
we associate selflessness with our life’s superheroes. They may take the
form of our parents, close friends, or even strangers. We come across with
stories of charity as a personal pursuit of some individuals or as an
organizational-wide initiative as a way of giving back to the community.
Whatever shape selflessness manifests itself, it always comes with a
wonderful heart.
• At times, especially during the difficult ones, we experience an interior
conflict as to what we accept or know as right and wrong and as to what we
actually choose to do. Knowing what is right and wrong does not
automatically make a person righteous. In the same way that our spirit
desires what is good yet our flesh desires otherwise.
• Emotion and Reason now come into play. Reason refers to the use of the
intellect and may also refer to the justification of some specific behaviour. It
is also the effort to change the mind of another. In reference to this line of
thought, some claim themselves to belong to the Mind-over-Matter category.
They believe that feelings can actually distract us from the issue at hand.
• Emotion, at a glance, is defined as a mental state that arises spontaneously
as opposed to something that comes from a conscious effort. It is often
accompanied by physiological changes.
• The concept of Male and Female Morality comes with delineation between a
man and a woman in terms of the way they approach and make decisions.
• One of the two researchers that are vital to the discussion of male and
female morality has developed the Moral Development Theory. It is divided
into three levels, namely: Pre-conventional, Conventional, and Post-
conventional. Each level is further subdivided into two stages.
• Under the pre-conventional level are the stages of Punishment and
Obedience Orientation, and the Instrument and Relativity Orientation.
• Conventional level is subdivided into Interpersonal Concordance
Orientation, and Law and Order Orientation.
• The third level consists of the stages Social Contract Orientation, and the
Universal Ethical Principles Orientation.
 Normative ethics

• It is interested in determining the content of our moral behavior. Normative

ethical theories seek to provide action-guides; procedures for answering the
Practical Question ("What ought I to do?").
• Normative ethics involves the search for those ideal moral standards that
can regulate right and wrong conduct. The words ‘should’ and ‘ought to’ are
usually indicators found in the statements that prescribe a criterion that is
superior.
• To create a whole picture out of the mentioned concepts, imagine a
kindergarten class being taught how to be generous. They are in need of
positive reinforcements in order to form a good habit of wholeheartedly
sharing what they have to those who do not have any. When they reach the
age of maturity, they also come to know of their duties to God, to oneself,
and to others. They become individuals who treat others as equals, and
now begin to learn to keep one’s promises. At some point, they will be
facing circumstances wherein the determinants as to the rightness or
wrongness of their actions are the consequences that occur after. Since the
beginning of their life, they are already bound by the rules set by the society
to protect each member’s self-interest and to see to it that such rules are
being enforced.
 Applied Ethics
• It attempts to deal with specific realms of human action and to craft criteria
for discussing issues that might arise within those realms. The
contemporary field of Applied Ethics arouse in the late 1960s and early
1970s. Today, it is a thriving part of the field of ethics.
• Business ethics is a discipline which embodies the characteristics of an
applied ethics as it deals with the issues found in the aspects of
management, accounting, and finance.
• Moral reasoning aids in the proper treatment of ethical issues as the
behaviours of individuals, institutions, as well as the established policies are
assessed with applicable moral standards.
• It is essential for us to know and understand what the moral standards
require, prohibit, value, and condemn in order for us to properly judge
behaviours and policies.
• We are also warned about the possible fallacies that the arguments we
employ might contain in reaching a result of our assessment. Therefore, it
becomes our call to exercise sound judgment together with the guiding
moral standards in resolving ethical issues at hand.
 Basic Principles of Medical Ethics
• Bioethicists often refer to the four basic principles of health care ethics when
evaluating the merits and difficulties of medical procedures. Ideally, for a
medical practice to be considered "ethical", it must respect all four of these
principles: autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence.

1. Autonomy
• Requires that the patient have autonomy of thought, intention, and action
when making decisions regarding health care procedures. Therefore, the
decision-making process must be free of coercion or coaxing.
• In order for a patient to make a fully informed decision, she/he must
understand all risks and benefits of the procedure and the likelihood of
success.
• Because ARTs are highly technical and may involve high emotions, it is
difficult to expect patients to be operating under fully-informed consent.
2. Justice
• The idea that the burdens and benefits of new or experimental treatments
must be distributed equally among all groups in society. Requires that
procedures uphold the spirit of existing laws and are fair to all players
involved.
• The health care provider must consider four main areas when evaluating
justice: fair distribution of scarce resources, competing needs, rights and
obligations, and potential conflicts with established legislation.
• Reproductive technologies create ethical dilemmas because treatment is
not equally available to all people.
 Basic Principles of Medical Ethics(contd)
3. Beneficence
• Requires that the procedure be provided with the intent of doing good for the
patient involved.
• Demands that health care providers develop and maintain skills and
knowledge, continually update training, consider individual circumstances of all
patients, and strive for net benefit.

4. Non-maleficence
• Requires that a procedure does not harm the patient involved or others in
society. Infertility specialists operate under the assumption that they are doing
no harm or at least minimizing harm by pursuing the greater good.
• However, because assistive reproductive technologies have limited success
rates uncertain overall outcomes, the emotional state of the patient may be
impacted negatively. In some cases, it is difficult for doctors to successfully
apply the do no harm principle.
 Identifying and Analyzing an Ethical Issue
When considering an ethical issues it is advised that you follow a stepwise
approach in your decision-making process:
• Recognize there is an issue
• Identify the problem and who is involved
• Consider the relevant facts, laws and principles
• Analyze and determine possible courses of action
• Implement the solution
• Evaluate and follow up

A simple decision-making tool is detailed below. In this example you are

required to ask yourself the following questions.
• What ​should we do? (What options are good or right in this context?)
• Why ​should we do it? (Exploring the values and reasons that support each
option.)
• How ​should we do it? (What plan of action best aligns with these values
and reasons?)
• Who ​should do it? (Who is responsible for making the final decision and
enact and communicating it?
An ethical dilemma​ describes a conflict between two
morally correct courses of action. There is a conflict between values or
principles. The dilemma is that you would be doing something right and
wrong at the same time, and by taking one right course you will negate the
other right course.
 The Ethical Decision-Making Process
1. I​dentify issue and decision-making process
2. S​tudy the facts
3. S​elect reasonable options
4. U​nderstand values & duties
5. E​valuate & justify options
6. S​ustain and review the plan

When we encounter ethical dilemmas our first instinct may be to find a

quick fix. However, our desire for resolution may cause us to misidentify the
key issues or overlook important facts, values or the opinions of other
stakeholders. Ethical decision making starts with a strong foundation, based
on a clear understanding of the nature of the problem and all relevant facts
and perspectives, before deciding on options, weighing those options, and
making the decision.
1. Identify​ the Ethical Issue and Decision-making Process:
• Engage in reflective practice and consider your "gut reaction" to the
situation: What preconceptions and judgments might you bring to the
situation? What are your loyalties and intuitions? Where do these come
from?
• State the conflict or dilemma as you currently see it: Try to articulate the
issue in one sentence. If you can’t, it may be better to break the problem
down into two questions or issues and tackle them one at a time. Example
of ethics question: “Given (state uncertainty or conflict about values), what
decisions or actions are ethically justifiable?”
• Determine best process for decision-making: How urgent is the situation?
How can stakeholders best be engaged? Who ultimately has decision-
making authority? Stakeholders deserve to know and understand how and
why a decision that affects them was made. It is important to remember that
transparency is not just about the transmission of information; it is also
about keeping people engaged constructively in the process. In the rare
cases where confidentiality is ethically necessary, the process should still be
made as transparent as possible while identifying the confidentiality
constraints explicitly.
2. Study ​the facts:
• In any complex situation, different parties will have different views of the
facts of the situation. Ideally, all stakeholders should have a chance to
present their views to one another in a respectful, open environment,
considering both the context of the situation and the evidence.
• Stakeholder Perspectives: all stakeholders should have an opportunity
to voice their views about the issue (staff, community, patients, partners,
etc.)
• Evidence: include risks and benefits to the organization and patients;
impact of situation on quality or services; best practices, etc.
• Contextual Features: internal and external directives and partnerships
(i.e. academic commitments); legal considerations (i.e. agreements,
legislation, etc.); past cases; cultural or environmental issues (i.e. staff
morale); public opinion
• Resource Implications: human and financial
3. Select​ Reasonable Options:
• Always look for more than two. Try brainstorming options without
evaluating at first, or start by describing your “ideal” solution and work
backwards to options that are more realistic given the context.
4. Understand ​Values & Duties:
• Which values are in conflict? Where values may be compromised, what
can you do to minimize the negative impact?
• Are there professional or legal obligations or standards to consider?
• Consider how various options reflect or support the duties, principles
and values
5. Evaluate ​& Justify Options:
• For each option consider: What are the possible harms to various
stakeholders?
• What are the probable benefits to various stakeholders?
• What will be the impact on staff, our mission and quality of care?
• Which duties, principles and values support this option?
• What if everyone in these circumstances did this? (Does this set a good
example? Are we making it easier or harder for others to do the right thing?)
• Does it meet Organizational Justice requirements: procedural justice,
distributive justice, relational justice?
• Does your solution answer the question you described above?
• Choose the option with the best consequences overall and closest
alignment with key duties, principles and values
• Clearly state reasons for the decision. Remember that you are not aiming at
“the perfect” choice, but a good and defensible choice under the
circumstances.
• Anticipate how you might answer criticisms.
6. Sustain ​& Review the Plan:
• Accepting responsibility for an ethical choice means ensuring that the
decision made is enacted by articulating a clear plan of action,
communicating it to stakeholders appropriately and addressing systems
that might have contributed to the problem. It also means accepting the
possibility that you might be wrong or that you may need to revise your
decision in light of new information or changing circumstances. In
reviewing the plan consider:
• How well did the decision-making process work?
• Was the decision carried out?
• Was the result satisfactory?
• Does this situation point to a systems problem (e.g. policy gap)?
• What lessons were learned from the situation?
• How will the team respond to similar situations in the future?
• Are there opportunities to appeal or modify the decision based on new
information?
• Have new questions emerged? (If so, do they require similar deliberation?)
• Is there a formal evaluation plan in place to monitor progress, good
practices and opportunities for improvement?
 Guidelines for Using the Ethical Framework With Groups
• It is important to create a forum where stakeholders have the opportunity to
engage in a collaborative discussion. The environment should be both open
and non-threatening.
• It is important to define at the outset of a meeting certain aspects of the process
that increase transparency, participation and satisfaction, including:
– ground rules (i.e. everyone gets to speak uninterrupted, confidentiality of
discussion, respectful interactions, etc.)
– roles for the meeting (i.e. chair, time-keeper, recorder)
– objectives and outcomes (i.e. the generation and analysis of reasonable
options, documentation and communication plan for the decision)
– the decision-making process (i.e. how stakeholder feedback will be used
and who is ultimately responsible for making the decision)
• The appropriate worksheet may be distributed to all participants to help keep
the process on track. It should be worked through one section at a time,
recognizing that ethical decision-making is not always linear. You may have to
go back and revisit earlier steps in the process as additional questions arise or
facts emerge.
• Keep a copy of this toolkit handy, to provide a quick reference for key terms and
concepts.
• At the end of the meeting, summarize each section of the worksheet briefly.
Define a clear plan for documenting and communicating any decisions made,
and assign specific individuals to accomplish next steps. As required, a follow-
up meeting should be scheduled to review outcomes and address systems
issues identified.
 Ethical principles in Physiotherapy
1. As the need for physical therapy is universal, the services of physical
therapists shall therefore be unrestricted by considerations of nationality,
race, creed, politics, color, social status and sexual preference.
2. Physical therapists shall carry out with loyalty and skill any physical
treatment, in responsible consultation with the registered medical or dental
practitioner, which is aimed at restoring improving or maintaining the mental
and physical fitness of the patient.
3. Physiotherapists shall respect the right and dignity of all individuals.
4. Physiotherapists shall be aware of the need for the prevention of
disability and promotion of health within the community.
5. Physiotherapists shall maintain at all times the highest standards of
knowledge and skill.
6. Physiotherapists shall provide honest, competent and accountable
professional service.

7. Physiotherapists shall respect the culture and religious beliefs of their

patients and associates.
8. Physiotherapists shall co-operate loyally with the physical therapy
colleagues and with members of the allied health professions.
9. Physiotherapists shall hold in confidence all personal information entrusted
to them and shall not discuss a patient’s affairs with other than those
responsible for the patient’s care.
10. Physiotherapists shall not permit their names to be used in connection
with advertisement of products or with any other form of self-advertisement,
except expressly authorized by the code of ethics of their national
association.
11. Physiotherapists are entitled to charge fees for their services, which shall
be fair reflections of the cost of their profession.
12. Physiotherapists shall adhere at all times to standards of professional and
personal ethics, which reflect credit on the profession. Physical therapists
shall recognize that failure of a colleague to conform to the ethical principles
of the profession as laid down by their national association is detrimental to
the patient. They shall therefore, take such steps as may be laid down by
their national association to report such conduct. Unethical conduct shall
however never be reported in the presence of patients or associates.
13. Physiotherapists shall share responsibility with other citizens and
members of other profession in meeting the needs of the public in matters of
health.
Thank You