Chapter Two

Ethics and Civic Virtue

BY: Abay Agidew

Date: 2012
 
 Morality and Ethics: Definition and Subject Matter

 It is difficult to demarcate ethics from

morality. Because most people use booth terms
interchangeably for a long period of time.
 Ethics
Ethics- is “the area of philosophy/science that is concerned with the study and
analysis of what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong”.

- It also attempts to arrive at an understanding of the nature of human values, of

how we ought to live, what constitutes the right conduct and good life for human
beings and what is the good reason for acting in one way or the other.

-Ethics; lays down set of principles and standards about right or wrong that guide
human/societal/action    and it study and analysis these principles and the actions.

-Ethics are external standards provided the institutions, groups, religion and
culture to which individuals belongs. E.g., lawyers, policemen, doctors, teachers
etc all have to follow an ethical code laid down by their profession regardless of
their own feeling or preference.

-Ethics, dictates the working of social system and broad in scope

 Morality
Morality- specific principle and standards of
an individual about what is right or wrong that
guide individual actions.

-it defines individual character or it is more of

personal character

-Dependent on individual choice /preference or

feeling and it is narrower in scope
 Is Morality Absolute or Relative?

 There are different philosophical views:

A. Ethical Relativism:
is the notion that there are no universally valid moral principles, but that all moral
principles are valid relative to cultural or individual choice.

 Different societies and cultural groups view life in different ways. This can be reflected
in varieties of manners. Societies differ in how they are going to dress, greet one
another, eat, celebrate festivals, dispose of the dead, and carry out social transaction.
Even we may grasp a difference on how individuals greet in societies, is it handshake or
a hug, a kiss or a bow?

So, one thing that erodes the universality of moral principles is the fact that, what is
really accepted as a moral principle in one society may be cursed and considered as
negative value in another. And what is considered abnormal in one culture may be found
to be the corner stone of another social structure.

 Therefore, cultural relativism believes that there is no such thing as universal truth in
ethics,
 B) Ethical Objectivism

 agrees on the universal validity of some moral codes and

standards.

 There are some values that have universal acceptance and be

applicable regardless of cultural variations.

 E.G. -murder and terrorism is not allowed in any culture

 telling the truth is common in any culture

 Conclusion- even if many of our practices are merely peculiar to

our society, there are common values that we share with other
societies. Because those rules/values are necessary for societies
to exist.
 The Theoretical Basis of Ethics: Why to be Ethical?

Society is not only the collection of individuals rather is much more than that/organic theory of society as opposed to
atomistic theory of society)

 It involves sets of rules/ethical rules/ that guide their actions behaviors and these rules serves as a bond that define the
role/duty and functions of members. Or it is necessary to have healthy and well functioning society.

So, society cannot exist without morality. i.e., there can no society without moral regulations and these moral
regulation/ethical rules/ are what makes society a society.

In general, the reason for the society being ethical commonly revolves around the following points:

Self-interest –doing the right thing turns out to be our interest i.e.,
For our satisfaction/mental satisfaction
To gain benefits( material, social approval or honor or escape group sanction, social disapproval and exclusion)

Divine command- the belief that the creator will reward or punish us can have powerful motivating factors to respect
moral values.

Common interest- morality has not only for self-interest but its common advantage is also instrumental. Certain kinds
of rules-those requiring us to consider the safety and well-fare of others and those prohibiting us from aggression against
them-will operate to our mutual advantage; that is why we should be obey them.

- In general in a society wherein morality is declined, crime, death, looting, instability, social deviance, suicide, human
right violation (gross human right violation), corruption and other socio, economic and political crises will prevail.
 Categories of Ethics
 the subject matter of ethics can be broadly categorized into:
A) Normative Ethics
 -deals with the badness and goodness i.e, which actions are right or wrong?
 -why individual/groups act in certain situation or what conditions   affect/influence
one to act in one way or other ways.
 - Importance of being moral for human life or being moralistic
B) Meth-ethics
 - studies the origin/sources of ethical principles
 -meaning of ethical terms as good, bad, right or wrong i.e, deals with the  terms
themselves what does the term good or bad mean
 -its finding may be used to give moral judgment in normative ethics
C) Applied ethics
 deals with specific controversial moral issues such as abortion, animal rights, gun
control (law controlling gun ownership/legal measure or license) and our duty to
avoid lying etc.
• Generally, for an issue to be considered as an” applied ethical issues” two
requirements, the issue needs to be controversial and it must be a distinctly moral
issue
 Ethics and Moral Responsibility

Responsibility- is the duty or obligation of a person or a group to do something

Legal responsibility- is a duty imposed by law that specifies the type of action permitted or  forbidden
or required. e.g, obeying law and paying tax etc.

 non compliance to such laws causes punishment

Moral responsibility- is an obligation that emanates from moral and ethical value of the society  with
no formal or legal pressure or is not imposed/ or enforced by law.

Generally speaking, as a member of group, community or society individuals living in a society may
have such legal and moral duties as:

 Being diligent to one’s own job/task

 Taking care of oneself and one’s own family.
 Keeping promises
 Observing laws and social values.
 Keeping public property.
 Protecting the well being of the environment.
 Keeping cultural and historical heritage
 Protecting the boundary of the state and preserving the independence of the country.
 Work Conduct and Professional Code of Ethics


is specific expected behavior of workers in their area of specialization.

These codes/standards enable workers the right way of conduct from

the wrong in providing      services/discharging their responsibility.

ethical work conduct enables workers to possess proper behavior, so

as to develop proper    relationship with fellow workers, their
customers and all in all to create good industrial    en’t/conducive
environment/.

All professions do not have the same set of values and standards in
absolute terms. But, important and significant universal ethical codes
that should be applied by all profession includes,
 Cont,,,
A) punctuality

 every worker should get to work on time

 One must avoid wasting regular work tome on non-productive and personal activity.

 avoiding him/herself from voluntary absenteeism/absent without reporting

 Avoid procrastination –putting thing for tomorrow which could be done today

 good management results in increased productivity, cost effectiveness and effective

utilization human resources

B) Proper utilization of instruments of labor

- A worker is expected to properly utilize the equipment and other resources of the
          organization
 Cont,,,
C) Labor discipline at work
 a worker must give priority for his/her work
 He/she has to show high level of respectability,
soberness and industriousness/hard work            
 avoid him from addictions which affect
productivity

D) Distancing oneself from corruption

E) Working in cooperation with fellow workers.