Dr.

Omari Salehe
01.02.2019

Human Values &

Professional Ethics
 Course Objectives:
This introductory course input is intended:
1. To help the students appreciate the essential
complementarily between 'VALUES" and 'SKILLS"
to ensure sustained happiness and prosperity which
are the core aspirations of all human beings.
2. To facilitate the development of a holistic perspective among
students towards life, profession and happiness. based on a
correct understanding of the I human reality and the rest of
Existence. Such a holistic perspective forms the basis of
Value based living in a natural way.
3. To highlight plausible implications of such a Holistic
understanding in terms of ethical human conduct. trustful and
mutually satisfying human behavior and mutually enriching
interaction with Nature.
Human values & Professional Ethics
 Human Values & Professional Ethics
Professional ethics and Human values’ is a very
relevant subject of today’s environment of conflicts and
stress in the profession, with obligations to be met by
one person in many directions.
A formal study will certainly improve one’s ability and
judgment and refine one’s behavior, decisions, and
actions in performing the duty to the family,
organization, and to the society. Academicians even
feel that this subject should be introduced in high
school level, in place of the moral instructions.
VALUES;
Humans have the unique ability to define their
identity, choose their values and establish their
beliefs. All three of these directly influence a
person’s behavior. People have gone to great
lengths to demonstrate the validity of their
beliefs, including war and sacrificing their own
life! Conversely, people are not motivated to
support or validate the beliefs of another, when
those beliefs are contrary to their own.
VALUES;
People will act congruent with their personal values or
what they deem to be important.

A value is defined as a principle that promotes well-

being or prevents harm.” Another definition is: Values
are our guidelines for our success—our paradigm
about what is acceptable.” Personal values are defined
as: “Emotional beliefs in principles regarded as
particularly favorable or important for the individual.”

Our values associate emotions to our experiences and

guide our choices, decisions and actions.
Human Values
 A person’s observations on its environment are filtered through
his values to determine whether or not he should expend
energy to do something about his experiences. A person who
values gold and sees a large bag of gold (a positive value) in
his path as he walks, will be motivated to reach down and pick
it up.
 A person who values his life and knows about
venomous snakes will retreat from the sound of a
rattlesnake (a negative value) from nearby, when he
is walking in the desert.
Said in another way;
“Values are the scales we use to weigh our
choices for our actions, whether to move
towards or away from something.”

A person’s beliefs, values and identity are usually

acquired unconsciously based on his personal
experience or observations of others’ experiences as to
what produces desirable or undesirable results in the
environment.
Types Values;
 The five core human values are:
 (1) Right conduct,
 (2) Peace,
 (3) Truth,
 (4) Love,
 (5) Non violence
Values related to RIGHT CONDUCT are:
 SELF-HELP SKILLS: Care of possessions, diet,
hygiene, modesty, posture, self reliance, and tidy
appearance
 SOCIAL SKILLS: Good behavior, good manners,
good relationships, helpfulness, No wastage, and
good environment, and
 ETHICAL SKILLS: Code of conduct, courage,
dependability, duty, efficiency, ingenuity, initiative,
perseverance, punctuality, resourcefulness, respect
for all, and responsibility
Values related to PEACE are:
 Attention, calmness, concentration,
contentment, dignity, discipline, equality,
equanimity, faithfulness, focus, gratitude,
happiness, harmony, humility, inner
silence, optimism, patience, reflection,
satisfaction, self-acceptance, self-
confidence, self-control, self-discipline,
self-esteem, self-respect, sense control,
tolerance, and understanding
Values related to TRUTH are:
 Accuracy, curiosity, discernment,
fairness, fearlessness, honesty, integrity
(unity of thought, word, and deed),
intuition, justice, optimism, purity, quest
for knowledge, reason, self-analysis,
sincerity, sprit of enquiry, synthesis,
trust, truthfulness, and determination.
Values related to LOVE are:
 Acceptance, affection, care, compassion,
consideration, dedication, devotion,
empathy, forbearance, forgiveness,
friendship, generosity, gentleness,
humanness, interdependence, kindness,
patience, patriotism, reverence, sacrifice,
selflessness, service, sharing, sympathy,
thoughtfulness, tolerance and trust.
Values related to NON-VIOLENCE are:
 (a) PSYCHOLOGICAL: Benevolence, compassion,
concern for others, consideration, forbearance,
forgiveness, manners, happiness, loyalty, morality,
and universal love
 (b) SOCIAL: Appreciation of other cultures and
religions, brotherhood, care of environment,
citizenship, equality, harmlessness, national
awareness, perseverance, respect for property, and
social justice.
Human Values
 What is a majority? Nothing more than 51
percent or more of the individuals in a group.
 If we were to examine a particular majority
and compare their individual thinking on a
particular issue, what would we find? First,
we would find that actual knowledge of the
issue varied widely among the individuals.
Human Values
Some would be well informed about all details. Others
would be completely uninformed, yet unaware of
their ignorance.
Some individuals would have read or listened to the
views of authorities, sorted out irrelevancies,
appraised each authority’s position in light of
available evidence, and weighed all possible
interpretations of the facts.
Others would have taken the ultimate shortcut and
forgone all inquiry on the assumption that their
intuition is infallible.
Human Values
Finally some would have judged quite objectively,
avoiding preconceived notions and prejudices, and
being critical of all views, including those to which
they were naturally disposed. Others would have
been ruled by emotion, un-tempered by reason.
For this reason, know that there is no magic in
majorities.
Role of Feelings
Role of Feelings
As we have seen, it is fashionable to believe that
morality is subjective and personal. This means that
whatever a person believes to be right or wrong is so
for that person.
The conclusion that follows from this reasoning is that
no one person’s view is preferable to another’s. One
person’s sacred ritual may be the next person’s
cardinal sin.
Feelings
 In the space of a few decades feelings have become
the dominate ethical standard.
 In recent years a number of psychologists have
addressed this error.
 William J. Doherty, a therapist and professor of
psychology, argues that “it is time for
psychotherapists to stop trying to talk people out of
their moral sense
Are Feelings Reliable?
 Can feelings be trusted to guide human behavior?
 …some feelings, desires, and preferences are
admirable and therefore make excellent guides.
 Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Mother Teresa and countless other caring people
the world over, are moved by love of neighbor to
make the world a little better.
Are Feelings Reliable?
 Honesty, demands acknowledgment of the other
aspect of feelings.
 When Hitler exterminated more than six million Jews
and Staling massacred 30 million Russian peasants,
they were following their feelings.
 In this case, Rousseau’s and Rogers’ idea to be
unreasonable.
A Better Guide Is Needed
 When we are thinking clearly and being honest with
ourselves, we realize that there is a potential in each
of us for noble actions of high purpose and honor;
 But there is also a potential for great mischief and
wickedness.
Feelings, Desires, & Preferences…
 Feelings, desires, and preferences need to be
evaluated and judged.
 They need to be measured against some impartial
standard that will reveal their quality.
 To make them the basis of our moral decisions is to
ignore those needs and to accept them uncritically
as the measure of their own worth.
Role of Conscience
The Role of Conscience
 Some have defined it as the voice of God speaking
directly to the individual soul.
 The problem with this definition is that in cases
where conscience does not inform a person that an
act is wrong (or mis-informs the person), the
implications is that God has failed that person. Such
an idea is unacceptable to religious people.
 Others have defined conscience as a mirror of
custom, a mere reflection of what our culture has
taught us.
The Role of Conscience
 This definition also creates problems: It leaves
unexplained those cases in which conscience directs
us to defy custom.
 Still others have argued that conscience is a special
sense, a moral sense, that is innate in human beings.
 This may come closest to being a workable definition,
but it also poses difficulties that must not be
overlooked. The term sense usually suggests
developed faculties associated with organs; sight,
hearing, etc.
 Role of Conscience
Conscience cannot be that kind of
sense… we are not talking of any
physical condition.
Conscience may be defined as
the faculty by which we determine
that we are guilty of a moral
offense.
Conscience and Shame
 We know our conscience has judged us
harshly when we feel a sense of shame
 Shame: "the painful emotion arising from the
consciousness of something dishonoring,
ridiculous, or indecorous (marked by a lack of
good taste) in one’s own conduct or
circumstances…”
 …an emotion totally without redeeming value
that is responsible for a broad
Conscience and Shame….
 …range of psychological disorders,
including depression, addiction, sexual
dysfunction, and emotional problems
linked to gender, age, and race…
 Think back to a time in childhood when
you felt ashamed of something you said
or did, such as being disrespectful to a
parent or a teacher…
Conscience and Shame….
 If your shame prompted you to
apologize, or at least to do the person a
kindness to make up for the wrong, your
self-respect was restored.
 Feeling bad about yourself was a
necessary step toward feeling good
about yourself again.
Moral Choices
 Long before we were able to make
authentic (real) moral choices, heredity
and social conditioning had already
shaped our conscience.
 Children’s choices are not fully
conscious acts but mere assertions of
will that express their inherited traits or
imitation of others’ behavior.
Moral Choice
 A toddler’s obeying or defying their
parents’ directions is an example of such
choosing.
 Only in later childhood do we develop
the ability to weigh alternatives and
make reasoned choices.
Morals definition
 Morals are concerned with the judgment of the
goodness or badness of human action and
character.
 Teaching or exhibiting goodness or correctness
of character and behavior.
 Conforming to standards of what is right or just
in behavior; virtuous.
 Arising from conscience or the sense of right
and wrong.
Moral Standards
 In most times and places, people
acknowledge the existence of an
objective moral standard binding on all
people regardless of their personal
desires and preferences.
 There has not always been complete
agreement on what that standard was.
Moral Standards
 Over the past several decades, that
need has been called into question.
 It is fashionable today to believe that
decisions about right and wrong are
purely personal and subjective.
 This belief is known as moral relativism.
Moral Standards
 Moral Relativism:
 According to it, whatever anyone claims
to be morally acceptable is morally
acceptable, at least for that person.
 Supposedly, there is only one exception
to this rule: Judging other people’s
conduct is considered intolerant.
Moral Standards
 In the 1960’s moral relativists challenged the
traditional view that fornication and adultery
are immoral.
 “Only the individual can decide what sexual
behavior is right for him or her and the
individual’s decision should be respected.”
 Given the mood of the time and strength of the
sex drive, it was not surprising that many
people were disposed to accept this view.
Moral Standards
 Critics raised serious objections, of course.
 They argued that even the wisest among us
are capable of error and self deception,
especially where the emotions are involved.
 They predicted that the idea that everyone
creates his or her own sexual morality would
spill over into other areas of morality and
provide an excuse for everything from petty
pilfering, plagiarism, perjury, child molesting,
rape, spouse abuse, and murder.
Critics Raise Serious Objections
 More important for our purposes, critics of
relativism warned that “anything goes” thinking
would undermine the subject of ethics.
 “If morality is merely a matter of preference,
and no one view is better than any other,” --
“then there is no way to distinguish good from
evil or civilized behavior from uncivilized, and
any attempt at meaningful discussion of moral
issues is futile.”
Moral Standards
 Evidence that civility has declined and
human life has become cheapened can
be found any day in the news.
 Equally significant, many people are so
possessed by the “who can say?”
mentality that they find it difficult to pass
moral judgment even on the most
heinous deeds.
The Need for Ethics;
 Ethics is the study of choices people make
regarding right and wrong.
 Each of us make dozens of moral choices daily:
1. Go to school or to work or play sick.
2. Use someone else’s work as our own or study
and do your best.
3. Tell the truth or tell a lie.
4. Obey the speed limit or ignore it.
The Need for Ethics

1. Keep our marriage vows or break them.

2. Meet our children’s emotional need or
ignore them.
3. Pet the cat or kick it.
Why Do We Need Ethics
 Many people reason that we don’t need
ethics because of our system of laws,
when consistently enforced, provide
sufficient protection of our rights.
 In order to assess this idea we must
understand who makes laws and how
they make them.
Why Do We Need Ethics
 Who makes them: local, state, and
national legislators.
 How they are made is somewhat more
difficult. Legislators must get together to
talk about a particular behavior and then
vote on whether they want to criminalize it.
 On what basis do they conclude that one
act deserves to be classified criminal and
another one doesn’t?
Why Do We Need Ethics
 What kinds of reasons do they offer to support
their views?
 How can they be sure those reasons are good
ones?
 The fact that 2 or 10 or 500 legislators
expressed that personal view would not be
sufficient reason to conclude that a law should
be passed preventing other people from
committing the act.
Why Do We Need Ethics
 The only rational basis for a law against
sexual harassment is that the act is
wrong, and not just for those who think
so but for everyone.
 The proper focus for lawmakers is not on
their subjective preferences but on the
nature of the actions in question.
Why Do We Need Ethics
 Why do we need ethics if we have laws?
 Because law is not possible without
ethics.
 The only way for a law to be enacted or
repealed is for one or more people to
make a decision about right and wrong.
 Often laws must be revised.
 Ethics and Religious Belief
Somehow the idea has arisen that ethics
and religion are unrelated and
incompatible. When religious thinkers
discuss ethical issues in political policy,
they are thought to be exceeding their
reach and perhaps even committing an
offense against the principle of separation
of church and state.
 Science for Global Development
The focal theme of BVS 2012 is “Science for Global Development” where
scientific solutions to reduce the global poverty, inequality and various
other challenges of technology, energy, agriculture, health, water, bio-
diversity, environment etc. are planned to be discussed by the
researchers, thinkers, policy makers, students, farmers and artisans.
No doubt “peer-reviewed” research has been very successful in improving
the over-all quality of life. However, the fruits of this “success” have not
reached out to large parts of our globe where affordable innovative
technologies are needed to solve the problems of disease and hunger.
The example of “oral rehydration solutions” has proved that “grand-
mother’s recipes” need to be investigated scientifically so that
affordable and eco-friendly solutions based on “local products” can be
developed.
The endeavor would be to deliberate on how science and technology can be
better deployed for the well-being of larger national, as well as, global
community.
 Expectations from Education
Education should prepare the student for:
Understanding ‘what to do’ – What is valuable, as a human being
and
Learning ‘how to do’ – skills, technology
Are both required or we can do with just one of them?
Both are important
What would be the priority between these two?

The Priority is
1.Understanding ‘what to do’, then  Value Education
2.Learning ‘how to do’ and Doing  Technical Education
 Expectations from Education
It follows a process of self verification, on the basis of
one’s own Natural Acceptance, leading to self-empowerment
 
It does not teach values. It encourages students to discover what they consider valuable.
Accordingly, they should be able to discriminate between valuable and the
superficial in real situations in their life.

It facilitates discussion on:

Their life goals, reflection on what they are and what they want to be
Their relationships in family
Their relationships with society
Their relationships with nature/existence

It is not a process of assuming nor a process of do’s & don’ts

Today we will talk about
• Happiness
• Prosperity
• Wealth
• Difference between the two.
• Few recommendations
Happiness
 Happiness a subjective feeling of
contentment or joy.
 Happiness may be considered to be more of
a psychological state, having to do with mood
and temperament. Consequently, it may not
be correlated with external events.
Prosperity
 Prosperity creates comfort, security and
sometimes recognition; but, again, there may be
a certain price to prosperity that inhibits
flourishing or diminishes happiness.
 If one aims at prosperity and success, then one
looks to the extrinsic rewards of the practice,
rather than any intrinsic rewards the practice or
mastery of the practice might have.
 WEALTH

“Wealth is a physical
thing. It means having
money or having a lot of
physical facilities or both”
LETS ASK OURSELVES
“WHAT IS NATURALLY
ACCEPTABLE TO ME “

Accumulate more & more wealth while feelings

deprives or

Having requisite wealth & feelings prosperous

“OUR BASIC DESIRE IS TO
FEEL PROSPEROUS AND
WEALTH IS MEAN TO END
THIS “
Wealth in comparison
“Besides physical facilities , we want relationships”

We want to have mutually fulfilling relationships ( you can verify

for yourself ) if there is any problem in relationship we feel
uneasy it bothers us .

In the need for physical facilities & relationship we look for

Mutual trust
Mutual Understanding
Equality
Feelings etc
The both aspects make a person
committed to following
• Integrity. We will conduct ourselves with integrity in
our dealings with and on behalf of the University.
• Excellence. We will conscientiously strive for
excellence in our work.
• Accountability. We will be accountable as
individuals and as members of this community for our
ethical conduct and for compliance with applicable
laws and University policies and directives.
• Respect. We will respect the rights and dignity of
others.
Role of Education to enable Transformation
Human
1 Consciousness
RIGHT
UNDERSTANDING
(in the self)

2 3

RELATIONS PHYSICAL
(with human beings) FACILITY
(with rest of nature)

MUTUAL HAPPINESS MUTUAL PROSPERITY

 Process of Self-exploration
Verify
on the basis
Proposal Experiential Validation
Live according to it
Of
your
Natural
Acceptance Behaviour with Work with
Human Beings the rest of Nature

Mutual Happiness Mutual Prosperity

Realization

Understanding
Do not accept it just because it is – written in some book
– a reading from some instrument
– stated by some person
 IF
 If you can keep your head when all about you
are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
 If you can trust yourself when all men doubt
you, but make allowance for their doubting
too;
 If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, or
being lied about, don’t deal in lies, or being
hated, don’t give way to hating, and yet don’t
look too good, nor talk too wise;
 IF

 If you can think - and not make thoughts your

aim;
 If you can meet with triumph and disaster
and treat those two imposters just the same;
 If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve
spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for
fools, or watch the things you gave your life
to broken, and stoop and build ‘em up with
worn out tools;
 IF

 If you can make one heap of all your

winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch-
and-toss, and lose, and start again at
your beginnings and never breath a word
about your loss;
 If you can force your heart and nerve and
sinew to serve your turn long after they are
gone, and so hold on when there is nothing
in you except the Will which says to them:
“Hold on”;
 IF

 If you can talk with crowds and keep your

virtue, or walk with kings - nor lose the
common touch;
 If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
 If all men count with you, but none too much;
 If you can dream - and not make dreams
your master;
Questions & Answers