what is the place of ethics in the life of the contemporary man?

Question

please, i need the answers fast.... it's for my paper in ethics..... thanks....

Answer 1

Ethics is necessary to contemporary man in most walks of life. Any social activity in which it is possible to harm another person in some way has rules of behavior which have the purpose of limiting pain and suffering within the community. Each profession has its own special set of rules detailing how such a professional should behave as he carries on with his work. These rules and behaviors are grouped together under the term ethics.

Ethics are in many cases dependent upon the particular people involved. For example, what is ethical between a husband and wife, might not be ethical between the wife and her doctor or between the husband and his son's school teacher.

There are innumerable degrees of ethical behavior. In some cases the behaviors are deemed so important that the society has made them into laws, such as laws against murder.

The more complicated a society, the more complicated are its laws and ethics.

Answer 2

What is Ethics?

It is the discipline that examines one’s moral standards (an individual’s, a group’s or an entire organization’s) with the moral standards of the society.

Asks how standards apply to lives or their existence and checks whether standards are rational or irrational

Individual level-why important?

Learns and absorbs from the family, places of worship, friends, colleagues etc., Issues-due to conflicts of interests.

Hence ethics intends to develop a body of moral standards which we feel are reasonable to hold justified for acceptance and application in all areas of our lives.

Ethics at individual level: Universally accepted moral principles are;

1.Integrity
2.Honesty
3.Sincerity
4.Truthfulness
5.Transparency
6.Generosity
7.Co-operation
8.Empathy

Righteousness at the individual level:

Four objectives of life
(Source: Purushartha)

Dharma (righteousness)
Karma (Duty)
Kama(Desire)
Moksha(Spiritual Gratification)

Lord Nolan’s 7 principles of public life are:

Selflessness-in all actions, should serve the interest of the organization and society.

Integrity-should not place themselves under financial obligations to outsiders who might influence their duties.

Objectivity-merit over other criteria (in all areas and functions)

Accountability-should submit themselves to appropriate scrutiny.

Openness-should be able to give reasons for their decisions

Honesty-should declare conflicts of interest.

Leadership-should support these principles by personal example

Ethical theories

Four Broad types:

Teleological Ethics Theories
Deontological Ethics Theories
Virtue Ethics Theories
System Development Ethics Theories

A.Teleological Ethics Theories

“Concept of goodness over and above the concepts and rightness and obligation or duty or the concepts of rightness and obligation are defined in terms of goodness.”

Utilitarianism- takes its cue from teleological theories and hence according to utilitarianism, our obligation or duty, in any situation, is to perform the action that will result in the greatest possible balance of good or evil.

Ethical Theory of Kant

Immanual Kant tried to restore reasoning into
the moral life. He argued that there are
certain things that we ought to do and others
that we ought not to do just because we are
rational. Hence moral obligations has
nothing to do with consequences or end
results but arises solely from a moral law that
is binding on all rational beings.

B.Deontological Ethics Theories.

a.‘Rights’Theories/The concept of a ‘Right’

Kinds of Rights
Legal and Moral rights( Eg.)
Specific and general rights-Some rights are specific because they involve identifiable entities (individuals, organizations etc.,)

Eg.A Contract.
General-Apply to everyone-Eg.Right of sppech

Negative and positive rights – Negative rights are correlated with obligations on the part of others to refrain from acting in certain ways that interfere with our freedom of action.
Eg. Trespassing into your property.

b. Social Contract Theories

An action is right if it conforms to the terms
agreed upon, conditions or rules for social well-being, negotiated by competent parties.
Eg: The unemployment wages code specify normative guidelines arrived at by consensus

c. Social Justice Theories

An action is right if it promotes the duty of fairness in the distributive, retributive and compensatory dimensions of social benefits and burdens

Eg: Injury of non-smokers with secondhand smoke at workplace.

Distributive Dimension -distribution of the health risk burden

Retributive Dimension -imposition of fines/penalties/punishments on responsible parties

Compensatory dimension -compensation to the injured parties

C. Virtue Ethics theories

Habitual development of sound character traits determines the ethical value of persons. For the virtue ethicist, building character is what life is all about

Character-the pattern of intentions, inclinations and virtues that make a person/organization act ethically

Will find persons with strong and weak characters

Persons with strong character-possesses a consciously cultivated ,intellectual, moral,emotional & social virtues to achieve self-discipline to do the right thing.

Persons with weak character-do wrong things or what is truly harmful to them & make excuses for their irresponsible choices in life.

D. System Development Ethics Theories

According to these, the nature and extent of the supportive framework for continuous improvement of ethical conduct determines the ethical values of actions.

Eg: Managers create a culture supportive of ethical conduct & implement systems towards achieving this (like Jack Welch & Narayana Murthy)
Syst. Devpt. May target:

Personal improvement ethics
Organizational ethics
Extra-organizational ethics

Personal Improvement – by promoting personal responsibility for continuous learning, moral excellence directed at co’s goals.

Org.Ethics-by promoting formal & informal processes like systemic justice, caring,innovation in ethical work cultures etc.(Eg: GE & Infosys)

Extra-Org.Ethics- by promoting collaborative partnerships ,diversity,,social resp. like ecological concerns, social & philanthropical concerns etc(Eg Infosys Foundation,GE etc)

The Mirror Test:

”Can you look in the mirror everyday and feel proud of what you are doing?”

People who cheat are not doing it for competitive reasons. ”Excellence & competitiveness are totally compatible with honesty & integrity.---People who cheat are weak”