What is Ethics?

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Hello friends,
I am Santosh Ajmera. I work with Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and I am also an author of the book ‘Ethics Integrity and Aptitude’ published by McGraw Hill Publication. 
Today we are going to learn about Ethics, and will try to define ethics itself.
The term ‘ethics’ is derived from the Greek word ethos which means custom, habit, character or disposition. 
Before knowing ethics, as we all know, humans are the only animals who are capable of controlling their own behaviour. Humans can differentiate between right and wrong actions. Humans place different values on their ideas and their actions. 
It is this choice of right or wrong actions, and the consequences thereupon, that leads to the study of ethics.
Ethics influence the way people make decisions which impact their lives. 
Ethics has been studied since Plato’s concept of ‘Philosopher king’, onwards, though, couched with different terms, over the period of time.

It is a general presumption, that if we follow, religion, or law or conscience or common beliefs then we are doing right thing and we can say we are following, ethics. But the is not correct. In order to to clearly understand, what ethics is, we need to know what ethics is not.
• Ethics are not the same as feelings
• Ethics do not necessarily follow culturally accepted norms
• Ethics do not refer to any religion
• Ethics are not science
• Ethics do not necessarily follow the law of the land

We will try to understand these concepts one by one. 
• Ethics are not the same as feelings: It is presumed that, what we feel is right. This is not necessarily correct. Feelings provide important information for our ethical choices. Some people feel good even when they do something wrong. If the thing is hard to do, we generally feel bad to do it. Therefore, ethics are not same as our feelings.
• Ethics do not necessarily follow culturally accepted norms
If we follow culturally accepted norms, doesn’t mean that we are doing good. The best example of this is, the prevalent caste system in the society or earlier practices of ‘Sati’ and ‘child marriage’. These practices were often followed in Indian society, which were challenged by our social reformers then. They were ethical, when they objected to these culturally accepted norms and practices, rather than following them. 
• Ethics do not refer to any religion: Different religions give different teachings, and they have been interpreted differently by religious groups. What is right for one religion may not be right, for the other. Most religions do advocate high ethical standards but, at times, do not address all the types of problems we face.

•  Ethics are not science
What is scientific need not be always ethical. What is supported by facts and data, need not be always ethical. Just because something is scientifically or technologically possible, it is not always ethical to do so. Social and natural science can provide important data to help us make better ethical choices. But they don’t say if we follow them then we are right.

•  Ethics do not necessarily follow the law of the land
A good legal system does incorporate many ethical standards, but law can deviate from what is ethical. Law can become ethically corrupt, as manifested in some totalitarian regimes. Many a time, law can be a function of power—designed to serve the interests of a small specific group.  The best example of this, was the legal framework designed by Britishers, during early 20th century, which were contrary to the benefits of Indians. Therefore, they were though law of the land then, but were unethical, as were serving the interests of selected group of people only.
Ethics therefore refer to two factors, 
• Ethics refer to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. 
• Second is, Ethics refer to the study and development of one’s ethical standards.

Since ethics is applied to human action, defining what is right and wrong, Ethics and ethical theories are divided into two types based on human actions and their consequences. 
The ethical theories based on human actions are, objective, realist and therefore called deontological approach to ethics.
Another set of ethical theories based on consequence of human actions. The consequence is generally not known, and therefore need to be interpreted, is subjective and therefore is called as Teleological approach to ethics.

Thus we can say, the study of ethics is the choice of right or wrong actions, and their consequences.

We will study more about ethics and related topic in our subsequent lectures. 
Thank you.

YouTube url:	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoaktsjwUj8&ab_channel=EthicsIntegrity%26Aptitude
Created:	30. 1. 2022 15:25:53

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What is Ethics?