Ethics and its Scope | UPSC Mains: Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude PDF Download

Meaning of Ethics

• Ethics refers to a set of standards established by society to guide people's decisions, actions, and behavior.
• Ethics can also be described as the organized examination of human actions in terms of their rightness or wrongness, aimed at achieving the highest good.
• Ethics can further be defined as the thoughtful study of what is considered good or bad in aspects of human behavior for which individuals hold responsibility.

Scope of Ethics

• Ethics is concerned with human actions, which are deliberate and involve knowledge, free will, and willingness, such as reading, running, and smoking. However, not all actions of humans are deliberate, like sneezing, yawning, or belching.
• The scope of ethics includes defining moral ideals and is focused on establishing standards for human conduct. Ethics does not examine the origin or development of conduct but aims to establish the ideal conduct to which human behavior should conform. To define the ideal, ethics must understand the nature of conduct, which is an expression of character. Character is shaped by habitual actions, forming the permanent disposition of an individual.
• Ethics is often described as the science of character, but to understand character, it must examine the origins of actions, including motives, intentions, voluntary and non-voluntary actions. Therefore, ethics must be based on psychological principles.
• The core issue of ethics is determining the nature of the moral ideal, which guides moral judgments.
• Ethics addresses questions such as:
  • What is the good or moral ideal?
  • What is the summum bonum, or the highest good? Although ethics explores the nature of moral ideals, it does not provide specific rules for achieving these ideals.
• When an action aligns with the moral ideal, it is considered right; when it does not, it is deemed wrong. Right actions are considered duties, and the end goal of moral laws is defined as good. There is a hierarchy of goals, distinguishing between relative and absolute goods. Ethics focuses on the highest or absolute good.
• The fundamental concepts in ethics are right, duty, and good, all of which it seeks to explore. Ethics concerns itself with the nature, object, and standards of moral judgments.
• Moral judgments are accompanied by feelings such as approval, disapproval, and remorse. Ethics must explore the nature of these moral sentiments and their relationship to moral judgments. Moral judgments also involve a sense of duty or moral obligation. When we perceive an act as right, we feel morally obligated to perform it; when we perceive it as wrong, we feel morally obligated not to do it. Ethics must account for this sense of moral obligation.
• Questions regarding moral obligation include:
  • What is the nature of moral obligation?
  • What is the origin of moral obligation?
  • What is the source of moral obligation?
  • To whom are we responsible for our actions?
• Our right actions carry merit, while wrong actions carry demerit. Ethics examines the criteria for merit and demerit, investigating what makes an action meritorious. Merit and demerit are known as deserts, which ethics explores.
• Ethics assumes free will and discusses the nature of human freedom. We are held accountable for our actions.
• Ethics explores the nature of responsibility. For example, criminals are responsible for their crimes and should be punished. Ethics provides moral justification for punishment.
• Ethics determines the nature of rights, duties, and virtues according to the ultimate moral standard. It also addresses virtue and vice.
• While ethics has its own domain, it is not completely separate from other fields of study. It is indirectly related to psychological, philosophical, sociological, and political issues.
• The psychological aspects of ethics include examining voluntary actions, the classification of the motives behind actions, and the relationship between desire and pleasure.
• Philosophical issues that ethics addresses include understanding the nature of human personality, the freedom of the will, the immortality of the soul, the existence of God, and the moral governance of the universe.
• Sociological concerns in ethics include the relationship between the individual and the state, the ethical foundation of the state, and international morality.
• The concepts of rightness and wrongness are derived from these philosophical, psychological, and sociological investigations. This forms the theoretical aim of ethics. While ethics is not a practical science, it derives concrete duties and virtues from the moral ideal that guide human conduct.
• Ethics is a theoretical science that studies morality, turning moral faith into rational insight. It critiques common perceptions of right and wrong and uncovers the rational and essential elements within them. Like other sciences, ethics critiques popular ideas of morality, exposing flaws and inconsistencies in social customs, political and religious institutions, and providing a real understanding of the moral ideal.
• As a result of exposing errors and misunderstandings of morality, some incorrect notions of right and wrong, moral authority, and sanctions are discarded. This reduction of incorrect ideas lowers the likelihood of immoral actions. Ethics scrutinizes and cleanses popular morality, strengthening the valid and essential aspects of morality.
• Through reflective criticism, ethics prepares for its constructive role, distinguishing between essential and non-essential elements, permanent and transient aspects, and the spirit versus the form of moral and social institutions. It helps rationalize our notions of right and wrong. Understanding duties through ethical insight makes their practice possible. Theory influences practice.
• Theoretical ethics forms the solid foundation for practical or applied ethics. Concrete duties in life should be defined in relation to the moral ideal. Knowledge is essential for virtue. Ethics indirectly influences all areas of practical life, as solutions to critical issues in religion, politics, economics, law, and education depend on accurate notions of right and wrong.
• Ethics forms the foundation of religion. Without morality, religion devolves into superstition, belief in blind powers, and practices like black magic.
• Ethics should guide politics. Laws should be based on what is morally right, and immoral laws should be repealed. Laws should be made to promote the moral well-being of society.
• Economics should be rooted in ethics. The production, distribution, and consumption of wealth should be based on principles of justice and equity.
• In education, ethics determines which impulses and traits in children should be encouraged and which should be suppressed.
• Ethics should influence all aspects of human actions, evaluating and guiding them to elevate humanity to a higher moral level.