What Ethics is not | UPSC Mains: Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude PDF Download

Ethics is not morality

Morality refers to an individual’s (or a family, organization, or society’s) personal standards for determining what is right and wrong, while ethics deals with universally accepted standards of human behavior.

Features of morality

• Individual-oriented: Morality depends on an individual's upbringing, conscience, and psychological factors.
• Varies: It differs from person to person and society to society (e.g., your values versus someone else's values, or Indian values versus Western values).
• Dynamic: Morality changes over time, location, and with the individual’s evolving awareness (e.g., the changing views of rural women regarding the practice of wearing the ghunghat).

Relation between ethics and morality 

Why one should be moral

• Every person has an innate desire to be good, happy, or achieve the highest good (Summum Bonum), and morality can guide them in attaining this ideal.
• As rational beings, humans are aware of logical and fundamental principles that can assist in reaching their highest good.
• Morality helps prevent discomfort, remorse, depression, anxiety, dissonance, and the negative consequences of social disapproval, boycotts, or sanctions.

Ethics are not values

• Values are behavioral standards that can differ from person to person, whereas ethics is based on universally accepted standards of human conduct.
• While ethics is rooted in values, not every value is ethical. For example, following caste-based rules may be a personal value, but it is not considered ethical.

Ethics is not social norms

Social norms are derived from the customs and traditions of a specific society, making them not universal. However, some social norms, such as respecting elders, can also be ethical.

Ethics is not religion

• Religion is based on faith, which limits the scope for reasoning, and it is specific to particular communities, lacking universality. In contrast, ethics is grounded in reason and is universal.
• However, religion precedes ethics, so many of the principles of ethics are derived from religion itself.

Ethics is not the law

The law is specific to a society, whereas ethics is universal.

Relation between Law and Ethics

• Typically, law and ethics align, but when a conflict arises, individuals may have different preferences.
• For example, a civil servant should prioritize following the law, as this is their primary responsibility. Additionally, adhering to the law provides legal protection in case of unforeseen circumstances.
• On the other hand, a social reformer or leader should prioritize ethics over the law, as it is important for leaders to challenge existing laws, systems, traditions, and norms.