Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude

Paper-4

-Ribhu Vashishtha

Topic 1: Introduction to Ethics

What is Ethics?• Ethics means character, norms, morals & ideals prevailing in a

group, society.

• May be referred to as some standardised form of conduct/behaviour of individuals understood & accepted in a particular field of activity or a mass of moral values about what conduct ought to be.

• They give an idea of what is right or wrong, true or false, fair or unfair, just or unjust, proper or improper, e.g. honesty, obedience, equality, fairness, etc. & respect and then doing the right thing.

Why UPSC introduced Ethics as a separate paper and that too with equal weightage as other G.S. papers?

Ethics v/s Morality

Ethics is the study:

How?Why?JustificationRationale

• Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are "good" (or right) and those that are "bad" (or wrong).

• Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of conduct from a particular philosophy, religion, culture, etc., or it can derive from a standard that a person believes should be universal.

• Morality may also be specifically synonymous with "goodness" or "rightness."

Ethics v/s Morality

Ethics is the study of Morality.

Somethings are right. and

Somethings are bad.

Ethics v/s Morality

Examples:

• Sati• Untouchability• Child Marriage

All these practices were considered moral according to their times until someone stood up and questioned their logic.

Morals and Values• Morals are societal teachings.

• Moral is a system of beliefs that is taught for deciding good or bad.

Eg: Views on murder, stealing and supporting the government. Each of these is seen as being right or wrong by society in general.

• Values are likes and dislikes of an individual.

• Values are personal beliefs or something that comes from within.

Eg: Ram likes to help others in need, that is his value.

Morals and Values1. Morals are generally taught by the society to the individual whereas

values come from within.

2. Morals act as a motivation for leading a good life while values can be called as an intuition.

3. Morals are related to ones religion, business or politics whereas values are personal fundamental beliefs or principles.

4. Morals are deep seated whereas values keep on changing with time and needs.

Ethical v/s Legal

• Any activity or practice which is legal may not necessarily be ethical.

• What may be right according to the law, can be wrong according to an individual’s personal beliefs or society’s collective ideals.

Ethical v/s Legal

Examples:

1. Large scale killing of Jews by Hitler’s government was legal in Germany at that time.

2. Saudi Arabian government’s ban on women driving.

Ethics v/s Religion

Both of them don’t necessarily match always.

Examples:• Large scale slaughter of animals for sacrifices in

India in the pre-Vedic age.• Church’s intolerance for birth control measures.

Aptitude & foundational values of Civil Services

Aptitude: Skill for a particular job.

1. Communication Skills2. Negotiation Skills3. Conflict-resolution skills4. Leadership5. Team building6. Crisis Management

Thank You.