Some important theories and principles:
1. Plato and Aristotle
Asked explicitly what the good life is for and began with the notion that humans are social beings whose good is only fulfilled in community.
Their work focuses on problems of public virtue, right relationships, and good leadership.
2. Justice
One of the most important virtues discussed by Aristotle. For Aristotle, justice is both procedural – concerned with fairness in decision-making and other social processes – and substantive – concerned with the proper distribution of actual goods.
3. Immanuel Kant
The father of deontological ethics defines good practices as those that identify and follow the correct rules or uphold correct duties.
For deontological ethics, the likely consequences of actions do not matter in moral decision-making and the actual consequences do not affect evaluations of the moral worth of an action.
Rather, ethical judgments are based on the moral actor’s intentions and adherence to duties or rules.
Kant articulated his ethical thesis in the form of several “categorical imperatives,” moral statements that are objectively and universally true because of their intrinsic qualities (rather than because of their source or consequences).
The most famous articulation of Kant’s categorical imperative is to “Always act according to that maxim whose universality as a law you can at the same time will.” Means an ethical action must be able to be made universal: if it is not good for all people to act in this way, it is not good for a single actor to act in this way.
4. Theories about rights
Kant’s deontological model has strongly shaped theories about rights, one of the most important concepts in modern political and social ethics.
Kant argues that persons have intrinsic value that is independent of their instrumental use to others. He asserts that simply by virtue of being human, persons have rights to such things as freedom from torture or access to clean water, for example.
5. Teleological ethics
The other major model in Western philosophical ethics is consequentialist or teleological ethics.
In consequentialist or teleological ethical systems, decisions about what to do and subsequent
evaluations of the morality of an action are based on the expected or actual consequences of a
behavior.
6. Utilitarianism
Most prominent consequentialist model is Utilitarianism, first articulated by English
philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
They gave “greatest happiness principle” which focus on good is happiness and the ultimate goal
of ethics should be to create the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Mill divided pleasure into two parts: higher pleasures (intellectual) and lower pleasures (sensual). He
believed that higher pleasures should be what are ultimately promoted over the lower pleasures.
This led to Mill’s effort to instill a moral education in the public sphere that would teach people how
to value and promote the higher pleasures or good in society.
7. Pragmatism
Other tradition pragmatism, a school of philosophical ethics that originated with the work of
American philosophers Peirce, James and Dewey.
Pragmatists assert that knowledge and meaning emerge from practical experience and that, in regards
to ethics, value must be judged by practical consequences rather than intentions or relations to abstract
goods
For many social and environmental ethicists and thus for people concerned with sustainability,
pragmatism is appealing because it represents an effort to achieve concrete, positive results without
the need to find consensus about abstract philosophical issues in advance.
“While both pragmatism and Utilitarianism emphasize practical consequences as the measure of moral
worth, they differ in their understanding of what defines the good and how people can know it”.
8. Social ethics
A sub-field in ethics that is primarily concerned with the ethical foundations, dimensions, and
consequences of collective decisions, attitudes, and actions.
It is social both because it looks primarily at decisions and actions that are collective rather than
individual and personal and because it is concerned with goods that are collectively defined and
achieved.
Some analyses can be conducted on a wide range of contemporary issues:
How should the traditional just war requirement to minimize civilian casualties be modified in light
of new weapons technologies that make it impossible, often, to avoid civilian deaths? Who will benefit and who will be harmed by agricultural innovations such as genetically modified
crops or new pesticides?
What moral duties does a society have in relation to new immigrant groups, and vice-versa?
“The examples are endless, and the important point is that social ethics raises and answers distinctive
questions about distinctive concerns, sources, and criteria”.
9. Individual ethics
In contrast, personal or individualistic ethical systems may be concerned with actions that do not
directly affect larger groups of people, such as personal choices about sexual identity or behavior.
“Certainly even the most apparently personal of decisions have larger implications, if only for the
people close to the individual concerned. Further, even intensely personal moral decisions are made
in a larger social context and on the basis of values and attitudes that are the result of social learning,
social experiences, and social relations. Thus the line between personal and social ethics is never
hard and fast”.
10. Economic ethics
sub field of social ethics. Economic ethics may look at specific business practices or industries or at
broader issues such as the moral values, implicit or explicit, that under-gird economic policies and
practices.
When considering the ethical dimensions of economic systems, institutions, and decisions, a number
of significant questions related to sustainability must be taken into account.
Economic and social goals are intertwined. Decisions about economic processes and institutions
inevitably favor one social good or another, which can ultimately favor one social class over another.
11. Stewardship ethics
It begins with the premise that God has created the natural world for the benefit of all people.
Humans are not the owners of this world, but rather are caretakers who have both special
responsibilities and some special privileges with regard to created goods.
Stewardship is intended as both a social ethic, to ensure that all people have their just share of created
goods, and an environmental ethic that helps to preserve God’s creation.
12. When in Rome do as Romans do (CER)
Sometimes we say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” implying that this sort of acting is morally
correct. We can call views of this sort Cultural Ethical Relativism (CER).
According to views of this sort, moral appraisals are essentially dependent upon the standards that
define a particular moral code, the practices and norms accepted by a social group at a specific place
and time.It implies, among other things, that:
Right means socially approved by a give culture or society.
We should choose moral principles by following what society approves.
One can support this because:
Morality is a product of culture and nothing which is such a product can be objective or
universal.
It is simply good when we have a variety of cultures
One can be against this because:
It is hard to define a culture. Without such definition, we do not know what CER implies.
Sometimes an action takes place within more than one society. In such a case, would an act be
right or wrong or neither or what?
If it is true, then moral decisions are either too easy or too difficult.
If it is true, then moral progress or reform is impossible.
“Thus, Ethical Relativism holds that each situation must be judged according to its own merits, and that
universal standards cannot be applied to judge the morality of a decision. A relativist believes in ‘when
in Rome do as the Romans do”.
13. Philosophical Systems
A philosophical system is a consistent set of values and criteria that apply to a wide variety of issues.
Some are:
Idealism
Realism
Pragmatism
Existentialism
14. Knower-doer split by dayanand saraswati
When we ignore general ethical standards we create knower-doer split in our self.
For instance, when one person lies, he/she become a speaker. At the same time, he/she knows what
he/she is saying. He/she is aware that what he/she is saying is something contradictory to truth.
Therefore, as the knower, he/she is in one position and as the doer, he/she is in another position. By
speaking lie, he/she creates a split, a division, between the knower and the doer.
It creates a conflict within a personality. This is harmful. The knower condemns the doer. So, in this
situation one cannot enjoy anything and the quality of life suffers.
“Our outer behavior reflects how far we abide by this inner value-system. The more our conduct is in
consonance with the inner values, the better composed and integrated our personality is”.Ethics in Public life:
Public life is that vast collection of political, cultural, social and economic structures, including the
workplace, which make up and underpin cohesive societies. People who are engaged in leadership
positions in those organisations and who actually influence the lives of others are to varying degrees
engaged in public life.
“Ethics in public life have to be grounded in ethics in private life”.
An ethical life is one where the person engages actively and rigorously with hard choices, accepts that
words and actions have consequences and makes those choices in that considered light. Such choices, as
we are all painfully aware, are not just between right and wrong. They can be between two alternatives
neither of which is good or desirable or right, both of which may have some bad or undesirable
consequences.
“Ethics involves the attempt—always striving, perhaps never arriving—to give to you a coherent
framework, embedded in decency and integrity, within which to make such choices”.
One should always start with the principle that we treat people as an end in themselves and not as a means
to an end.
This reasoning informs the obligation to be open and honest with people about where they stand in the
organization and how they are progressing.
Decent behavior is also important in how people are developed, promoted, counseled and in some cases
dismissed. How one treats people on the termination of their employment is very often the ultimate test
of one’s ethical commitment to an employee.
Ethics in private sector:
1. As the economy has become increasingly “global,” there should be some level of control over
different industries with ethics standards to assess violations of labor codes and environmental
standards.
2. The ethical violations involve but are not limited to issues concerning child labor, employee
harassment and abuse, and solutions consisting of nondiscrimination laws, freedom of association,
collective bargaining agreements, health and safety standards, and adequate wages and hours of work.
3. Private sector ethics standards are created to respond to that consumer-based need. To do this, the
private sector develops a list of obligations to adhere to human rights standards, and the beginning of
what would become Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement.
4. To protect the company reputation companies are beginning to reassure their customers by adopting
codes of ethics and codes of conduct, by establishing internal monitoring mechanisms and by
allowing independent auditors to investigate and report whether these companies manage to meet the
ethical standards that they set for themselves.5. Codes of conduct and monitoring systems are intended to perform both an internal and an external
function. Ethical reforms are enacted to improve the ethical standards of firms (internal function),
but these reforms are enacted to address the ethical concerns of the market (external function).
Creating a culture of Ethics in Public sector:
1. Creating a culture of ethics in an organization can best be accomplished with the adoption of a
values-based code of ethics.
2. Ethics codes cannot serve as a “flu shot” to prevent a problem, nor can the codes be used as an
“antibiotic” to cure an ethics problem.
3. Once established, the code must apply to everyone including elected and appointed officials,
professional staff, and commissioners, as well as volunteers, vendors, and contractors.
4. There are five keys to building an ethical organization:
Leadership
Commitment
Collaboration
Implementation
Reflection and Renewal: Ongoing assessment includes annual re-adoption of the code and
exploration of ways to communicate to new employees, vendors, residents, and members of the
media.
How to promote organizational ethical culture?
1. Organizations should use their ethics and compliance programs to foster a culture committed to
ethics throughout the organization.
2. Organizations should focus training not only on informing employees about compliance with
regulations, but also on encouraging employees to behave in a way that is conducive to a strong
ethical culture
3. By identifying which Ethics related actions have a greater impact, organizations can better target
training
4. Organization can encourage leadership to set a good example
5. Providing information about what is going on
6. Employees perceive that top managers are held accountable for ethics violations
Human ValuesValues’ Meaning:
‘Value’ comes from the Latin word ‘valere’, which means to be of worth, to be strong, something
that has a price, something precious, dear etc.
In other words, values are a set of rules or regulations of behaviour.
Values are standards, rules, criteria, attitudes, guidelines, desirable ideas/beliefs and important things,
which play a crucial role in shaping the life of individuals.
In the words of Dewey, “the value means primarily to price, to esteem, to appraise and to estimate”.
According to Milton Rockeach, “a value is an enduring belief – a specific mode of conduct or end
state of existence that is personally or socially preferable”.
Values’ importance:
Thus values give meaning and strength to a person’s character by occupying a central place in his
life.
Values reflect one’s personal attitudes and judgements, decisions and choices behaviour and
relationships, dreams and vision.
They influence our thoughts, feelings and actions. They guide us to do the right things.
Values give direction and firmness to life. They identify a person, giving him a name, a face and a
character.
Einstein remarked once: “try not to become a man of success but try to become a man of values”.
Lack of values:
1. Seven deadly sins given by Gandhi:
Gandhi stated several times that the following seven deadly sins are committed by an individual.
They are wealth without work, pleasure without consciousness; knowledge without consciousness;
commerce without morality; science without humanity; religion without sacrifice; and politics
without principles; each of these perversions reflects lack of values.
2. “I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind is brought upon them by false estimates
they have made of the value of things”. ---Benjamin Franklin
3. Imbalance between ancient values and explosion of knowledge in war field technology has led to
atomic weapons, bio-weapon, explosives, missiles etc., are threatening the whole mankind. Today
the entire mankind is living in the shade of fear. Man’s very expense is at stake as he is indulging in
wicked activities.
Values evolve and differ between societies?
Values may differ from one society to the other. This is because values are those standards or codes of conduct, which are conditioned by one’s
cultural tenants, guided by conscience, according to which one is supposed to conduct himself and
shape his life pattern by integrating his beliefs, ideas and attitudes with a view to realize the cherished
ideals and aims or life.
Values are not static; they may be changing according to the changes in the society but always they
deal with the welfare of humanity.
Even in this dynamic society, values and standard do not change quickly and some of them, at any
rate, have an abiding significance.
The whole socio- political setting and physical environment in which they have to be worked out are
in a state of constant transition and consequently, they have to be interrupted in the light of new
condition
Classification of Values:
1. Personal Values: The principles and ideologies that a person follows in personal life.
2. Universal Values: Principles that all people across the planet are expected to adhere.
3. Human Values: Principles and ideologies that is basic to human nature to make their life smooth and
happy.
4. Religious Values: Persons believe in a particular thought which is a guide for reasoning between
good and bad.
5. Civic Values: Principles, which guide in the dos and don’ts of the citizens.
6. Moral Values: Principles and directives, which enables us to follow the correct and right path.
7. Spiritual Values: Principles, which gives directives to follow a faith in some philosophical thoughts.
8. National Values: Principles, which encourage a person to imbibe the feelings of patriotism and
national integration.
9. Social Values: Principles and ideologies, which encourage us to live together.
10. Scientific values: Principles and directives which force us to test, analyze, verify inquire etc.
Value education meaning: Value education means inculcating a sense of humanism, a deep concern for the well-being of others
and the nation among the children.
Value education means a positive effort for bringing about a synthesis of physical, intellectual,
emotional, aesthetic, moral and spiritual values in a human being.
“At present, our education system is largely involved in educating the heads and hands and not the
hearts.
Lack of value education has been an important factor in the global scenario of growing violence and
terrorism, pollution and ecological imbalances”.
“Education and values are inseparable. They are two sides of the same coin”.
Value education importance:
Through value education we like to develop the social, moral, aesthetic and spiritual sides of a person
which are often undermined in formal education.
Value education teaches us to preserve whatever is good and worthwhile in what was inherited from
our culture.
It helps us to accept respect, attitude and behaviour of those who differ from us.
Value education does not mean value imposition or indoctrination.
“Value education has the capacity to transform a diseased mind into a very young, fresh, innocent,
healthy natural and attentive mind. The transformed mind is capable of higher sensitivity and heightened
level of perception”.
Value education developments: According to Gandhi, real education does not consist in packing the brain with information facts and
figures, or in passing examinations by reading the prescribed number of books, but by developing the
right character.
Gandhi said, “Unless the development of mind and body goes hand in hand with a corresponding
awakening of the soul, the former alone would prove to be a poor lopsided affair. By spiritual training,
I mean education of the heart”. Thus, the true meaning of education is harmonious development of
head, heart and hand.
The Education Commission and the National Policy on Education stressed the importance of value
oriented education in our country.
The Ramamurthy Committee recommended that the imparting of value education should be an
integral part of the entire educational process.
“In the present times of unprecedented changes dislocating traditional values and creating conflict
between traditional and new values there is a universal concern in respect of erosion of values,
promoting values and culture which fit in with the needs of the modern times”.
“Increase of one’s needs and desires and the efforts to fulfill them all has become the philosophy of life
and education in the modern world”.
M.M.Prahallada explained the role of moral values in education. To quote him,
“Indian Culture is rooted deeply in her spiritual values and unless these values find their way into the
life of students, education will lose its significance and will not fulfill its function of endowing students
with a vision to life and by and with ideals to work for”.
Programme of Action NPE (1992) emphasized value education as an integral part of school
curriculum. It highlighted the values drawn from national goals, universal perception, ethical
considerations and character building.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan said: The three things – vital dynamism, intellectual efficiency and
spiritual direction together constitute the proper aim of education. Moral and spiritual training is an
essential part of education. What we need today is the education of the whole man – physical, mental,
intellectual and spiritual.
Swami Vivekananda had proclaimed: “We must have life building, man making, and character
building education”. Sri Shankar Dayal Sharma said, “The aim and objective of all education is to maintain, sustain and
develop a healthy mind in a healthy body. Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities have as much
place in our system as the curriculum and the syllabus.
Jawaharlal Nehru rightly said – “A vast responsibility rests on our universities and to keep their
lights burning and must not stray from the right path even when passion convulses the multitude and
blinds many amongst those whose duty is to set an example to others”.
Rabindranath Tagore states – “Education must aim at the development of moral, spiritual and
ethical values and we should seek them in our own heritage as well as in other cultures and
civilizations
Winston Churchill: “The first duty of the university is to teach wisdom, not trade; character, not
technicalities”.
Role of educational institutions in inculcating values:
Role of school in value orientation:
Sutherland stresses that schools are to be concerned not simply with progress in thinking about
morality but with associating moral judgment with moral behaviors.
School function is to teach our young human values like:
Skill of interdependence’ by working independently
Skill of comparison through loving and caring.
Love, safety, security, belonging, warmth etc.
School must have facilities to inculcate values in students and should create a useful life environment
for their progress
The school assembly, the curricular and co curricular activities, the celebration of festivals of all
religions, work experience, team games, subject clubs, and social service programme –all this can
help in including the value of cooperation and mutual regard, honesty, and integrity, discipline and
social responsibility.
Imbibing Values through Co-curricular Values:
As the students spend a lot of their time at school, it demands that we should set fresh goals for
attainment in the personal, emotional, social, moral and spiritual fields of human development.
Dr.Radha Krishnan said, “We must realize the talents of the children and help them to become what
they are to the full potential. Song, dance and literature are creative activities”.
The co-curricular activities help in the smooth running of the school and make the children strong,
steady, healthy and creative.
Active participation in co-curricular activities inculcates values like:
Physical Values: physical activities help the normal growth and muscular development of the
body along with some values like games mass drill, NCC, NSS, NGC, swimming, boating, yogic
exercises, gardening etc.
Psychological values: The pent-up emotions find effective outlet through activities. When the
mind is free of the emotional load, the alternate, precision, determination, self-control, courage
etc, come into focus.
Civic Values: Experiences like self government, student council, organizations of various activity
clubs like sanitation club etc provide for responsible behavior.
Social Values: Co-curricular activities are carried out in a social environment, developing team
sprits, fellow feeling, social unity, cooperation, tolerance, brotherhood, goodwill etc. Activities
like Sharmadan develop social inclination and compassion for the needy.
Moral Values: Through sports pupils developed integrity, uprightness, impartiality, honesty, and
also fair play.
Academic Values: Co-curricular activities like debates, discussion etc supplement class works
and widen the bookish knowledge.
Challenges faced by schools in imparting VE:
The value frame provided by home, community, school, peer group, media and society are different
and often contradictory.
Values propagated by the electronic media and peer group on many occasions are more powerful than
values taught in the school or by the parents.
Schooling has thus gradually distanced itself from its central purpose of education.
Education like other consumer goods is marketed by the profit motive.
Role of teachers:
If contemporary education is to be value-based, it can never be done without the teachers themselves
understanding, appreciating and upholding the life-sustaining moral values.
It is essential that teachers also should be exposed to the traditional values and ethics of education
through training programmes from time to time.
They should not confine to their job to a mere matter of completing syllabus and following the
curriculum.
It is the teachers’ role to foster human values through his teaching in the classroom and follow those
values.
Teachers should be a model to the student in his character, behavior and all virtuous things.
A Teacher should bring desirable and constructive changes in students through instruction, example
and influenceChallenges faced by teachers in imparting VE:
Teachers often face the temptation to limit themselves to imparting information rather than preparing
their pupils for life.
The pressures of academic requirements often stifle the efforts of well meaning educators who
struggle hard to fire their students with enthusiasm for higher ideals.
Imbibing Values through Curricular Activities:
Every subject can be means of building good character and values. Some examples are:
Language: In language through conversation and discussion the teacher educator can enable students
to embody higher and noble ideas.
Social Sciences: Through social science in general we can develop values like secularism, socialism,
hard work and democracy etc.
Geography: Through geography we can develop values of conservation, preservation, adventure etc.
Economics: Through economics a teacher can lay emphasis on the value of thrift and saving, which
lead to the prosperity of a person.
Civics: Through civics we can develop values of cooperation, sense of mutual welfare, obedience of
law, concern for environment etc.
Role of society in inculcating human values:
The child is initiated into learning in the society to which he/she is a bonafied member with all
facilities at disposal. The society is expected to:
Create a homogeneous environment so as the learners may take up valuable lessons on human
values.
Reflect values like simplicity, honesty, kindness, and fairness in their conduct etc.
Provide maximum freedom for fuller growth with experiences.
Explain to children its traditions, rituals, mythological stories etc so that they can learn lessons of
human values from such texts.
Narrate the cultural-socio-economic life patterns and the values in the scriptures of Vedas,
Upanishads, Geeta, Koran, Bible etc.
Role of the parents on developing values:
Parents or home plays a dominant role in educating a child. Parents are more accessible to the child
than other family member
“Mother is the first teacher and Home is the first school”.
The elders at home teach the developing baby behavior, dress codes, customs, and aspirations and so
on.
The minds of children develop in the major way through the process of non formal education at home.
According to Pestalozzi: “Home- Centre of love is the best place for education and first school of child”.
Dynamic parenting is the right solution for the present value crisis.
We have to give them a sense of inner peace and contentment and achievement so that they can look at external indicators of success, as not only measure of wealth. If home is filled with the clear fragrance of contentment and peace, all its occupants will be happy and healthy.
They should equip the children with certain factors such as: awareness of truth, a sense of responsibility, emotional maturity, communication skills, awareness of intellectual development, sense of judgment and observation, cultural awareness, development of personality, religious & spiritual values and leadership qualities.
The mother and father are the first examples in social behavior that children see before them and learn to imitate.
It is only when parents show firmness in dealing with their children that they will develop along right lines.
Children should not see their parents worried, helpless, discontented or distressed.
