Values of Ethics

Well, this is just a write-up for my communication class and I thought I would share it with you..

What are ethics? Oxford Dictionary defines ethics as system of moral principles which define the character of a person.  For me, a person who does not have his ethics and his moral principles very firmly defined is incapable of having a strong character.  Although I may not be doing something which is illegal as per the law when I am telling a lie, I need to fail afraid of my consience and of my God by performing something which might hurt someone or which is simply not right.

But of course, this question of ethics is an extremely tricky one.  Because ethics or morals are something very personal.  For example, if hiding the truth keeps me from hurting someone very deeply then in my opinion it is not at all unethical.  That is because, in fact, I am not telling a lie; but only shielding the person from a fact which if she knew would certainly hurt her.  On the other hand, someone else would believe that no matter what, the truth should be told.  I cannot say such a thing is wrong, even though I might think so.  Because, as I have mentioned above, perception of ethics is very different for different people.

Professional ethics are something which should be so deeply embedded in us that the question of going against them does not arise.  For a doctor, ethics would be maintaining the confidentiality of his patients.  Let us consider a case of an online counsellar who provides counselling anonymously.  Such a person needs to have an extremely strong willpower.  Very often, her patients or callers might tell her something which she might feel she has to tell someone; but their patients' confidentiality should be her top priority.  However, supposing the counsellar feels that her caller is suicidal and might take the extreme step.  In this case, it becomes crucial for the counsellar to maybe reveal the identity of the caller to the police to locate him and provide help.

 Lets take another case which was quite recent and was in the news for some time.  Kaavya Vishwanathan is an Indian-American undergraduate student in Harvard College (America) who came to attention when her first novel "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life" was revealed to have been pligiarized from various sources.  Following the revelation, Kaavya was forced with a lot of disgrace.  The novel was withdrawn from stores with immediate effect.  Although later on, she did say that the similarities were "completely unintentional" but the damage was done.  In journalism and the writers community, pliagarism is the deed of a person with the lowest of ethics.  Had she not taken this step, maybe she would not have had her book published.  But she should have been content with what she had.  That would have preserved her ethics and her reputation.  Sadly, it was not to be.

Many people believe that ethics of a person depend upon the way he/she is brought up.  Some even go so far as to say that they are embedded in genes.  Well, I would say that I agree to some extent with the first statement but I do not believe in the latter at all.  The upbringing of a person might affect a person but its not always in the same way as his environment is.  If that were the case, all the criminals' children would also turn out to be criminals, isn't it?  Infact, sometimes it has the opposite effect.  When kids see and realize their parents could be wrong and what the consequences could be, they are more determined to succeed and to be different from their parents.  On the other hand, kids with the most honest of parents might turn to some wrong means to achieve their goals.  I am not saying that this is always the case.  It always depends on the individual.

Basically, ethics is always about making choices and making the right ones at that.  Many times we are faced with two paths and must decide which one we want to choose.  We just have to try our best and move through life.  But we must always remember that we as human beings are capable of making mistakes and hence must have enough humility to realise this and make good our mistakes.

You might want to take some time to refect on these quotes.

The last temptation is the greatest treason; to do the right deed for the wrong reason.
-T.S.Eliot

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
-Samuel Johnson