PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

UNIT I LECTURE 1
• HUMAN VALUES
• Morals and Ethics - Honesty - Integrity - Values - Work Ethic - Civic
Virtue
EVOCATION
Morals and Ethics
• Ethics and morals relate to “right” and “wrong” conduct. While they
are sometimes used interchangeably, they are different:
• ethics refer to rules provided by an external source, e.g., codes of
conduct in workplaces or principles in religions.
• Morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and
wrong.
 Ethics
What are The rules of conduct recognized in respect
they? to a particular class of human actions or a
particular group or culture.
Where do Social system - External
they come
from?
Why we do Because society says it is the right thing to
it? do.
Flexibility Ethics are dependent on others for definition.
They tend to be consistent within a certain
context, but can vary between contexts.
Acceptabil Ethics are governed by professional and
legal guidelines within a particular time and
ity place
Morals
Principles or habits with respect to right or
wrong conduct. While morals also prescribe
dos and don'ts, morality is ultimately a
personal compass of right and wrong.
Individual - Internal
Because we believe in something being right
or wrong.
Usually consistent, although can change if an
individual’s beliefs change.
Morality transcends cultural norms
Example
• Doctor & Patient Scenario
• Animal Testing Scenario
• Advocate and Client Scenario
Functions of Code of Ethics
1) It can express a shared commitment on the part of a professional
society’s members to strive to satisfy certain ethical standards and
principles.
2) It can help foster an environment in which ethical behaviour is the
norm
3) It can serve as a guide or reminder in specific situations
4) A code can be a valuable academic and educational legacy for an
organization.
HONESTY
 HONESTY
• Means there are no contradictions or discrepancies in thoughts, words,
or actions
• Is a basic requirement for human beings to live harmoniously
• Is telling the truth
• Is a fair and straightforward conduct
• Is being sincere, truthful, trustworthy, honorable, genuine, and loyal
 Eight Great Reasons to Tell the Truth
1. Telling the truth lets everyone know what really happened. There is less
misunderstanding, confusion, or conflict.
2. Telling the truth protects innocent people from being blamed or punished
3. Telling the truth allows everyone to learn from what happened.
4. You usually get into less trouble for telling the truth than for lying
5. Other people trust you more when you tell the truth.
6. You don’t have to tell more lies to keep your story straight.
7. You gain a reputation for being truthful- a trait that most people value.
8. Telling the truth helps you feel secure and peaceful inside
INTEGRITY
Integrity
• The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
• Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
• A person who has integrity lives his or her values in relationships with
coworkers, customers, and stakeholders.
• Honesty and trust are central to integrity.
• Acting with honor and truthfulness are also basic tenets in a person
with integrity.
* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment.
* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
* If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
* If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest.
• So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap
later..
“Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back”
 VALUES
• Values are the things people determine to be the most important in their lives
• Ex: ‘I value making money’.
• Values are our guidelines for our success—our paradigm about what is acceptable.”
• Personal values are defined as: “Emotional beliefs in principles regarded as
particularly favorable or important for the individual.”
• A person who values gold and sees a large bag of gold (a positive value) in his path as
he walks, will be motivated to reach down and pick it up.
VALUES
• A person who values his life and knows about venomous snakes will
retreat from the sound of a rattlesnake (a negative value) from
nearby, when he is walking in the desert.
• Said in another way,
• “Values are the scales we use to weigh our choices for our actions,
whether to move towards or away from something.”
VALUES
Ethics, Morals and Values
• ethics describes a generally accepted set of moral principles
• morals describes the goodness or badness or right or wrong of
actions
• values describes individual or personal standards of what is valuable
or important.
Work Ethics

• Work ethics is defined as a set of attitudes concerned with the value

of work, which forms the motivational orientation.
WORK ETHICS
EXAMPLE FOR WORK ETHICS
• Goldwin Shoes Co. is a company that manufactures sports shoes for
different disciplines. The company currently supplies more than 500 stores
across the country and is widely known by its strong work ethics. The
company has 5 core values that they communicate and promote within its
employees to guarantee the company’s culture is delivered at each stage of
the process. These values are: honesty, responsibility, punctuality,
transparency and proactivity.
• The company’s founder Mr. MacManus is a retired military that served as a
physical trainer for Marine soldiers. He was able to extrapolate most of the
work principles he learned during service to his company’s culture and this
is the reason why Goldwin has been so successful. He recognizes strong
work ethics on each individual that works for the company and he values
that even more than productivity or goal-achievement.
CIVIC VIRTUE
 Civic Virtues
• Civic virtues are the moral duties and rights, as a citizen of the village or
the country or an integral part of the society and environment.
• An individual may exhibit civic virtues by
voting,
volunteering, and
organizing welfare groups and meetings.
Civic Virtues
 The duties are:
1. To pay taxes to the local government and state, in time.
2. To keep the surroundings clean and green.
3. Not to pollute the water, land, and air by following hygiene and proper
garbage disposal.
For example, not to burn wood, tyres, plastic materials, spit in the open, even
not to smoke in the open, and not to cause nuisance to the public, are
some of the civic (duties) virtues.
4. To follow the road safety rules.
Civic Virtues
• On the other hand, the rights are:
1. To vote the local or state government.
2. To contest in the elections to the local or state government.
3. To seek a public welfare facility such as a school, hospital or a
community hall or transport or communication facility, for the
residents.
Civic Virtues
4. To establish a green and safe environment, pollution free,
corruption free, and to follow ethical principles. People are said to
have the right to breathe in fresh air, by not allowing smoking in
public.
5. People have inalienable right to accept or reject a project in their
area. One has the right to seek legal remedy, in this respect, through
public interest petition.
Four categories
1. Civic Knowledge
2. Self-Restraint
3. Self-Assertion
4. Self-Reliance
 1. Civic Knowledge
• Citizens must understand what the Constitution says about how the
government is working, and what
the government is supposed to do and what not to do.
• We must understand the basis of our responsibilities
as citizens, besides duties and rights.
2. Self-Restraint
• For citizens to live in a free society with limited government each
citizen must be able to control or
restrain himself;
• otherwise, we would need a police state—that is, a dictatorial
government to maintain safety and order.
3. Self-Assertion

• Self-assertion means that citizens must be proud of their rights, and

have the courage to stand up in
public and defend their rights.
• Sometimes, a government may usurp the rights that it was created
to protect.
• In such cases, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish that
government (e.g., voting rights, rights call back).
 4. Self-Reliance
• Citizens who cannot provide for themselves will need a large government
to take care of them.
• Once citizens become dependent on government for their basic needs,
the people are no longer in a position to demand that government act
within the confines of the Constitution.
• Self-reliant citizens are free citizens in the sense that they are not
dependent on others for their basic needs.
• They do not need a large provider-government, which has the potential
to become an oppressive government, to meet those needs.
SUMMARY
• Ethics: Generally accepted code of moral principles
• Morals: Right or Wrong actions
• Values: Personal standards of what is most valuable or important
• Civic Virtue: Moral rights and duties of citizens
* Civic Knowledge, Self-Restraint, Self-Assertion, Self-Reliance
• Work Ethics: Value of work by an employee
• Honesty: Human Value of being truthful
• Integrity: Human Value of being strong moral principles