UPSC Express

Man has always sought to know how to lead a ‘good’ life and to draw up rules of conduct. Ethics are a set of standards that a society place on itself and which helps guide behavior, choices and actions.

Role of ethics in our society:

• Survival of society: No society can survive without an ethical code of conduct of what is acceptable and what is not. It is even more important where laws do not reach. For example, taking care of older parents
• Making life easy: Ethics help an individual take decisions in most facets of life without having to scrutinize the good and bad of everything. For example, an individual does not have to learn on his own to not steal etc.
• Aid in making laws: Ethics by themselves are not enforceable, and hence most ethical standards are incorporated as laws. For example, laws to punish sexual harassment at office.
• Functioning of organisations: Each organisation evolves its own ethical code reflective of its values, to guide the conduct of its members. For example, civil services have their own code of conduct, while Army has its own.
• Evaluating own morality: Ethics help a person to look at his own life critically and to evaluate the morality of his actions/choices/decisions. For example, everyone following lane discipline will help you see the wrong in your actions if you break lanes.

Ethics make a society peaceful, harmonious and a better place to live by guiding the behavior of people. Ethics act as a self-governing system to keep human self-interest and the good of society at equilibrium because the eyes of the law are not always available.