GS Notes

8. Ethics Notes 17

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Elaborate Notes

Right-based Ethics

Right-based ethics is a deontological ethical theory, meaning it judges the morality of an action based on rules, duties, and obligations, rather than its consequences (consequentialism) or the character of the agent (virtue ethics). Its central tenet is that the moral worth of an action is primarily determined by the extent to which it respects, protects, or refrains from infringing upon the rights of individuals.

  • Rights: A right is a justified claim or entitlement to certain freedoms, protections, or benefits. For a right to be effective, it must be more than a mere desire; it is typically understood as an entitlement enjoyed by an individual, which is recognized by the society or a moral framework, and often backed and sanctioned by the legal authority of the state.

    • Historical Context: The concept of rights evolved significantly during the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, championed by thinkers who sought to limit the power of absolute monarchies and the church. This intellectual movement laid the groundwork for modern democratic governance.

  • Natural Rights: This is a specific category of rights considered inherent and fundamental to human beings, not granted by any state, law, or ruler.

    • Inherent and Universal: They are possessed by individuals simply by virtue of their humanity. They apply to all people, everywhere, at all times, irrespective of nationality, gender, religion, or social status.
    • Inalienable: These rights cannot be taken away, sold, or transferred. An individual cannot voluntarily give them up, nor can the state legitimately remove them.
    • Source: They are believed to be “ordained by nature” or by a divine power or reason itself. They exist prior to and independent of government and society (‘pre-political’).
    • Abstract and Uncodified: In their pure form, natural rights are philosophical concepts. Their enforcement relies on their translation into positive law (codified rights). This abstraction makes them difficult to enforce directly and complicates holding violators accountable without a legal framework. For instance, before slavery was legally abolished, the natural right to liberty was violated, but there was no legal recourse.

Human Rights

Human Rights are the modern, institutionalized manifestation of the natural rights philosophy. They represent a global consensus on the basic, minimum standards necessary for individuals to live with dignity.

  • Definition: They are the fundamental rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. They are essential for an individual’s existence, development, and ability to lead a life of dignity.

  • Historical Emergence: The modern concept of human rights was formally crystallized in the aftermath of the Second World War. The world was horrified by the atrocities of the Holocaust and other war crimes, which demonstrated the catastrophic failure of states to protect basic human dignity.

  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948: This landmark document was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It was the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. While not a legally binding treaty, it carries immense moral weight and has served as the foundation for international human rights law. It inspired two binding covenants: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both adopted in 1966.

  • John Locke (1632-1704): A seminal figure in rights-based ethics and political philosophy. In his influential work, Two Treatises of Government (1689), Locke argued against the divine right of kings and proposed a theory of government based on the consent of the governed.

    • Three Inalienable Natural Rights: Locke identified three core natural rights that governments are created to protect:
      1. Life: The right to exist and not be killed by another person.
      2. Liberty: The freedom to act without arbitrary restraint from the government or others, so long as one’s actions do not infringe upon the rights of others.
      3. Property: The right to own that which one has created or acquired through one’s labour. For Locke, this was not just about land, but also ownership of one’s own person and labour.
    • Influence: Locke’s ideas profoundly influenced the American Revolution, as seen in the Declaration of Independence (1776) which echoes his philosophy with the phrase “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” and the French Revolution’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789).

  • Contemporary Application of Rights-based Ethics: This framework is used to analyze modern ethical dilemmas:

    • Development-induced displacement: This pits the collective ‘right to development’ against the individual’s ‘right to property’, ‘right to livelihood’, and ‘right to culture’ of the displaced communities.
    • Media trials: This involves a conflict between the ‘right to freedom of speech and expression’ (of the media) and the accused person’s ‘right to a fair trial’ and ‘right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty’.
    • Marital rape: This highlights the conflict between archaic patriarchal notions of conjugal rights and the woman’s fundamental ‘right to bodily autonomy’, ‘dignity’, and ‘personal liberty’.
    • Custodial deaths: A severe violation of the ‘right to life’ and the ‘right to be protected from torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment’.
    • Capital Punishment: This triggers a debate between the state’s right to administer ultimate justice for heinous crimes and the individual’s absolute ‘right to life’.

Approach for Attempting Quotation-based Questions in Ethics

This section tests a candidate’s ability to comprehend philosophical ideas and apply them to real-world contexts, demonstrating their own ethical framework.

  • Structure of the Answer:

    • Introduction:
      1. Paraphrase/Interpretation: Begin by explaining what you understand the quote to mean in your own words.
      2. Define Key Terms: Identify and define the central virtue or concept in the quote (e.g., success, perseverance, kindness).
      3. Context/Premise: Briefly establish the context in which the quote is relevant today (e.g., for a civil servant, in governance, in society).
      4. Impactful Anecdote: A short, relevant story can capture the examiner’s attention and illustrate the quote’s meaning.
    • Body:
      1. Elaboration and Arguments: Break down the quote into different dimensions and explain them. Use arguments for and against (if applicable) to show a balanced understanding.
      2. Multi-dimensional Perspectives: Analyze the quote from various angles:
        • Social: How does it apply to societal norms, family, or community?
        • Political/Administrative: What is its relevance for governance, policy-making, or the conduct of a civil servant?
        • Ethical: What are the underlying moral principles?
        • Historical: Can historical events or figures illustrate the quote’s truth?
      3. Examples: Use a wide range of examples from history (e.g., Ashoka’s shift to Dhamma), lives of great leaders (e.g., Nelson Mandela, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar), current affairs, or even hypothetical situations relevant to an administrator.
    • Conclusion:
      1. Penultimate Conclusion (Way Forward): This is a practical, prescriptive summary. Suggest how the wisdom of the quote can be applied or what actions should be taken.
      2. Ultimate Conclusion (Inference): End with a powerful, philosophical statement that summarizes the core essence of the quote and leaves a lasting impression.

  • Practice Question Analysis:

    • a) “Judge your success by what you have to give up to get it” - Dalai Lama.
      • Interpretation: This quote challenges the conventional, materialistic definition of success. It posits that true success should be measured not just by gains, but by the ethical and personal costs incurred. The ‘price’ of success—in terms of integrity, relationships, health, or peace of mind—is the ultimate metric.
      • Examples: A corporate leader who achieves market dominance through unethical practices has given up their integrity. A student who tops an exam by cheating has sacrificed honesty. In contrast, freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh gave up their lives, the ultimate sacrifice, for the success of securing independence for their nation, a success of a higher moral order.
    • b) “Every work has to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding, those who perceive will see the light sooner or later” - Swami Vivekananda.
      • Interpretation: Vivekananda is extolling the virtue of perseverance. He suggests that challenges and failures are not endpoints but inevitable parts of the journey toward any meaningful achievement. Persistence and unwavering faith in one’s goal are essential for success.
      • Examples: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) journey, marked by initial failures like the first SLV-3 launch (1979) before achieving monumental success with missions like Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan. The life of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who overcame immense social discrimination to become the architect of the Indian Constitution.
    • c) “The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer” - Mahatma Gandhi.
      • Interpretation: Gandhi emphasizes that true spirituality and morality are expressed through action, not just ritual. He contrasts ‘idol worship’ (ritualistic prayer) with ‘ideal worship’ (practicing virtues like kindness). Compassion in action and service to humanity (‘Manav Seva hi Madhav Seva’) is a more potent form of devotion than passive prayer.
      • Application: For a civil servant, this means that serving the public with empathy and kindness, for example, by helping an elderly person access their pension, is a more powerful act than any personal religious observance performed in private.
    • d) “Do not hate anybody because that hatred which comes out from you in the long run will come back to you… If you love the love come back to you completing the circle” - Swami Vivekananda.
      • Interpretation: This quote articulates the law of Karma or moral causation. Our intentions and actions create a cycle of consequences. Hatred corrodes the self and attracts negativity, while love and compassion foster positive reciprocity and inner peace. It is a psychological and spiritual principle of action and reaction.
      • Application: In public life, a leader who governs with malice and hatred creates a society rife with division and conflict. In contrast, leaders like Nelson Mandela, who chose reconciliation over retribution after years of imprisonment, were able to heal their nations and build a positive future.

Applied Ethics

  • Definition: Also known as practical ethics, it is a branch of philosophy that involves applying general ethical theories, principles, and concepts to specific, often controversial, real-world problems and moral dilemmas. It seeks to answer the question, “What is the right thing to do in this particular situation?”

  • Scope and Examples: It addresses contentious moral issues that people and societies face, such as:

    • Bioethics: Abortion, euthanasia, human cloning, genetic engineering.
    • Environmental Ethics: Animal rights, climate change responsibilities, sustainable development.
    • Business Ethics: Corporate social responsibility, insider trading, whistleblowing.
    • Professional Ethics: Medical ethics (patient confidentiality), legal ethics (client-attorney privilege), media ethics (privacy vs. public interest).

  • Significance:

    1. Addresses Real Problems: It moves ethics from abstract theory to tangible issues affecting daily life, making it highly relevant.
    2. Guides Action: It provides frameworks for decision-making in complex situations for professionals, policymakers, and individuals.
    3. Practical Problem-Solving: One of its key strengths is that it allows for consensus on a course of action without requiring agreement on a single, universal moral theory. For example, a utilitarian, a deontologist, and a virtue ethicist might all agree that a particular policy is wrong, albeit for different reasons. This approach, known as Principlism (popularized by Tom Beauchamp and James Childress in their 1979 work Principles of Biomedical Ethics), focuses on agreeing on mid-level principles (like autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice) to solve a problem.

  • Distinction from Other Branches of Ethics:

    • Normative Ethics: Concerned with establishing general moral principles and theories about what makes actions right or wrong (e.g., Utilitarianism, Deontology). Applied ethics uses these theories.
    • Meta-ethics: The most abstract branch, it deals with the nature of morality itself. It asks questions like “What is ‘good’?”, “Are moral statements objective truths?”, “How do we know what is right or wrong?“. Applied ethics assumes that we can determine right and wrong and focuses on how to do so in specific cases.

Bioethics

  • Definition: A sub-field of applied ethics that examines the ethical, legal, and social implications of advancements in biology, medicine, and biotechnology. It addresses the moral challenges arising from our increasing ability to understand and manipulate life.
  • Scope of Issues:
    • Beginning of Life Issues:
      • Abortion: Debates center on the moral status of the fetus and the conflict between its potential right to life and the woman’s right to bodily autonomy.
      • Surrogacy: Raises questions about the commodification of the womb, the potential exploitation of surrogate mothers, and the rights of the child.
    • End of Life Issues:
      • Euthanasia: Discusses the morality of ‘mercy killing’, distinguishing between active and passive euthanasia, and revolves around the ‘right to die with dignity’ versus the ‘sanctity of life’. The Supreme Court of India in Common Cause (A Regd. Society) v. Union of India (2018) recognized the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right and legalized passive euthanasia.
    • Medical Research Issues:
      • Clinical Trials: Ethical guidelines focus on the principles of informed consent, minimizing harm to participants, and ensuring that research benefits outweigh risks. Unethical historical examples, like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972) in the US, led to the development of strict modern regulations.

Prelims Pointers

  • Right-based Ethics: An ethical theory where the morality of an action is judged based on its impact on the rights of others.
  • John Locke: An English philosopher who advocated for three inalienable natural rights: Life, Liberty, and Property.
  • Natural Rights: Rights that are considered universal, inalienable, and inherent to human beings, existing independently of laws or government.
  • Human Rights: The modern, codified version of natural rights, established globally after World War II.
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. It is a foundational document for international human rights law.
  • Applied Ethics: A branch of ethics that deals with the application of moral norms and principles to real-world controversial issues.
  • Bioethics: A field of applied ethics that studies the ethical issues emerging from advances in biology and medicine.
  • Normative Ethics: Branch of ethics that prescribes moral principles of right and wrong action (e.g., Deontology, Utilitarianism).
  • Meta-ethics: Branch of ethics that studies the nature of moral judgments and language.
  • Key Thinkers for Quotes: Dalai Lama, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi.

Mains Insights

  • Critique of Rights-based Ethics:

    1. Conflict of Rights: This framework struggles to resolve situations where rights conflict (e.g., freedom of speech vs. the right to not be subjected to hate speech). It often lacks a clear mechanism for prioritizing rights.
    2. Neglect of Community: Critics, particularly communitarian thinkers like Michael Sandel, argue that an overemphasis on individual rights can lead to a neglect of community welfare, social responsibilities, and the common good.
    3. Moral Absolutism: A rigid focus on rights can lead to absolutist positions that ignore the context and consequences of actions, potentially leading to sub-optimal outcomes.
    4. Cultural Relativism Debate: The universality of human rights has been challenged. The “Asian Values” debate of the 1990s, for instance, argued that Western conceptions of individual rights clash with Eastern emphasis on community, order, and family. This is relevant to GS-II discussions on international relations and human rights.

  • Relevance of Quotation-based Questions for Civil Services:

    • These questions are not merely tests of philosophical knowledge but are designed to assess a candidate’s moral compass, value system, and ability to think critically about complex ethical ideas.
    • They evaluate if a candidate can internalize foundational values like integrity, compassion, perseverance, and objectivity and apply them to the challenges of public administration. An officer’s response to such a quote reflects their potential character and decision-making style.

  • Applied Ethics in Governance (GS-IV):

    • The entire case study section of the Ethics paper is an exercise in applied ethics. Civil servants are constantly required to apply ethical principles to real-world dilemmas.
    • Examples:
      • Balancing environmental protection (Environmental Ethics) with developmental needs (e.g., clearing a forest for a factory).
      • Deciding on resource allocation during a public health crisis (Bioethics/Public Health Ethics).
      • Handling a situation involving corruption or a conflict of interest (Administrative Ethics).
    • A strong grounding in applied ethics helps an administrator move beyond black-and-white rules to make nuanced, justifiable decisions in the ‘grey areas’ of public service.

  • Bioethics and Public Policy (GS-III & GS-II):

    • Rapid advancements in biotechnology (like CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing) necessitate robust ethical oversight and public policy. India has grappled with this in several areas:
    • Surrogacy: The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, was enacted to curb the commercialization and potential exploitation in the surrogacy industry.
    • End-of-Life Care: The Supreme Court’s judgment on passive euthanasia (Common Cause v. UoI, 2018) highlights the intersection of bioethics, law, and fundamental rights, forcing the executive and legislature to formulate clear policies on ‘living wills’.
    • Such topics require an interdisciplinary approach, linking science, ethics, law, and governance, making them crucial for Mains answers.

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