HUMAN ETHICS AND VALUES

1. DEVAPRAKASAM DEIVASAGAYAM
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Room:11, LW, 2nd Floor
School of Mechanical and Building Sciences
Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, dr.devaprakasam@gmail.com
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES
Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933

2. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES

3. HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES
Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
 Ethics is derived from the Greek word “ethos”
which means customs, habitual usage,
conduct and character.
 Ethics is an individual’s personal beliefs
regarding what is right and wrong or good or
bad.
 Ethics involves a discipline that examines
good or bad practices within the context of a
moral duty

4. HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES
Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
Values can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate
courses of action or outcomes. As such, values reflect a person's
sense of right and wrong or what "ought" to be. "Equal rights for all",
"Excellence deserves admiration", and "People should be treated with
respect and dignity" are representative of values. Values tend to
influence attitudes and behaviour.
Value denotes the degree of importance of some thing or action, with
the aim of determining what actions are best to do or what way is best
to live
Then values provide the basic foundation for
understanding a person’s personality perception and
attitudes.

5. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES

6. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES
 Ethics are rules that help us tell the difference
between right and wrong. They encourage us to do the
right thing.
 Values tell us what is important. They help us make
decisions about right and wrong.
 Morals are rules we use to decide what is good or bad.

7. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES
Ethics Morals
What is it? The rules of conduct recognized in
respect to a particular class of human
actions or a particular group, culture,
etc. it defines how thing are according
to the rules.
Principles or habits with respect to
right or wrong conduct. It defines
how things should work according
to an individual’ ideas and
principles.
Source Social system/ external Individual / internal
Why we do it? Because society says it is the right thing
to do.
Because we believe in something
being right or wrong.
What if we don’t do it? We will face peer/ societal disapproval,
or even be fired from our job.
Doing something against one’s
morals and principles can have
different effects on different people,
they may feel uncomfortable,
remorse, depressed etc.
Flexibility Ethics are dependent on others for
definition. They tend to be consistent
within a certain context, but can vary
Usually consistent, although can
change if an individual’s beliefs
change.

8. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES

9. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES

10. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES
Values Leading to Self Awareness
• Values - stable long-lasting beliefs about what is important to
a person
• They become standards by which people order their lives and
make their choices
• Our values define who we are
• Our choice of values should be based on what type of person
we want to be

11. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES
Values which Make Better Persons

12. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES
Conflicting Values?
• The following are the words of a native American tribal leader, retold by
Harold Kushner:
• There are two dogs inside me. One is mean and evil. The other is good.
• The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.
Which dog usually wins?
The one I feed the most !!

13. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES
Imbibing and Nurturing Values
• Look within: Introspect, ask our conscience
• Look outside: Ethical role models, books, philosophers…
• Interactions in society
– how we treat others
– how others treat us
• Religion, spirituality
• etc.

14. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES

15. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES

16. Resolving Ethical Issues - Enquiries
• Factual
– True / False ; Yes / No ; what, how, who etc.
– Can be resolved by observation/measurement/calculation/experience
– e.g. How much quantity of pollutant X does this factory produce daily?
• Conceptual
– Related to definition, scope of a term or concept
– e.g. Is working in labs without wearing shoes a ‘safety hazard’?
– e.g. Is making fun of first-year students ‘ragging’?
• Normative
– Identifying and justifying morally desirable norms to guide people
– What ought/ought not to be ; what is good/bad (metaethics)
– e.g. Is an engineer’s primary obligation to his/her employer or to society?
– e.g. What should be the prime consideration in designing a public transport
system - cost, safety …
HUM 1021 Ethics and Values

17. Example
• A young engineer is worried that the her company is dumping dangerously high
amounts of pollutants into a stream, whose water is used by a number of
people. Her supervisor feels that she is unduly concerned, as there have been
no complaints of pollution in the past. What should she do?
• Factual enquiries:
– Nature and quantity of pollutants discharged, cost of controlling them, what levels are harmful,
impact on environment etc.
• Conceptual enquiries:
– How do company policies define commitment to environment? Roles & responsibilities of
various officials (e.g. ombudspersons, tribunals) within and outside the company
• Normative enquiries:
– Should she talk to higher management? Should she approach local authorities - will that be
disloyalty to her company?
• There is no strict order of performing enquiries, we may need to go back & forth
Difficulty in solution: Normative > Conceptual > Factual
HUM 1021 Ethics and Values

18. Conflicting Values?
• Values guide our thought and help in decision-making in moral dilemmas
• In certain situations, two values may have a conflict
e.g. Your best friend is sitting near you in an exam. He
appears stumped by a question. Will you help him out?
Photos: educative-alternatives.net, memberhub.com
Honesty:
“No, you should not.”
Compassion:
“Yes, you should.”
????
• Other values may help in resolving the conflict: Fairness: “No, you should not”
HUM 1021 Ethics and Values

19. Law vs. Ethics
• There could also arise conflicts between the law and our ethics/values
HUM 1021 Ethics and Values
Legal Ethical
c) Better option ??
• Explain the situation and convince people to give you priority
• A legal & ethical solution often demands more effort and is difficult to execute
• e.g. You find someone seriously ill on the street and rush to the pharmacy to buy
emergency medicine. There is a long queue. What would you do?
a) Await for your turn - Legal, but ignores values
b) Jump the queue - Ethical, but against rules
• Laws/rules which are obsolete/unjust need to be revised/scrapped

20. Other Guidelines to Resolve Conflict
• What would your Ethical Role Model do in this situation?
• What would you do if a person you respect a lot is watching you?
HUM 1021 Ethics and Values

21. Devaprakasam D, Email: devaprakasam.d@vit.ac.in, Ph: +91 9786553933
HUM1721 - ETHICS AND VALUES