self intrest in professional ethics

2. SELF INTEREST
o Self-interest is being good and acceptable to oneself.
o It is pursuing what is good for oneself.
o It is very ethical to possess self-interest.
o As per utilitarian theory, this interest should provide for the respect of
others also.
o Duty ethics recognizes this aspect as duties to ourselves.
o Then only one can help others.
o Right ethicist stresses our rights to pursue our own good.
o Virtue ethics also accepts the importance of self-respect as link to
social practices.

3. RELIGION
o Religions have played major roles in shaping moral views and moral values, over
geographical regions.
o Christianity has influenced the Western countries, Islam in the Middle-East
countries, Buddhism and Hinduism in Asia and Confucianism in China.
o Further, there is a strong psychological link between the moral and religious beliefs
of people following various religions and faiths.
o Religions support moral responsibility.
o They have set high moral standards.
o Faith in the religions provides trust and this trust inspires people to be moral.
o The religions insist on tolerance and moral concern for others.
o Many professionals who possess religious beliefs are motivated.

4. o Each religion lays stress on certain high moral standards.
o For example, Hinduism holds polytheistic (many gods) view, and virtues of
devotion and surrender to high order.
o Christianity believes in one deity and emphasizes on virtues of Love, Faith, and
Hope.
o Buddhism is non-theistic and focuses on compassion and Islam on one deity and
adherence of islam (piety or pursuit of excellence) and prayer.
o Judaism stresses the virtue of ‘tsedakah’ (righteousness).
o But many religious sects have adopted poor moral standards, e.g., many
religious sects do not recognize equal rights for women.
o The right to worship is denied for some people. People are killed in the name of
or to promote religion.
o Thus, conflicts exist between the ‘secular’ and religious people and between one
religion and another.

5. CLASSICAL IDEALS OF LIFE
o ARISTOTLE
• Egoism is not egotism: man is a social animal.
• Happiness as an end in itself, the final end.
1) Eudaeminia- loosely translated as happy and healthy and prosperous.
2) Teleology is the study of ends, purposes, and goals (telos means “end” or “purpose”).
• Happiness as harmonious exercise of faculties
• Virtues, vices, and the golden mean.
• Four cardinal virtues: temperance, courage, wisdom, justice
• Vices of excess and vices of deficiency
1) Cowardliness and foolhardiness and Courage is the mean
2) Over-indulgence and
3) Being cheap and generosity is the mean.

6. oEpicureanism
• Epicurus was an egoistic hedonist: hedonism from the Greek hedone (pleasure) and egoistic
because one should achieve it for oneself.
• Epicurus believed that the good life was the pleasant life.
• For him, this meant avoiding pain and desires for things beyond one’s basic needs.
• Epicurus looked at long term goals; not short term goals.
• The Epicureans agree with the hedonists that pain must be avoided, so that even the pleasure
which leads to pain must be evaded.

7. STOICISM
o Do not seek to have everything that happens as you wish, but wish for
everything to happen as it actually does happen, and your life will be serene.
o Serenity prayer
o Don’t rely on external things.

8. PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM
o Psychological egoism is different from ethical egoism.
o Ethical Egoism is about we should do, what is in our own self-interest.
o Psychological Egoism is not about what people should do but about what they
actually do.
o If people can’t help doing what is in their best interest then there is no point in
saying what they ought to do.
o Psychological egoism agrees that there are unselfish acts but the motivates
underlying the action never are.

9. ETHICAL EGOISM
o Ethical egoism proper states that all people should do what is in their own
interest.
o Formulations of ethical egoism:
• We should do what we believe with good reason will benefit us the most.
• We should do what is in our own interest.
• We should do what gives us the most pleasure or happiness.
• We should do whatever we prefer the most.
o Virtue of Selfishness.-Ayn Rand
o Objections to ethical egoism
• Everyone would be at war
• Inconsistent advice
• Inconsistency of belief
• Interpersonal disputes

10. RULE EGOISM
o According to rule egoism, it may not be in your interest as an individual to do
certain things, but it might be in your overall interest for everyone to follow the
same rule.

11. FOUR ETHICAL THEORIES
oContractarianism
oFeminist Ethics
oEthical Relativism
oAbsolutism

12. CONTRACTARIANISM JOHN RAWLS
o An implied agreement or social contract intended to ensure equality and justice for all
members of a society.
o We reach this agreement by three steps:
• Consider your contingent attributes (the physical, psychological, intellectual, cultural and
social attributes which limit one’s freedom and cause inequity between people.)
• Imagine an unbiased original position (a condition of not yet knowing our personal
contingent attributes.)
• Determine what moral and legal rules you would agree to in a state of ignorance, to
protect your primary goods.

13. RAWLS’ THREE PRIMARY GOALS
o Health (access to health care)
o Liberty (freedom to pursue our interests within acceptable bounds)
o Opportunity (to achieve secondary wants [wealth, etc.] through our own
efforts)

14. FEMINIST ETHICS
o Ethics of Care”—intent is to strengthen relationships and sense of community Originated in
Carol Gilligan’s studies of female moral development .
o Emphasis is on sensitivity, caring and one’s responsibility to others, rather than on objectivity
and individuality.
o Rules must be substantively equal for women and men, and take into consideration the different
roles and responsibilities men and women hold at work and also outside of work.

15. ETHICAL RELATIVISM AND ABSOLUTISM
o Ethical relativism means that what is morally right or wrong is relative to the
situation or to the culture you are in.
o Ethical absolutism means that what is morally right or wrong is absolute, no
matter what the situation is or what country or culture you are in.
o Absolutism Moral truths are the same for everyone
o All morals are Some morals are absolute no matter absolute in any what the
situation situation, others are relative to the situation.

16. Cultural Relativism
o Moral truths are relative to each culture but
the same for everyone within the culture.
o All morals are Some morals are relative to
the relative to the culture, culture others are
absolute.
Individual Relativism
o Moral truths are relative to each individual.
o All morals are Some morals relative to the
are relative to individual the individual,
others are absolute.

17. THEORETICALAPPROACHES
o Deontological (duty or principles)
o Teleological (ends or consequences)
o Divine Command Theory
o Socrates’ Healthy Soul
o Kantian Duty Ethics
o Utilitarianism (J. S. Mill Virtue Ethics (Aristotle)
o Enlightened Self-interest Contractarianism (Rawls)
o Feminist Ethics
o Absolutism
o Relativism

18. DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS
o Descriptive ethics describes the ethical culture of an organization.
o Normative ethics sets a norm or standard for ethical behaviour.
o They are often used to analyze the current ethical climate or culture within an
organization (descriptive) and to compare it to an ideal or desired standard of
ethical behaviour (normative).

19. NORMATIVE ETHICS
o Normative Ethics Observes and describes people’s actual
behaviour
o Sets a standard for how people ought to behave
o Explains why people behave this way
o Justifies why people ought to behave this way
o The behaviour we exhibit defines us
o Our conscious choices of action define us