UPSC Ethics 2018 | Important Notes & Study Material

Applied Ethics

Commercial Surrogacy
Ethical Issues
Exploitation of vulnerable women
Emotions with relinquishing a child
Psychological effects on the child when he would come to know
Having to take this route because, no other alternative left
Abandoning of babies
Accidental twins
Disability
Rights of the surrogate mother
Other side
Infertile parents
Homosexual parents
Single parents
Alternatives
Adoption
Regulation – otherwise underground – rights of women even less safeguarded

Celebrity Endorsement

Ethical issues
Enjoy godly status in India
Using the image for persuasion for promoting a product
Often done without knowing the safety
Do they even use the product they are endorsing – moral authority to promote the product
In case of harmful effects, role of the actor promoting
Misleading information
Overriding expert opinion – non-expert opinion over a person who would be more qualified
Other side
Celebs depend on expert reports – cannot have a separate test conducted
Livelihood – so cannot be punished for promoting if done so unknowingly

Abortion

Ethical Issues
Where does life start – Life begins at conception
Protecting the rights of a child which cannot speak for itself
Killing a helpless being without its consent
Serious disability – should it be aborted – life of distress
Adoption viable to abortion
Not be used as an alternative to contraception
Lifelong regrets afterwords
Young women – insufficient life experience to understand what they are doing
Other side
Right of a women over her body
Abortion – First trimester – no independent existence without the mother – cannot be considered as separate identity
Rape or incest
Pregnancy can occur – even after responsible contraceptive use
Teenager mothers – poor prospects for life in future
Rights of foetus vs rights of mother

Animal Rights vs Traditions

Ethical issues
Right to promote one’s culture vs promoting animal rights
Moral duty to promote compassion towards animals
PCA being violated in the name of tradition
Empathy & Compassion towards other living beings
Cases
Animal testing
Circus
Jalikattu
Hunting of animals

Mass Molestation in Bengaluru

Ethical issues
Patriarchy
Reporting – fear of repercussions – Acid attacks, repeated molestations
Hostile attitude of police
Statements by Politicians – short dresses
Bail is quite easy
Objectificaiton of women – media, songs
Structure of traditional family – girl child treated inferior to boy
Way Forward
Inculcating good values at home
Education – gender sensitisation
Media – objectification of women – responsible journalism
EI
Tolerance and inclusiveness
Sex Education
Naming and shaming serious sexual offenders
Community policing
Empowering women – changing mindset of the society

Whistle blowing
Ethical issues
Reputation of the organisation
Private interests vs Organisational interests
Moral responsibility of a person to protect public interest and be truthful
Victimisation
Recent
Whistleblower protection act
Identity of whistleblowers needs to be protected
Not yet notified
Citizens Whistleblower forum

Medical ethics – attacks on doctors
Doctors point of view
Already overstretched working hrs
Lack of resources in hospitals
Unrealistic expectations
Patients
Lack of empathy
Lack of services
No Grievance redressal mechanism
Public perception of doctors has gone down especially after privatisation and commercialisation
Attack s
Prestige of doctor – who gets beaten up infront of his patients – work again
Negligence on security
Inhumane beating of doctors

Artificial intelligence – 4th Industrial revolution
Ethical issues
Replacing human jobs – livelihoods of families
Tesla replacing drivers
Economic benefit of automation vs socio-economic inequalities
Privacy and security concerns
Accident in tesla – Who is responsible
Cyber security
Loss of jobs
Mental health
Social relations
Way forward
Elon Musk – Regulation of AI
Not making AI weapons – reduce cost of war in terms of human lives – making it more likely
Comprehensive policy
It is inevitable – higher skills in workforce for restructured economy – education investment
Businesses – to help in upgradation of skills and re-skilling
UBI – for the people to fall back upon
Creative sectors – music, creative arts, etc
Many sectors where human intervention will be required.

Personalities

Humanism

-Man as most important and not god Humanitarianism
-Human welfare as core concept  Honesty  Uprightness
Trustworthiness  Integrity  Openness  Transparency
Accountability  Objectivity  Non-partisanship Impartiality
Meritocracy  Favoritism  Pol-Bureaucratic nexus
Leadership Team Building  Consensus Building
Selflessness Care for others  vs Narrow Mindedness
Dedication to Public service Public Eccentric
Empathy Compassion  Tolerance  Multiculturalism
Pluralism Secularism Patriotism  Courage  Fortitude
Emotional Intelligence  Empathy towards subordinates
Trustworthiness Temperance -Avoiding extremities

-Middle Path Perseverance.
-steady persistence in the face of obstacles
Probity.
-going beyond legal and admin duty
-including morality and ethics
-not mere regularity compliance
-Uncorruptible
Efficiency- resource utilization  Effectiveness – wrt targets
Probity – H, I and Impartiality  Confidentiality
Rule of Law  Responsive and pro-active – not apathetic & reactionary
Dignity of women  Empathy towards subordinates
-APJ Kalam Constitutionalism
Strive for excellence  Social Justice
Sycophancy -Yes Man
-Bad for governance  Beneficence
-Action that is intended to promote the good of other persons
Professionalism Pragmatism & innovation
-SK daghammerskjold Dedicating oneself to a cause greater than oneself
Exemplary behavior  Devotion to Duty  Moral Turpitude
-Having an affair

To achieve greatness one has to stand for something greater than oneself.

Honesty & Integrity
Coordinator of Pro-nites – kickbacks
Impopular – Unpopular
Objectivity
Navy senior officer giving a bad ACR to other officers to ensure rise of his son-in-law – against objectivity
Head of Pro-nites, team selection not by friends but by interview and a board of 3 members
Transparency RTI
Accountability 4Cs
Empathy & Compassion
Food restaurant – 1 dish reduced – money saved and given to poor – Need to empathise and share Tolerance
Fairness towards others whose viewpoints are different from yours
Voltaire  Cow Vigilantes, Valentine’s day
Dedication to Public service
Gaurav Aggarwal – No fan, No AC, Sparkle in the eye of a person and smile – satisfaction
Inner motivation to work in the larger interest of the society
Courage & Fortitude  Withstand political pressure
Raise voice against injustice or wrongdoing.

Social Evils

Rousseau – Man is born free but society puts him in chains
Someone says that take a bribe – we will not do it because – integrity and honest and because
CORRUPTION
JS Mill : It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied
Integrity is about what one does when no one is watching us
Gandhi : There is a higher court than court of justice, that is the court of conscience. It superseded all other courts
Silence is the worst enemy of morality
Leonardo Da Vinci : Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence
Buddha : What we think we become
Gandhi : You must be the change you wish to see in the world
Gandhi : An ounce of practice is worth more than tonnes of preaching
Plato : The reason for corruption is greed and ignorance about what a person should aspire for.
Corruption
Evil becomes banal when it acquires unthinking and systematic character.
It becomes banal when ordinary ppl participate in it, build distance from it and justify it in countless ways
There are no moral conundrums or revulsions.
Evil does not look like evil – it becomes faceless
Authoritarian top down approach
JS Mill : No state becomes great by dwarfing its own people
JS Mill : All restraints qua restraints is evil
Democracy or giving someone the right to speak
FOSE is sine qua non for democracy
All silencing of discussion is assumption of infallibility. Truth becomes dogma
Voltaire : I may not agree with what u say, but i would defend to death ur right to say so
Gandhi : Even if you are a minority of one, truth is the truth
JS Mill : Just as tyranny of one over others cannot be tolerated, similarly tyranny of majority over one cannot be tolerated.

Affirmative Action

Don’t give him fish, teach him how to fish
Environment
Gandhi : There is enough for everybody’s need but not for everybody’s greed
We dont inherit the Earth from our ancestors, but borrow it from our children
Gandhi : Greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated

Leaders
Leaders can create forceful motivation and charge followers into action inclined towards excess

Miscellaneous
It attacks the symptom rather than the disease
Sometimes honest officers think that refraining from corruption, they can autonomically reform the system. This does not happen
Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but who loves him is diligent enough to discipline him
Always go for technology based solutions
Corruption
Leakages
Malpractices
If we get a complaint against an employee- dont jump to conclusions – often exacerbated – Order enquiry not punishment
In the process he may incur the minister’s displeasure. That is a cross he has to carry as a part of his job as a civil servant
In case of request for inappropriate tender allotment by Minister – Send a report citing legal, factual and other issues with a recommended course of action. Once he has performed this task – discharged the duty adequately – must follow orders of superiors
Blatantly illegal thing like asking to submit a false statement or affidavit – politely refuse
Go with the flow – The approach is passive and smacks of defeatism
Young girls are often idealistic, sentimental and highly impressionable.

Sharing is caring!