Concept of Ethics

The term ethics come from greek word. “ETHOS” which means “Character” or “Custom”.

Definition:

-The study and philosophy of human conduct with emphasis on the determination of right and
wrong.
-The science of human duty in terms of what is right and wrong, true or false.
-The achievement of wisdom, choosing actions that are benefical and acceptable long term; or
sustainable.
Ethics is studying and talking about what is right and wrong, good and bad. It is also studying
what makes something good or bad. This helps decide whether other things are good or bad.
Understanding ethics can help people decide what to do when they have choices. Many
philosophers think that doing anything or making any choice is a part of ethics.
What is the code of ethics?
A code of ethics is a guide of principles designed to help professionals conduct business
honestly and with integrity.

A code of ethics document may outline the mission and values of the business or organization,
how professionals are supposed to approach problems, the ethical principles based on the
organization's core values and the standards to which the professional is held.

Ethics applies to:

• Professional duties,Employee care, Customer care and supplier responsibilities,

Environment care, Ownership (price, value, opportunities..),Financing, Exploration.

Principles of Ethics:
-Beneficence and Non maleficence.

-Autonomy.
-Justice.
-Respect for peoples rights and dignity.
1) Beneficence:
Beneficence makes the researcher responsible for the participant’s physical, mental and social
well being as related to the study. Beneficence is also referred to as the principle of non-
malficence. The risks to a person participating in any study must be weighed against the
potential benefit to the participant and the importance of the knowledge to be gained. In any
case all risks should be kept to a minimum

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2) Respect: Respect for persons recognizes the capacity and rights of all individuals to make
their own choices and decisions. It reflect to the respect of the autonomy and self
determination of all human beings; acknowledging their dignity and freedom. An important
component of this principle is the need to provide special protection to vulnerable persons.

3) Justice: The study or program’s obligation is to distribute equally the risks and benefits of
participation in the research subject. Recruitment and selection of research participants should
be done in an equitable manner. The principle of justice forbids placing one group of people at
risk solely for the benefit of another. As with principle of respect for persons, there is a need to
protect vulnerable groups, including the poor and those with limited access to health services.

4) Respect: This principle states that decision making should focus on allowing people to be
autonomous— to be able to make decisions that apply to their lives. Thus, people should have
control over their lives as much as possible because they are the only people who completely
understand their chosen type of lifestyle. In essence, this ethical principle is an extension of the
ethical principle of beneficence because a person who is independent usually prefers to have
control over his life experiences in order to obtain the lifestyle that he/she enjoys.

Ethics and morality:

Ethics is often used in connection with the activities of organisations and with professional
codes of conduct: for instance, medical and business ethics, which are often formalised in terms
of exhaustive sets of rules or guidelines stating how employees are expected to behave in their
workplaces (such as in respect of a duty of care or confidentiality that health-care workers owe
to their patients; or the medical ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, respect for
autonomy, and justice).

Morality, on the other hand, is more often used in connection with the ways in which
individuals conduct their personal, private lives, often in relation to personal financial probity,
lawful conduct and acceptable standards of interpersonal behaviour (including truthfulness,
honesty, and sexual propriety).

Types of ethics:
Lander University’s Philosophy Department has classified ethics as:
1. Metaethics (what is good? etc)

2. Normative ethics (what should we do?)

3. Applied ethics (How do we apply ethics to work and lives?)
1. Metaethics:
Meta ethics focuses on the meaning of ethical terms themselves (for instance, ‘what is
goodness?’), and on questions of how ethical knowledge is obtained (for instance, ‘how can I

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distinguish what is good from what is bad?’), rather than on the more applied question of ‘what
should I do in a particular situation?’ Meta-ethics is therefore concerned with the nature of
ethical properties, statements, attitudes and judgments. Meta-ethics examines such themes as
what moral questions mean, and on what basis people can know what is ‘true’ or ‘false’.

2. Normative Ethics:

It is a branch of ethics, concerned with the criteria of what is morally wrong and right. It
includes the formulation of the moral rules that have direct implication for what human
actions, institutions, and ways of life should be like. It is also known as the Prescriptive ethics.

Types of normative ethics:

 Virtue ethics.
 Consquentialism
 Utilitarianism
 Ethical Egoism
 Ethical Altruism
 Hedonism
 Deontological Ethics.
3. Applied Ethics:
Applied ethics, which is concerned with how people can achieve moral outcomes in specific
situations. Therefore, it is concerned with the philosophical examination of particular – and
often complex – issues that involve moral judgments.

Areas such as bioethics, environmental ethics, development ethics and business/corporate

ethics may be regarded as areas of applied ethics. (The distinction between normative and
applied ethics, however, is becoming increasingly blurred.)

Steps in a process of ethical decision-making:

1. Recognition/identification of issue.
2. Data gathering.
3. Framing of the issues.
4. Evaluation of morally relevant conditions and considerations.
5. Implementation of decision.
6. Evaluation of decision-making process.

Importance of ethics in Public health professional:

-Ethical Standards prevent against the fabrication or falsifying of data and therefore promote
the pursuit of knowledge and truth.

-Ethical behaviour is important for collaborative work because it encourages an environment of

trust, accountability and mutual respect among health professionals.

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-Ethical standards issues codes such as honesty, objectivity, respect for intellectual property,
social responsibility, confidentiality and non discrimination which provide basic guidelines for
public health professionals.
Difference between ethics and law
Basis for Comparison Law
Meaning The law refers to a systematic
body of rules that governs the
whole society and the actions
of its individual members.
What is it? Set of rules and regulations
Governed by Government
Expression Expressed and published in
writing.
Violation Violation of law is not
permissible which may result
in punishment like
imprisonment or fine or both.
Objective Law is created with an intent
to maintain social order and
peace in the society and
provide protection to all the
citizens.
Binding Law has a legal binding.
Types Civil
Criminal
Administrative
International
Constitutional.
Ethics
Ethics is a branch of moral
philosophy that guides people
about the basic human
conduct.
Set of guidelines
Individual, legal and
professional norms
They are abstract.
There is no punishment for
violation of ethics
Ethics are made to help people
to decide what is right or
wrong and how to act.
Ethics do not have a binding
nature.
Normative.
Metaethics
Applied Ethics