Ethics: An essential ingredient

Ethics according to Jeff Landauer and Joseph Rowlands, co-authors of the ‘Importance of psychology’ is the branch of study dealing with what is the proper course of action for man. “It answers the question, ‘What do I do?’ It is the study of right and wrong in human endeavors. At a more fundamental level, it is the method by which we categorize our values and pursue them. Do we pursue our own happiness, or do we sacrifice ourselves to a greater cause? Is that foundation of ethics based on the Bible, or on the very nature of man himself, or neither?”

They add that ethics is an important virtue because it is a requirement for human life. “It is our means of deciding a course of action. Without it, our actions would be random and aimless. There would be no way to work towards a goal because there would be no way to pick between a limitless number of goals. Even with an ethical standard, we may be unable to pursue our goals with the possibility of success. To the degree which a rational ethical standard is taken, we are able to correctly organize our goals and actions to accomplish our most important values. Any flaw in our ethics will reduce our ability to be successful in our endeavors.

For Johnson Ejike,  “ethics is just personal principles on morality, vis a vis a cultural context and it is very important to have a high moral fiber because this is what distinguishes human beings from other animals.

“Being a branch of philosophy Ejike says, ethics also helps one determine or define right from wrong”

Pondering on the phenomenon, Deborah Kentebe an insurance sales representative explains it as a set of principles of right conduct which can be a theory or a system of moral values as well as a moral principle.

Kentebe says it is an important quality for every individual to possess regardless your stance in society or career path. “Ethics is a very important quality that everyone should posses in other to live an orderly life.

“When ethics is put into play in one’s life, it will be obvious because that person will not just do anything without thinking of the positive and negative part of the situation/circumstance.”

She explains further. “For example, if one who owns a car does not have ethic, he/she will not be conscious of the fact that when driving along a water-log area that they should slow down to avoid splashing water on other road uses.”

Isaac Aimurie an Abuja based journalist describes ethics as a set of generally agreed upon rules by professional bodies and groups that guide their professional conducts.

Aimurie said as professionals and as one who wants to set a standard, it is very important for them to come up guiding principles. “Professionals who want o be taken seriously and reckoned with must come up with some rules to guide them in the course of their work so that there will be standards for determining what is professionally right or wrong.”

Although respondents shared their views on what ethics means to them and how it should apply, let us conclude with Landauer and Rowlands tips on the key elements of proper ethics.

“The key elements of a proper Ethics according to them include a proper foundation of ethics requires a standard of value to which all goals and actions can be compared to.

“This standard is our own lives, and the happiness which makes them livable. This is our ultimate standard of value, the goal in which an ethical man must always aim. It is arrived at by an examination of man’s nature, and recognizing his peculiar needs.

“A system of ethics must further consist of not only emergency situations, but the day to day choices we make constantly. It must include our relations to others, and recognize their importance not only to our physical survival, but to our well-being and happiness. It must recognize that our lives are an end in themselves, and that sacrifice is not only not necessary, but destructive.”