WEEK 5 -Breaking Myths about Ethics

ETHICS

Ethics is not simply playing by rules just as much as you think. Ethics is what question actions of humanity. Will you do this if you end up like this? Will you do this if it harms another? These are questions that will be answered by ethics. In some instances there seem to be a connection between ethics and religion and sometimes there isn't.

Ethics and religion

Ethics is independent from religion. This is partly true. It is something evolving together with human evolution. Sense of choosing what is good for you and good for others doesn’t have anything to do with a religion. Even religions evolve with time. If you consider the tribal religions that existed in the very beginning of human civilizations, some of them even no longer exists. The modern world is in a trend of following religions that would unite many moral principles and respect all religions. This is known as Ominsm. Consider Religiously unaffiliated people and atheists as an example. Just because they don’t follow a religion, does it mean that these people’s actions are ethically wrong? This isn’t necessarily true. The most probable way of judging an action is to make a guess about the consequence of your action as “consequentialism”. Thus, there are instances where ethics don’t show any relationship with religion.

But sometimes there can be instances where religion influence morality in a positive manner. For an example, it’s a fact that any religion would recommend sharing what you have with someone who is in need. I’ve encountered a situation where I had a choice to do a donation when going across a road. I chose to make a donation not in a motive of gaining something in a return. Choosing to do a donation was a choice. I would have ignored it. The choice that I made the other person happy and satisfied while making me feel good as well. It proves that religion can induce actions that are morally good. Thus, religion takes a positive role in certain actions and influence morality of an individual.

Ethics and Society

Your actions and thoughts builds interactions with the people around you. It is not possible to live without caring or bothering about what is happening around you. When two people argue about an action, shouldn't there be a general solution that satisfies both of them? This is where both logic and ethics play a role.

HAPPINESS

Is happiness alone is enough for a good life? Happiness is a brain’s mechanism of overcoming stress. It is a fact that perusing what you like brings you        happiness and reaching your goal would be easier. For a person enjoying hiking, though getting to the final point is challenging, he would keep going due to the motivation given by the thought of happiness in getting to the final point. But it is not always the case. Sometimes happiness can be an obsession and can lead to disappointed when you don’t achieve it. Think of a person working as an insurance agent, who has been successful career due to large number of clients with high deposits. But he decided to use client’s money temporary to enjoy his success and fails to deposit them back. Not only he will have to answer law but will lose his career, money and will have to face a lot of problems. This case is an ethical issue as well.  Thus, it is important to understand what real happiness is before you leave any regrets.

Unhappiness can degrade your life quality but at the same time can guide you to right path.  When I was working as an intern in an educational institute, I wasn’t happy about my work. I was lacking experience in that field. When I couldn’t keep up, I decided to change my stream and quit my job. It was a choice. Some people may still continue to work even if they are unhappy. But would it be effective? We cannot always overcome happiness in life, but choices that we make can at least feel us much better.

So far how convinced were you about ethics? Would you peruse your own happiness regardless of the people around you?  

It's a choice!

References:

• Singer, Peter. "About Ethics" in Practical ethics. Cambridge university press, 2011 (p. 1-15).

• Shafer-Landau, R., "Hedonism: its powerful appeal", in The fundamentals of ethics 2012 (p. 21-56). Oxford: Oxford University Press.