(UPSC Ethics Simplified is a special series under UPSC Essentials by The Indian Express. It examines news and syllabus themes through an ethical lens, linking current affairs with core ethical principles to help aspirants build clarity, application skills, and a value-based understanding for GS Paper IV. Today’s article addresses how to identify and apply ethical reasoning in everyday situations, beyond obvious moral issues, which should be the starting point for studying applied ethics.)
There are countless situations around us that provoke a simple yet difficult question: is this ethical or not? Consider a recent outrage expressed by a woman in Mumbai over traffic jams caused unnecessarily by political parties. Should such actions be accepted as part of public life, or questioned on ethical grounds?
Similarly, if a senior publicly humiliates a junior during an official meeting and the junior expresses indignation, how should this be judged? While macro issues such as war, terrorism, financial corruption, and human exploitation are easily identified as ethical concerns, the real challenge for an aspirant lies in evaluating everyday situations that quietly shape public life.
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These routine instances often escape scrutiny, yet they reveal the true ethical character of governance and society. In many cases, they present subtle moral dilemmas that test one’s sensitivity and judgment.
The VIP culture question: Ethics of everyday governance
This becomes even more evident when society appears divided between ordinary citizens and VIPs. Whenever a VIP visit is scheduled, walls are painted overnight, roads are restored, and entire localities seem transformed. Such instances raise an important question: is this form of governance ethical, and does it promote fairness, or does it reinforce inequality in subtle ways?
Similar patterns can also be observed in domains like business ethics, where preferential treatment and unequal standards often raise concerns about fairness and accountability.
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A simple ethical compass for Aspirants
To navigate such dilemmas with clarity, a simple evaluative framework can be useful. Here are three key questions to identify ethical dimensions in everyday situations: Does it affect human dignity? Does it promote fairness? Does it serve the common good?
These questions help move beyond surface level reactions and enable a structured approach to ethical decision-making. For example, public humiliation directly violates dignity, while preferential treatment during VIP visits raises concerns about fairness and the larger public good.
To answer such questions with depth, it becomes necessary to revisit the basics. Morality refers to standards of right and wrong, good and bad, followed by individuals or groups. These standards guide behaviour through norms that define what is acceptable.
For instance, not treating others rudely can be understood as a moral norm. When value is attached to such norms, judgments emerge, such as the idea that compassion is good. In this sense, morality forms the foundation upon which ethical reasoning is built.
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Building on this foundation, ethics is the discipline that critically examines these moral standards. It evaluates not only individual conduct but also the broader implications of actions within society.
For thinkers like Aristotle, ethics was concerned with cultivating habits of good conduct and making the right choices in life. Similarly, Jürgen Habermas emphasizes that ethics gains importance because it considers relationships within communities and the responsibilities individuals hold towards one another. Thus, ethics moves beyond personal belief and enters the realm of collective well being.
Beyond legality: The role of ethical leadership
With this understanding, it becomes clear that determining whether an issue is ethical depends on how choices are made between right and wrong conduct. Ethics is not confined to legality alone.
An action may be legally permissible, yet ethically questionable if it undermines dignity, fairness, or justice. This distinction becomes especially relevant in societies where values are often assumed but not consistently practiced.
In real life governance and administration, ethical dilemmas frequently arise from conflicts such as superior orders versus public welfare, efficiency versus fairness, or procedural correctness versus substantive outcomes. These situations cannot be resolved through rules alone. They require an ethical lens grounded in values and guided by integrity. At the core of such ethical decision-making lies self compliance, which forms the basis of both ethical conduct and responsible governance.
If issues are viewed only through a legal framework, the human dimension is often ignored. When roads are repaired only for VIP movement, it signals a deeper problem of unequal concern for citizens.
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It raises important questions about dignity and fairness. Why does it become newsworthy when a VIP stands in a queue during elections? Does this imply that basic civic duties are meant only for ordinary citizens?
Such questions highlight the silent ethical tensions embedded in everyday governance.
Ultimately, ethical leadership requires humility and self awareness. It recognizes that knowledge is always evolving and that learning from society is essential. Ethical excellence is not achieved merely by clearing prestigious examinations, but through the cultivation of an inner moral compass. Figures like Socrates, Swami Vivekananda, and Mahatma Gandhi exemplify this ideal, as their actions were guided by a deep commitment to truth and justice. It is this ability to consistently distinguish between right and wrong that ultimately shapes ethical decision making in both public and private life. In this journey, the transition from awareness to action is crucial.
Start identifying ethical dimensions in your daily decisions by asking: What values are at stake? Who benefits or suffers? What would happen if everyone acted this way?
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These questions not only sharpen ethical reasoning but also help in developing a consistent and reflective approach to ethical decision-making in both personal conduct and public service.
(The writer is the author of ‘Being Good’, ‘Aaiye, Insaan Banaen’, ‘Kyon’ and ‘Ethikos: Stories Searching Happiness’. He teaches courses on and offers training in ethics, values and behaviour. He has been the expert/consultant to UPSC, SAARC countries, Civil services Academy, National Centre for Good Governance, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Competition Commission of India (CCI), National Judicial Academy, etc. He has PhD in two disciplines and has been a Doctoral Fellow in Gandhian Studies from ICSSR. His second PhD is from IITDelhion Ethical Decision Making among Indian Bureaucrats. He writes for the UPSC Ethics Simplified (concepts and caselets) fortnightly.)
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