Should our ethical commitment be determined by the state boundaries - Assignment Example

However, there are certain general aspects of ethics which are accepted everywhere in the world. This paper briefly analyses the question; “Should our ethical commitment be determined by the state boundaries?”. Should our ethical commitment be determined by the state boundaries? “Values are the rules by which we make decisions about right and wrong, should and shouldn't, good and bad. They also tell us which are more or less important, which is useful when we have to trade off meeting one value over another” (Values, morals and ethics, 2002).

Values are different in different societies. For example, Muslims are allowed to keep more than one wife at a time whereas most of the other religions consider such things as sin or unethical behaviour. In other words, values related to sexual activities or marriage is defined differently by different religions. Under such circumstances, the question; whether a Muslim person living in a Christian country should be allowed to keep more than one wife at a time, is relevant. It should be noted that plenty of Muslims are staying in America and Britain like Christian countries.

If such Muslims try to follow their customs and traits related to sexual activities while living in overseas countries, the chances of social problems are immense. Same way, same sex marriage is allowed in Canada. “All same-sex marriages declared legal and valid by Canadian justice minister Rob Nicholson”(Post media news, 2012). If Canadians try to follow same sex marriage customs while living in another country, social problems may definitely arise. Imagine a situation in which a Canadian male living in Saudi Arabia tries to marry another male while living in Saudi Arabia.

“As per utilitarianism, utility is measured in terms of pleasure and pain” (Crane &Matten, 2007, p.95).. Another argument is that “Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness” (Mill, 2004, p.6). It is a fact that same sex marriage provides pleasure to the Canadian, but it provides pain to the society in which these things are unacceptable. In short, it is better to keep ethics and morals within the state boundaries. At the same time, in certain cases, ethics and morals should be allowed to travel beyond the boundaries of states.

According to Maccarelli, (2006) “what a person should do and what a person wants to do are often not compatible” (Maccarelli, 2006). For example, Middle East is a place in which people from all parts of the world are working together. These diverse people have their own beliefs in morals and ethics. Christian workers consider Sundays as sacred days and they always like to have weekly off on that day. On the other hand, Muslims like to have weekly off on Fridays. If a Christian employee asks weekly offs on Sundays, his authorities should consider that demand favorably if possible.

Social contract theory says that “Majority of the humans are self-interested and they will work for preserving their interest. But the law of nature ask commands that each man be willing to pursue peace when others are willing to do the same” (Social Contract Theory, 2004). In other words, the ultimate aim or objective of ethics and morality is to promote peace and harmony across the world. In that sense, it is better to keep unacceptable ethical behaviours within the boundaries of