Sincerity and Professional Ethics - Essay Example

? Sincerity and Professional Ethics Sincerity and Professional Ethics Ethics The term ethics is used globally whenever there is a need to define morals and standards which depict quality and sincerity. Ethics are usually the basis upon which a culture or a society stands upon and without proper set of ethics and rules, no can guaranty success both on individual and on social basis. From early childhood, ethics are being taught and understood so that one makes them a part of his/her personality and do not get diverted from them at later stages. Moral values like speaking of truth always, obeying of elders and sincerity for others are some basic ethics which are expected from every individual in his/her personal and professional life. The difference line between ethics and immorality is as simple as what to do and what not to do to become a good human being and a beneficial part of the society. Ethics are needed to be followed in every mode of life, from homes to workplace, from high business dealings to small private jobs; personal and professional ethics are of extreme consideration and importance and people who follow these are highly acknowledged. These are not meant to be known only rather these are meant for understanding and correctly implementing at proper occasions. A good life is based upon a correct set of norms and values which define its code of ethics. These norms and values are not individual sets of political, religious or social basis rather they reflect logical point of views which must be adapted in order to have a better life for self and for others. These ethics are universally accepted as these are independent of culture, society or religion. Philosophically, ethics are termed as determination of right and wrong and involve such decisions which identify the borders and limits of do’s don’ts. These demand reason and logics to be followed in real life so that one can live an easy and contended life (Fletcher 1966). Simple moral ethics include taking care of sick, obeying of elders, avoiding lies, fair dealings etc. All these are common in every society and every religion of the world. Professional Ethics No doubt that ethics are given privilege at any place and at any level of like, but professional ethics are of particular importance in this regard. Professionalism is a very main aspect of life in which more than half of the population of the world is involved. A person who goes to a work place to earn for life is termed as a professional, particularly who have some skills and expertise by which he/she can serve the organizations with what he/she is affiliated. Since professionals are specialists of their corresponding fields, they can perform such activities and functions which an ordinary person and general public cannot, since they have the knowledge and expertise. The way in which a professional use his/her knowledge and conduct his/her self at his/her workplace is known as professional ethics and morals. These ethics are a predefined set of rules which every professional should adapt so as to become a nice colleague, a good subordinate, a better manager and a beneficial part of the organization for what he/she works. For different professionals, there are different codes of ethics which they have to follow in order to serve the society well. For examples, doctors have to take an oath by which they are bound to serve the humanity at all costs and by the best of their knowledge and expertise. They must prefer patients upon self and make their best efforts to cure them. Other professionals like engineers, IT professionals, teachers, scientists etc have different professional ethics which are sometimes defined by the corresponding work organizations. Social organizations like Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE define a code of ethics for all professionals. According to that, all IEEE members are bound to show responsibility in enhancing such technologies which are beneficial to the general public, to be honest and fair in dealings and to condemn corruption in any form, to avoid any kind of conflicts and fraudulent activities within the organization, to improve the competence by hiring qualified and trained people, to be sincere with colleagues by collaborating and assisting them in every case and must not harm them in any case, be respectful with the colleagues and must obey the terms and conditions set by the organization, must keep accountability and transparency in his/her activities etc (IEEE Code of Ethics 2012). Basically, these are the main values which concern a professional's conduct and behavior while carrying out their professional work which ultimately lead to the betterment of mankind. Business Ethics An important constitute of professional ethics is business ethics or business practice. Businesses are an essential component of a society whose economic influences are very considerable. Usually, businessmen are different from those who work for some organization as they are the ones who take risks and invest their money in order to expand and flourish. Since business is not constrained or limited as a typical job, hence its moral ethics are somehow different rather more strict than usual professional ethics. In business, there are different backgrounds and ground realities which would decide what moralities are applicable in that particular case. As business is a complex mechanism which involves several individuals and dealings; there are some philosophies which define morals and immoral of business. These philosophies describe sets of rules to be followed while doing any kind of business. General business ethics include respect of mutual agreements, tackling situation with alternatives by considering different approaches, showing dignity and commitment for others and should remain adhere to predefines set of such moral ethics. It is important to make such set of ethics which would be valid in practical and is not impossible to be followed. There are as many different situations in businesses hence the universality of ethics must be promised so that it would be beneficial for everyone who follows them. Setting business Code of Ethics While setting an organizations business rules, it is mandatory that it is not an individual who is making the rules since businesses comprise of many individuals and sections. There should be a board of authorities who decide the business ethics for the organization. They must make such laws which would not only be beneficial for the organization but for its entities and workers as well. There is no place for selfishness and individualism in business. It is a broad vision where employees are one of the standing pillars. Hence in order to do good business; fair dealings, commitments, cooperation, equal consideration to other’s point of views and individual respect are considered necessary and sufficient. By setting these as mandatory, all entities will automatically practice them during decision making and in other aspects of business which ultimately promise success and advantages (Barnard, 1968). But this must be kept in view while setting business ethics that they would comply with the social and economical facts and realities. For example, there are different business conditions in Europe and US than in Asia and Africa, so ground realities and physical aspects must be considered. The decisions should be widely acceptable and implementable and there should not be any unwelcomed decisions for the employees. Penalties, hefty fines, violation of rights etc are considered a big threat for the financial status of any company. On the other hand, by consumer’s point of view, misinformation, faulty products and unfair prices of the products can be highly destructive for the business. These are considered immoral and are not welcomed anywhere. However, certain changes in the above mentioned policies may take a varied impression depending upon the particular circumstances. Philosophical Approaches to Professional Ethics Since the subject of ethics belongs to the philosophy of life, we must understand and elaborate it in these terms. There have been many philosophical and psychological theories upon this very topic from ancient times. Plato and Aristotle were the first ones who describe morality and values by stating the do’s and don’ts for the mankind. As the concept of ethics and morality is very vast, hence since then many theories came in this regard. Among them the famous ones are “Cognitive Developmentalism” by Kohlberg, “Social Learning Theory” by Bandura and “Psychoanalytic Theory” by Sigmund Freud. All these theories and point of views describe ethics in terms of individualism and socialism and sets standards for moral beliefs with respect to different circumstances (Fletcher 1966). In recent times, philosophers treat ethics by dividing its forms into metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Metaethics involves the origin and application of moral values and their effects over individuals and the society. Universal truths, logics and reasons are counted in this regard. Normative ethics includes the behavior and attitude which one conducts practically. Applied ethics involve the social controversial issues in which there are several logics and reasons to present but these are not accepted universally. Metaethics covers metaphysical issues which concerns whether morality is independent of humans or they are the basic element for it to conduct. It basically study universe and its elements and researches upon the fact that is morality some divine kind of thing or is invented and conventioned by humans (IEP 2012). Here also, there are two schools of thoughts: Objectivism or Subjectivism This theory is supported by famous philosophers like Plato and Samuel Clarke, who were of the view that the universe and all of its elements are run by God almighty’s will and hence all moral values are also from him. He is the one to devise them and humans have nothing with these conventions except to obey them as it is. Hence these values apply to all creatures of the world and are not typically meant for humans. As they are made of god so they cannot be modified or altered by humans. According to Plato, moral values also are absolute truths and spiritual objects. Hence the decisions made by different humans are highly personalized and every individual adapts morality objectively. It may happen during this that others do not benefit from the decision taken. Usually, one takes decision and moral judgments which are result oriented, not considering other’s benefit and other social aspects. Relativism or Skepticism Contrary to objectivism, a class of philosophers argue that morals and values are based on human actions and those entirely depend upon the circumstances one is going through. This approach is termed as relativism as the name indicates that the norms and ethics are subjected or related to the situation. It may happen during some moral judgment that emphasis is being made purely on situation and ground facts. Since different people and societies are exposed to different circumstances, hence their personal morality model is determined by the level of stress and happiness and not on divine principles. If one cannot choose the best moral values which are suitable according to the situation, then he/she may harm others for his/her own benefit, but it should not be too much to be criminalized (Forsyth 1978). Skeptics deny that moral values are some spirit like objects; instead they say that these are human inventions which can be altered according to the requirement of time and situation. There are individual and cultural relativisms which hold for individuals making morals for themselves and for socially acceptable ethics respectively. Friedrich Nietzsche was of the view of individual relativism by arguing that humans are not slaved to follow those norms that are not set by him, while philosophers like Sextus, Michel Montaigne and William Graham Sumner support cultural relativism. Kantian Theory of Professional Sincerity Apart from objectivism and relativism, there are other different approaches namely situationalism, absolutism and exceptionalism which are different amongst each other. Situationalism involves the extreme of relativism, i.e., the morality is judged on the basis of benefit and every morality is based upon the situation. Absolutism is the approach which is highly opposed to situationalism and is in the full support of objectivism. According to it, skeptics perform such actions which can be harmful to mankind by violating morals and ethics. The biggest supporter of absolutism is the famous philosopher Emmanuel Kant who is of the view that one should act in order to be best fit on the standards of the morality. He strongly disagrees with the concept of situational benefits and supports absolute values and morals. Kant supported moral absolutes with disregard to benefits or circumstances. The Kantian theory of professional sincerity is very famous in this regard. According to him, “…the sincere will is both good and autonomous”, i.e., sincerity means goodwill for others and respecting others benefit by disregarding situational benefits. He says that moral values are from inside a human being upon which he/she should act at all costs (Palmquist 2010). Similarly professional sincerity is measured by goodwill which is generated by the very person himself to do good to his/her co-workers and to the organization for which he/she is working for. He says that if a person is pious, do good things and have a humble and cooperative nature, then surely he/she will be good to his/her colleagues. Since such emotions and value-based actions are highly praised by the society, then the organization and business will automatically grow and get success. Some of such sincere professional activities include performance based bonuses, employee’s respect and satisfaction, giving salaries at appropriate time, keeping promises and written contracts etc. All the staff from top to bottom must be equally treated by the employer. These steps make the organization strongly bound and the elements work harder and with their own goodwill for the organization and its authorities. Exceptionalism also supports Kantian ideology since the exceptionists are in opposition with objectivism. They say that the advantages and disadvantages of a moral judgment should be put in comparison with each other and then it would be decided and evaluated what to do and what not. In such case, it would not be immoral and at the same time would be beneficial to self and to others as well (Kant and Abbott 2004). Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be concluded that sincerity and morality is the key solution to professional and business success. Whether someone is an employer or a job worker, he/she must follow moral values and professional code of ethics set by the respective organizations, in order to get privilege and good reputation. Actions should be taken such that the entire organization and the fellow colleagues can benefit from it. Emotions like sincerity which arises from a person’s conscience and sets own moral standards are considered of high value and are praised by the society as well. There are several philosophical approaches for ethics, but Kantian ideology and relativism works best in this regard as there is no element of selfishness in these and all entities of the system can get benefit by adapting these. Works cited Broome, J. (1991). Utility-Economics and Philosophy. Gainesville. University of Florida. FLETCHER, J. F. (1966). Situation ethics: the new morality. Philadelphia, Westminster Press. KANT, I., & ABBOTT, T. K. (2004). Critique of practical reason and other works on the theory of ethics. New York, Barnes & Noble Books. PALMQUIST, S. (2010). Cultivating personhood Kant and Asian philosophy. Berlin, De Gruyter. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10435688 IEEE Code of Ethics, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE. Retrieved on 20/5/2012 from: http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html Metaphysical Issues: Objectivism and Relativism. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy IEP. Retrieved on 20/5/2012 from: Read More