For others, ethics are relative to culture, meaning sometimes what you deem good might be bad to other people and what you think is inappropriate might be necessary to them. Honesty, this is unarguable in many respects and should be considered but in general, in our day to day choices in life and in all our decisions that affect our long term or even permanent situation, there are more similarities than differences and it’s true that there is a universal “morality” or sense of “right and wrong” that we humans share no matter where we are on this planet. We are fundamentally governed by what others see as “deep moral conscious self” that determines and judges in accordance to the cosmic instinct of compassion, cooperation/coexistence, empathy and other positive dispositions we humans have as a philosophizing social animal.
How amazing for us as species to have our neurological evolution and our brain wired like this. With balance and practicality, this “system of principles” will always work in our favor, guiding our existence while allowing us to carry what is good, improve what is right and use these as tools for our daily basic social struggle within our lives and even until our chil-dren and even grandchildren’s generation. Imagine if most people on earth maintain the culture of integrity and trust-worthiness both inside their household and in the workplaces, what would be the differences and what can we, as a human society, guarantee to our selves and to others in the future?
According to Steven Mintz of ethicssage.com:
“Ethics is about character — the sum of qualities that defines a person. These qualities include a person’s intellect, thoughts, ideas, motives, intentions, temperament, judgment, behavior, imagination, perception, emotions, loves, and hates. In virtue ethics, character is all about what a well-intentioned person with good character would do. Character counts, as the saying goes, and it is the sum of who we are. What we stand for.“
Aside from teaching the importance of ethics on the individual or personal level, it is also very helpful to our society to teach and promote this highly to entrepreneurs and corporations as their main guiding principle. As always, businesses have a very important role in many social dynamics, economically and politically, therefore the business establishment too shall need to be promoting (most importantly, must practice first) values that are moral and ethical, not only for the sake of their interest but for their own vision themselves. According to opentextbc.ca:
“Secure meaningful employment. Often employers will look at a person’ past behavior as a predictor of future behavior. Someone who has a history of immoral behavior will have difficulty securing employment in a meaningful job, as that person may not be trusted. Succeed at business. If you are employed in an occupation in which there you must rely on others, your moral conduct will determine the degree of goodwill that you receive from others. Businesses that have a checkered moral history are typically viewed with caution and are unlikely to attract new customers through word of mouth, and therefore are unlikely to prosper. This is especially the case where social media makes customer reviews readily accessible.”
Many business leaders realized that treating people good and acting moral in a business is the best way to achieve real success. Success does not only mean a business is profiting but it also means you as the owner has helped and will continue to help others improve their lives through your service. Therefore taking care of your reputation as a leader also means taking care of your business. And by maintaining excellent ethical conducts, you are effectively protecting your business. So if a business owner wants to truly succeed, all he must first maintain is to constantly make ethical choices and actions.
Living an ethical life is very important for each of us so that we can enrich our lives while still see through our philosophical lens and therefore make sense of our experiences and existence despite many complexities, through taking care of our selves as well as others and by valuing the things that are essential for us and our society. Therefore, no matter what challenges we might face as an individual or as a community, short-term or long-term, we can still be productive and function with strength as a decent human being to help maintain a social cohesion that would also sustain our collective well-being.
By emphasizing the benefits of being aware and considerate of this positive philosophical idealism, opentextbc.ca concluded:
“We instinctively know that it is good to be moral and act with integrity, but by coming to an understanding of the reasons for morality and integrity, we will be motivated to champion such behavior. Make society better. When we help make society better, we are rewarded with also making better own lives and the lives of our families and friends. Without moral conduct, society would be a miserable place.”
Meanwhile, Steven Mintz also added:
“We need to be ethical because it defines who we are individually and as a society. These are norms of behavior that everyone should follow. Our society might fall into chaos if we accept that each of us could pick and choose what the right thing to do is. Some people may lie; others may not do what they say they will do; still others act irresponsibly and engage in harmful behavior.”
References:
- https://www.ethicssage.com/2017/03/why-do-we-need-ethics.html
- https://opentextbc.ca/ethicsinlawenforcement/chapter/1-1-the-importance-of-ethical-behavior/
- Featured image: https://www.ethicssage.com/2018/07/being-ethical-can-enhance-your-well-being.html
