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Demystifying Ethics
Though the knowledge of ethics is believed to clear up our decision making, paper of ethics itself presents a
formidable challenge to students who aspire to secure good marks in General Studies. Since its incorporation in
examination, lot of mist has gathered around the subject obscuring the clear view of means to study and score in
it. It stems from variety of reasons: ethics does not exist as a separate discipline but part of philosophy subject in
undergraduate courses, lack of comprehensive text books on ethics etc. Hence generally students are troubled
with some pertinent question regarding how to approach the subject? where to study? how to study ? and what
set of literature one should refer to? This document strive to clarify some of these doubts by explaining how to
approach and study ethics.
Why ethics is introduced in UPSC examination?
Introduction of ethics in examination has both context and subtext. The context is provided by the paradigm
shift in way the government is expected to function and to extent citizens can expect. In the globalized world
economy, governments in developing countries are increasingly finding rationality in improving the governance
on lines of ethical concerns like responsibility, integrity and efficiency. Beside this pull factor, uplifting of
corruption from a moral issue to political issue has acted as push factor for government to adopt good practices
in their functionality. This broader context is giving rise to subtext of bureaucracies requiring individuals who are
not only knowledgeable but also possessing capacities of ethical reflection in their personal and public life.
Introduction of ethics paper reinstate the importance of ethics in governance and aspirants.
How to approach ethics paper?
Ethics paper in UPSC has two broader sections; theoretical and applied (case studies). Theoretical questions by
their very nature are difficult to answer because of their vagueness and openness. While case studies are
difficult to answer because of their implicitness and compactness. Hence answering these two sets of question
require different approaches:
Theoretical questions
In order to understand the feasible approach, let's take the example of one theoretical question recently asked
by UPSC:

Q. All human beings aspire for happiness. Do you agree? What does happiness mean to you? Explain with
examples.
Comments:
Question is entirely opinion based, highly subjective and divided into two parts. First part is
suggesting a viewpoint on psychological concept of happiness and asking it to evaluate it either through partial
agreement/disagreement or full agreement/disagreement. Accordingly answer of this part can take four possible
stands. It can either partially agree/disagree or completely agree/disagree with the viewpoint. Second part of
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question requires demonstration of ones subjective understanding of the concept through suggesting various
instances of life as examples. They could be an emotional state or particular state of life correlating with
happiness.
Tentative answer:
All human being seek meaning and purpose in life. In modern world, both meaning and purpose is provided by
the happiness. From the moment of birth every child wants to avoid suffering and seek pleasure as a way to be
happy. Family provides care to child to keep him and themselves happy. When child become adult he seeks
contentment in achieving positive state of life through fulfilment of her/his life goals. It could be success in
domain of family, friendship, work, finance, health. This striving for happiness is hence a universal phenomenon
found in all human being cutting across the culture.
Happiness for me is the concept through which I can make sense of variety of positive experience in my life and
others life. These experiences range from very simple feelings of being relaxed when I wake up early morning,
having good breakfast, finding cleaned road to complex emotions of pride that come by finding my name in list
of candidates who qualified prelims to satisfaction with the state of the society around me e.g. when I
experience good behaviour of stranger, hear news of inflation coming down and justice done to the victim of
crime.
Approach for theoretical questions:
Given the nature of theoretical questions following approach can be followed:

Student should strive to develop conceptual clarity with regard to all the concepts given in the syllabus.
In addition to understanding, student should inculcate the habit of defining the various concepts and
writing in clear and concise manner.
Proper comprehension of question is essential before framing the answer, hence should also develop
the habit of reading and comprehending in clear terms.
Organization of content by giving it proper structure, making distinct different parts and their
interconnections is crucial dimension of theoretical questions since they are open to various
interpretations depending upon readings.
Language skill is crucial to write in proper spirit since most of the questions are analytical and
considerably involves translating subjective understanding of student into concrete arguments.
Student should try to utilize their personal experiences of life to substantiate their arguments.

Case study questions

Case study questions mainly designed around either an issue (e.g. environmental, migration) or individual
situation involving the ethical dilemmas. The common characteristic of these questions are that they are specific,
situational, compact with implicit assumptions. They are designed to test the students' ability to identify and
apply the abstract concepts in describing the situations and resolving the concrete problem embedded in it.
Accordingly following method can be adopted to deal with case study questions:

Comprehending the case

When a problem, written or otherwise, comes to our attention, it is usually presented in a fragmentary or
distorted fashion, often with judgmental language and inflections. So, we must always attempt to ascertain and
describe as objectively as possible the facts of a situation. This might include identifying the key actors, the
viewpoints of each of them, the issues, the sequence of events, and the risks.

Defining the Ethical Issue

After we have done through all the necessary details of the problem, the next step is to define the ethical issue.
An ethical issue exists when competing or conflicting ethical principles or values are embedded in a practical
problem. Consider an administrator who is asked by a superior to provide confidential information about a
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colleague being considered for promotion someone who is a close personal friend and is not qualified for the
job. This problem is usually defined as keeping the boss happy but not hurting or offending the friend. This is a
definition of the practical dilemma, but behind these practical considerations are some conflicting values and
principles that need to be identified. There is an ethical dilemma to be defined by reference to certain specific
conflicting or competing ethical principles.
Conflicting loyalties would be the most general statement of the ethical issue involved here. However, we
could go further and consider obligations. On the one hand are the obligations to a friend to preserve
confidentiality, to be honest, and to be trustworthy. On the other hand, is the obligation to a superior to provide
honest and objective information about coworkers being considered for greater responsibility. Fulfilling this
obligation is in the best interest of the organization. Also, administrators have an obligation to the citizenry to
uphold the public interest. Thus the problem could be defined as conflicting loyalties or conflicting obligations,
depending on the details of the case and our own ethical priorities.
Unless we focus the analysis on underlying ethical issues of this kind, we may resolve the matter on purely
practical grounds. We may make a decision without ever really engaging the important values and principles that
are pulling us in different directions. Ethical analysis skills, ethical autonomy, and ultimately our ethical identity
are developed through engagement of this kind. It is the process through which character is formed. Without
this kind of complex character-forming engagement, the practical demands and exigencies of a situation are
likely to whip us around in a manner destructive of ethical judgment and antithetical to personal integrity.
Since this step of defining ethics is quite difficult, one must spend considerable time working on it in a variety of
ways before moving on to the full range of steps leading to final resolution.

Identifying Alternative Courses of Action

With an adequate definition of ethical issue before us, we can move on to identifying alternative courses of
action. After describing the situation as objectively as possible and defining the ethical issue, the most difficult
requirement is resisting the inclination to view the alternatives in dichotomous terms, as meaning that you do
either this or that. This either-or view is the most common trap in the ethical process. Rarely does an ethical
issue have only two or three possible solutions, but there appears to be a force within us, as pervasive as gravity,
that impedes the spinning out of alternatives.
Use whatever methods or techniques are necessary to move beyond either-or thinking, because until the most
significant alternatives are acknowledged, you risk overlooking the best solutions. A simple, two-column grid can
help a decision-maker to broaden his perspective. First, on the left side, list all the alternatives you can think of.
Then brainstorm these alternatives for some time, without evaluating any of them; if an alternative is
conceivable, you are required to list it. While this may sound like a simple procedure, but evidence indicates that
some people have an almost irresistible tendency to reject an alternative as soon as it is uttered. Second, on the
right side, write the probable consequences of each alternative, both positive and negative.

Projecting the Probable Consequences

Once the range of alternative solutions has been widened, the positive and negative anticipated consequences
of each possible course of action need to be projected. Projecting the consequences of alternatives is a key
dynamic in our natural, informal decision making. As we consider what we should do, we usually run a movie in
our minds. For each alternative we construct a scenario with actors, interactions, and consequences. Here, we
are attempting to raise this informal process to a more formal, conscious, and systematic level. We begin by
intentionally pushing out the boundaries of our range of considered alternatives, and then attempting to be
more imaginative in our creation of these projections into the future.
This process has been described as one of deliberation in which we experiment with a dramatic rehearsal, in
our imagination, of various competing possible lines of action. A reasonable choice of a course of conduct
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requires us to consider the full range of alternatives rather than only the one or two that dominate our feelings
and imagination.
The skill involved here is moral imagination the ability to produce a movie in our minds with realistic
characters, a believable script, and clear imagery. The movies we create tend to be more like slide shows or
jerky, black-and-white, silent melodramas rather than epic productions in colour with stereophonic sound and
complex plots. The more imaginative we can be in projecting the probable consequences of each alternative; the
more our ethical decision making is enhanced. This kind of vivid projection of alternatives tests their coherence
and plausibility, as well as evoking the feelings we can expect to accompany each one. It is a key connection
between the rational and the affective dimensions of ethical decision making.
Writing scenarios for each alternative may help you develop moral imagination. Although you would not have
the time to do this for every question, it may be a worthwhile exercise for practice purposes or for particularly
complex problems. You can also follow this as a group exercise with fellow candidates. After listing possible
alternatives down the left side and the probable consequences for each along the right side, analyze the scenario
for each one, attempting to refine the projected consequences.
It should be emphasized at this point that considering the consequences of each alternative does not mean that
this consideration is the only or the determining factor in arriving at a decision. Ethicists refer to deontological
(duty-oriented) and teleological (consequence-oriented) approaches to ethical decisions. The former approach is
focused on duty to certain ethical principles, such as honesty or justice, in a quest to determine which duty is
primary. The latter weighs the consequences of a course of action, as in utilitarianism with its calculus of the
greatest good for the greatest number, looking for the best outcomes. However, it is never possible to
completely separate them in practice. For instance, a duty to protect human dignity is inseparable from the
harmful consequences of not doing so.
What to study?
Since ethics is a multidisciplinary subject, students have to rely on multiple sources to prepare for this paper.
They are*:

VisionIAS notes on ethics.

Social Psychology by Baron.
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.
2nd ARC Report (Ethics in Governance).
IGNOU: MPA-011 (Ethical concerns in public administration).
Magazines like Frontline, EPW, Economic Times etc.

Note: It's not a comprehensive list of references just an indicative one.

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