What is Ethics?

What is Ethics?

Ethics is one of those words that seems to lose meaning the more it’s used. Webster’s dictionary describes ethics as “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.” This article will explore five questions related to ethics. Can ethics really be described as a discipline? What is moral duty and obligation? Who defines what is good and what is bad? What is the public administrator’s moral duty and obligation? Finally, who decides whose ethics are right?

Is Ethics a Discipline?

A discipline, again according to Webster, is a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity. Many organizations have a Code of Ethics. Most have been adopted from the professional associations with which they are affiliated. Some fields hold high ethical standards for their members. Physicians and attorneys are held to very high standards. They can lose their license to practice as a result of unethical behavior. In the corporate world, things are very different. While codes of ethics exist, strict adherence does not ensure success in the field. In fact, behavior that is considered too ethical may not be accepted in the corporation. The public sector is also different. Ethical standards are high because tax dollars pay for everything. Public administrators constantly consider how taxpayers will perceive their decisions and act accordingly. While many organizations seem to loosely follow a set of beliefs they refer to as ethics, there is no single set of ethical rules that govern conduct or activity in an organization. Ethics is not a discipline; it is a diverse set of beliefs and behaviors that are determined by the people who work in the organization.

What is Moral Duty and Obligation?

Moral duty and obligation sounds ominous. It seems like such a huge responsibility for a street-level administrator to shoulder. Moral, back to Webster, implies conformity to established sanctioned codes or accepted notions of right and wrong. Duty can be defined as obligatory tasks, conduct, service, or functions that arise from one’s position (as in life or in a group). Public administrators have the obligation, because of their position, to conform to established codes or accepted notions of right and wrong. Moral duty and obligation cannot be instilled in a system where ethics is not a discipline, but merely a loosely held set of beliefs. Duty and obligation come from discipline.

Who Decides What is Good and What is Bad?

Ethics are based on moral duty and obligation and are reinforced by accepted notions of right and wrong. Definitions of good and bad, and right and wrong, differ as much as people do. Countless examples exist of companies, agencies, even administrations that have developed their own definition of good and bad – right and wrong. Everyone believes, or at least they would say, that lying is wrong. Yet, people lie everyday about all sorts of things. Based on their values and their loosely held set of beliefs, they believe that what they are doing is good. Often when these people eventually face some sort of legal action, it becomes apparent that what they were doing was bad. The meaning of good or bad depends on the person.

What is the Public Administrator’s Moral Duty and Obligation?

The moral duty and obligation of public administrators would be to serve the public. How they do that will be based on a set of established codes or rules. Whether or not they feel it’s right will be based on their own ethics. How hard they fight will be based on their own values. Public service is similar to corporate America in that some people will always go above and beyond and some people will always do the minimum possible. If ethics were considered a discipline and studied and enforced throughout the public sector, it would never be acceptable for a public administrator to do the minimum. They would always strive to do the most they could for the public. They would possess a moral duty and obligation to assist the public in any way possible.

Who Decides Whose Ethics are right?

Deciding on whose ethics are right would be tantamount to deciding which religion was right. There are general rules, values and beliefs that everyone lives by, but there are also many, many gray areas. The gray areas are the ones that give us the most trouble. It’s everywhere in our society. The constant struggle between what one group thinks is right or ethical and what another group thinks is right and ethical. Who decides who is right? Currently, judges, district attorneys, police chiefs – public administrators.

Those who work in the public sector have a great deal of power and influence over society. Ensuring that the power and influence is used ethically requires discipline and clear and distinct definitions of right and wrong. No one knows the system better than those who work in it. Public administrators have a moral duty to make the system work for the public. When they do, they are working wisely.

***Dart, Laurie. (2004). What is Ethics? PA Times, 27(1), 4.***