LIFE AND ETHICS

At some stage or other in our lives, we are all faced with a moral decision, whether big or small, important or trivial, it has to be resolved in the right manner. Whatever you do, wherever you are, you are faced with a matter of ethics. Let us take the example of a lawyer. A criminal lawyer may have to defend a criminal many-a-time as it is his job. But, what if he knows that his client is guilty and is likely to commit the same act of murder again. If he defends his client successfully and gets him acquitted from all charges against him, he will be morally responsible if his client commits murder again. This is an example of a matter of ethics. By refusing to defend his client, he is performing a breach of duty, which has less far-reaching consequences than successfully getting him acquitted.

The question arises that who has the say on the matter whether, ethics should be put before one's job. I believe that is us, who in the end have the final say. It is up to us to decide, whether we should follow our conscience and make the right choice, or follow material riches and forsake our ethics. Can we stay quiet and let our guilty conscience rot us from within, can we let the guilty get away. How can we let our insouciant attitude come in the way of making the right decision? We owe a moral responsibility to the society as well as to our colleagues. Being ethical is not only required from those involved in various walks of life, but it is necessary too for the achievement of their goals. By being ethical, we perform a service not only to the society, but also to ourselves.

However, sometime, being ethical may not lead to the solution of the problem. Instead, it may create further barriers to the accomplishment of the goal. In such cases, we should go to the root of the problem and try to solve it without the contravention of laws. Many-a-time, we attempt to solve the problem at hand by the contravention of laws which we deem fit to be broken.

To some people, ethics are of paramount importance, whereas, to others, they are merely convenient. Being Ethical, like patriotism is a convenient concept which can be stowed away when needed and brandished like a whip when required. Ethics is essentially the principles we have learnt, being applied into actual practice. Ethics cannot be forced onto anybody and depend on each person, however, they should be taken in a serious manner and applied so, for the good of humanity.

In the end, I would like to conclude by stating that ethics are not in a fixed form, which can be applied in a universal manner. This is not and cannot be perceived as a harangue against unethical people, because for all you know, they may believe that what they are doing is ethical. Everybody has their own interpretation of ethics and should be applied as such. However, they should choose what to do and choose well as their decision may have far reaching consequences, whatever they may be, we should not belittle them and treat them accordingly. I would like to conclude by stating this adage- To Each His Own