E+V+V+M=L

Ethics + Virtues + Values + Morals = Life (and well-being). Why? 

Amended 8 January 2020: 

I know I wrote this many years ago now (maybe I was in a more serious mood!) - but it still holds true - particularly in world at present! 

At least in my mind it does.

---///---

There seems to be some confusion about the terms Ethics, Values, Virtues and Morals. Certainly the terms Ethics and Morals are used indiscriminately and are considered interchangeable as are Virtues and Values. Yet they each have a name and therefore a purpose. 

It is here stated that virtues are at the core of both morality and ethics. Virtues are the qualities people admire and aspire to and define a ‘good person’; the qualities of kindness, compassion, courage, honesty, temperance, humility, integrity and justice. A person cannot be either ethical or moral without also being virtuous. Anyone’s ethical and moral qualities together with their virtue are dependent on their set of values; their beliefs, something that is at the core of their being. Values are not just mannerisms or a set of preferences. They refer to something much deeper and more subtle, to a line that cannot be transgressed. It has been suggested (possibly unkindly) that human beings as a species are neither intelligent nor creative enough to have invented morality, virtues, ethics or values; that these are innate and part of the human psyche.

In a general discussion, however, it is sometimes best to consider each term separately, even though they are interwoven and have a symbiotic relationship. They work together because to be at ease with yourself and to create and  maintain a meaningful balance between the conflicting demands of work (to earn a living); family (love and building and maintaining relationships); time out for one’s self (R and R and to reflect on and assimilate the varied influences that affect your quality of life) they cannot be isolated and used or applied piecemeal. 

Ethics, morals, virtues and values should be considered as facets of the same jewel – a human being who has fulfilled their potential. Each supports the other and somehow the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts – like the facets cut on a precious stone.

Similarly they cannot be considered as disposable items, to be used and then discarded. Nor are they to be written up only to be kept in a drawer and dusted off when a crisis looms. They need to come from the heart. They need to be practiced daily, to become a habit of excellence. In effect they are the essence of Humanity and what it is to be a good person. And we all want to be considered good – in fact to accuse someone of not being ‘good’ is an affront and taken as an insult. 

So then:

Ethics: the principled treatment of other so as to cause no harm – “treat others as you would like to be treated”. 

Morals: the reasoned ability to distinguish between right and wrong, or positive and negative in relation to the actions, volitions, or character of responsible beings.  

Virtues: the qualities which determine the Moral excellence of a person.

Values: the beliefs which set parameters or limits to a person’s thinking, and which are evidenced only by their actions.

Someone who is ethical has sound values, supported by appropriate virtues and moral precepts - in other words the basis for a good, socially integrated, Life. 

Respect

All of us would like to be respected and need to be respected. To be respected as a human being; to be acknowledged for what we are. Respect has to be earned, but first of all we must respect ourselves, if we don’t how can we expect others to show us respect? Someone in a high position may be entitled to respect – the Office of President of the US, for example, certainly deserves respect, but has the incumbent earned it? A company CEO may be entitled to respect, the position indicates that this should be so, but is this so, has he (or she) earned it?

So how does one earn respect? In fact what is respect? Respect is the deference, honour or esteem felt or shown towards a person. It is a quality that is difficult to define because of its subtlety. We all have different ideas about this and may respect someone that others do not. All animals defer to the dominant, or Alpha male in a herd, troop or group of animals or flight of birds. This is a natural and useful attribute to maintain the strength of the gene pool and for the general safety of the group. The Alpha male has the attributes which the others accept as the ‘best', in that it may be the biggest, strongest, fastest or it display some other factor which gives it the ability to rise to the top of the ‘pecking order’. 

Human beings are much more complicated than this. Many in positions of influence or power – dictators in their own way - are feared and force their followers or subjects to ‘show respect’ by abasing themselves when in their presence. All dictators demand this subservience and abasement, i.e. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and many others, some even in the corporate field. To be truly respected, however, a human being needs to have many attributes, some of them very subtle. This ‘respected’ person must have human qualities of the highest order. These qualities are ones we have all met before – the qualities of Honesty, Justice, Courage, Temperance, Compassion, Kindness, Humility and Love for one’s fellow beings - in other words all the old fashioned virtues! Someone who has these qualities is trusted to keep their word; can be relied on to do the job to the best of their ability; can be called on for help in a dire situation. Anyone who has these qualities to a high degree is revered – think Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa and those with long memories may remember Dr. Albert Schweitzer. 

These qualities are the essence of good relationships with all Life’s forms; they are the essence of ethics, of virtue and of morality. People with these qualities lift the human spirit; by their actions they lead us to greater understanding of what it is to be Human; that Humanity has a grandeur and a nobility that in our wiser moments we may come to acknowledge; that we are all capable of greatness in our own way, given our circumstances; that we must respect ourselves for what we truly are; that we all are better than we believe or think ourselves to be.

This is respect. This is what all people honour. This is what we all hope to aspire to.

Trust

What is so important about trust? Just think about it – without trust society as we know it would disintegrate. And the core of trust is love; love for one’s fellow beings – all fellow travellers on the road of life.

Without it the situation would arise where trust between child and parent would be absent. Domestic animals trust that we will care for them. What about trust between partners – husbands and wives? I remember reading somewhere, Time magazine most probably, about an English couple, newly married – both lawyers of course – who drew up a bizarre ‘contract’ between themselves wherein everything they did had to be compensated for. If one made the breakfast the other had to do the dinner, if one washed the car the other had to do something to ‘balance’ things, and so it went on. There was obviously absolutely no trust between them, and I can’t believe there was any love either. I have no idea whether the union lasted, but I can’t see how it would.

Of course in business trust is paramount. When trust fails chaos reigns as is currently very evident. Banks don’t trust anyone at present, so credit dries up – and business relies on credit.

Trust also depends on people’s ethical conduct and behaviour. Unethical behaviour is the antithesis of trust. I mean, who would trust someone who lies, who is dishonest, whose behaviour belies all that most people consider to be good and decent? No one does – we use the rather disparaging phrase “honour among thieves” to express our distrust of those who we have categorised as untrustworthy, but who deal between themselves. As an example, who trusts the wiz-kids in Wall Street now-a-days? Who trusts the rating agencies that gave AAA ratings to very dubious CDOs and sub-prime mortgages? Who trusts the banks? But they all deal, or dealt, between themselves didn’t they? They all dreamed up the (basically unethical) schemes which have brought the world economy to its knees.

Now, to regain trust, people, particularly business people, must be ethical. They must remember, or re-learn, or be taught, what ethics means and why it is so important. They must be made aware of the importance of morality, of the virtues and of holding fast to values which support their moral precept and virtues, which are only evident by their behaviour (ethical, or unethical).

We cannot see into someone’s mind, so how they think, (and thoughts governs their morality, their understanding of virtue and what they value) can only be evidenced by their actions, which, of course result from their ethics.

I consider ethics to be the glue that holds societies and groups of people together. That is why it is so important, why trust is so important.