HAPPINESS
The Epicurean Approach
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Musings on the Art of Happiness
HAPPINESS and PLEASURE
Are Happiness and Pleasure correlated?
They say:
1. Pleasure is Quantitative; Happiness is Qualitative.
2. Happiness is a lifelong goal.
3. Happiness requires cognitive judgment.
4. Pleasure is not essential to achieving happiness – here I do not agree. I feel happiness and pleasure are not mutually exclusive; in fact genuine pleasure can be the source of much happiness.
No philosopher has better explored the distinction between happiness and pleasure than Epicurus, a Greek Philosopher of the Third Century BC. Epicurus (341-270 BC) espoused a strategy for achieving genuine human happiness by emphasizing the delights of the mind (over which a person has control) rather than the delights derived from material things (which are so often beyond one’s personal control).
Epicurus’ name survives in the team “epicurean” which is used to refer to someone with elevated tastes and a lifestyle centred on pleasure. However, if you peruse his philosophy thoroughly, you will realize that Epicurus counsels a way of life very different from what the popular use of the term “pleasure” implies.
You may feel that Epicurean philosophy champions the pursuit of pleasure as the supreme goal of life, but this does not mean the unrestrained pursuit of excesses of any kind. Instead, Epicurus argues for a life of sober restrain and moderation in all things. The pleasures Epicurus recommends are those that are easy to achieve and simple in nature. The prolonged pursuit of pleasure is best achieved by restraint and enlightened choice.
It may be the prudent to moderate our single minded pursuit of “outward” success and achievement, the mindless acquisition of material possessions and accumulation of wealth, tendencies to showing off and ostentation, conspicuous consumption and lavish unrestrained pleasures; and focus more on the more authentic “inner” pleasures of life such as happy family life, enriching relationships, cultivating the mind and intellect, enjoying the pleasures of friends and companions, and living on the higher plane.
Epicureanism does not advocate the wanton pursuit of pleasure. Also, you must remember that pleasures and pains of the mind are of greater importance than those of the body. Epicurus set forth a strategy for achieving authentic human happiness by emphasizing the delights of the mind (over which a person has control) rather than the delights derived from material things (which are so often beyond one’s personal control). The fundamental premise is that presence of pleasure is synonymous with the absence of pain.
Genuine happiness emanates from pleasures that are easy to achieve and simple in nature. If you have only a few things, we will enjoy them more than if you had many things, and if you do not become used to rich and expensive foods, then simple fare, which is easier to obtain will satisfy you more.
In a nutshell: “The Art of Happiness is in keeping your Pleasures Mild”.
And how do you keep your pleasures mild? It is easy. Here is how. It is all about managing your desires. Read on.
DESIRE and PLEASURE
Are pleasures in any way linked to satisfying your desires?
There are two different types of pleasures:
1. “Moving” Pleasures
2. “Static” Pleasures
“Moving” pleasures occur when one is in the process of satisfying a desire – like eating delicious food when one is hungry.
These pleasures involve an active enjoyable titillation of the senses which most people call “pleasure”.
However, Epicurus says that after one's desires have been satisfied, like suppose you are fully satiated after eating a heart meal; this state of satiety, a state of no longer being in need or want, is itself pleasurable. Epicurus calls this “static” pleasure, and says that these static pleasures are the best pleasures.
Hence, Epicurus says that there is no intermediate state between pleasure and pain. When one has unfulfilled desires, this is painful, and when one no longer has unfulfilled desires, this steady state is the most pleasurable of all. There is no intermediate state between pleasure and pain – either your desires are fulfilled or they are not.
Epicurus also distinguishes between physical and mental pleasures and pains. Physical pleasures and pains concern only the present, whereas mental pleasures and pains also encompass the past (fond memories of past pleasure or regret over past pain or mistakes) and the future (confidence or fear about what will occur).
The greatest destroyer of happiness is anxiety about the future, especially the fear of death. If you can banish fear about the future, and face the future with confidence that one's desires will be satisfied, then you can attain a most exalted state of tranquillity.
This we see that the key to happiness is the effective management of your desires – Desire Management.
DESIRE MANAGEMENT
There is a close connection between pleasure and desire-satisfaction.
If pleasure results from getting what you want (desire-satisfaction) and pain from not getting what you want (desire-frustration), then there are two strategies you can pursue with respect to any given desire: you can either strive to fulfil the desire, or you can try to eliminate the desire.
Epicurus advocates the second strategy of scaling down your desires to the basic minimum which can easily be satisfied.
Epicurus distinguishes between three types of desires:
1. Natural and necessary desires,
2. Natural but non-necessary desires,
3. "Vain and Empty" or unnatural and unnecessary desires.
How we tackle each of these three types of desires determines our tendency to happiness [or unhappiness].
Examples of natural and necessary desires include the desires for food, shelter, health, sense of security and basic physical needs, cravings which will necessarily lead to greater pain if they are not fulfilled.
These basic desires are easy to satisfy yet difficult to eliminate (they are 'hard-wired' into human beings naturally) and bring great pleasure when satisfied (“Happiness begins at the stomach”).
Furthermore, they are necessary for life, and they are naturally limited: that is, if one is hungry, it only takes a limited amount of food to fill the stomach, after which the desire is satisfied.
Epicurus says that you should try to fulfil natural and necessary desires.
Vain, unnatural and unnecessary desires include desires for excessive power, wealth, fame, and other egoistic ambitions which have all the trappings of status and prestige.
Vain desires are difficult to satisfy, in part because they have no natural limit. If one desires wealth or power, no matter how much one gets, it is always possible to get more, and the more one gets, the more one wants. These desires are not natural to human beings, but inculcated by society and by false beliefs about what we need; (e.g.) believing that being very powerful or wealthy or famous will guarantee us happiness. In fact, Opulence attracts thieves, and power and fame attract sycophants.
Epicurus says that such vain and empty desires should be eliminated.
An example of a natural but non-necessary desire is the desire for luxury food. Although food is needed for survival, one does not need rich expensive gourmet food to survive. Thus, despite his hedonism, Epicurus advocates a surprisingly ascetic way of life. Although you shouldn't spurn extravagant foods if they happen to be available, becoming dependent on such food ultimately leads to unhappiness.
These natural but non-necessary desires are those cravings that do not necessarily lead to greater pain if they are not fulfilled. These desires are typically recreational in nature: Sexual gratification, aesthetic desires, entertainment, pleasant conversation, the arts, sports, travel etc.
In the case of natural but non-necessary desires you must approach life as a banquet. Think of your life as if it were a banquet where you would behave graciously, when dishes are passed to you, extend your hand and help yourself to a moderate portion. If a dish should pass you by, enjoy what is already on your plate. And if a dish hasn’t being passed to you yet, patiently wait for your turn.
To paraphrase Epicurus, “If you wish to make a man wealthy, don't give him more money; rather, reduce his desires”.
By eliminating the pain caused by unfulfilled desires, and the anxiety that occurs because of the fear that one's desires will not be fulfilled in the future, the wise Epicurean attains tranquillity, and thus happiness.
Dear Reader, why don't you try out this philosophy of life and let us know if it worked for you.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Appetite for a Stroll
http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm
vikramkarve@sify.com
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
ENTROPY NEGENTROPY SYNTROPY
ENTROPY
A Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Whilst teaching information theory, before I start pontificating on the concepts of entropy, negentropy, syntropy and the laws of thermodynamics, I tell my students this witty story of the monkeys and the hats.
Once upon a time there was a young hat seller who used to roam around from town to town selling hats for a living.
On one summer afternoon, while travelling from one city to another, he felt tired and decided to take a nap in the forest.
He found a mango tree with lots of branches and cool shade. Placing his bag of hats beside him the hat seller went to sleep.
When he woke up after a refreshing nap, he found that there were no hats in his bag.
Bewildered, he exclaimed to himself, “What bad luck. Of all the people, why did the thieves have to rob me?”
Suddenly he looked up and noticed that the mango tree was full of monkeys wearing all his colourful hats.
He yelled at the monkeys and they screamed back.
He made faces at them and in response the monkeys made the same funny faces back at him.
He threw a stone at them and they showered him with raw mangoes.
“Oh my God, how do I get my hats back?” the hat seller pondered for some time, and finding no answer he got so frustrated that he took off his own hat and threw it on the ground.
To his surprise, all the monkeys also threw their hats to the ground.
The hat seller did not waste a second and hurriedly collected all the hats and went on his way to the next town.
Fifty years later, the grandson of the same hat-seller who continued the family business of selling hats was passing through the same jungle.
After walking all afternoon he was very tired and found a nice mango tree with lots of branches and cool shade and he decided to rest a while and soon was fast asleep.
A few hours later, when he woke up, he realized that all the hats from his bag had vanished.
He started searching for them and to his surprise found some monkeys sitting on the mango tree wearing his hats.
At first he was confused, and at a loss not knowing what to do, but then suddenly he remembered the story his grandfather used to tell him about the monkeys and the hats.
“I know how to fool these monkeys,” he said to himself, “I will make them imitate me and very soon I will get all my hats back.”
He waved at the monkeys and the monkeys waved back at him.
He blew his nose and the monkeys blew their noses.
He started dancing and the monkeys also danced.
He pulled his ears and the monkeys pulled their ears.
He raised his hands and the monkeys raised their hands.
Then, he threw his hat on the ground expecting all the monkeys to do likewise.
But instead, one monkey jumped down from the mango tree and walked up to him. Then, looking into the young man’s eyes the monkey said, "Do you think only you had a grandfather?"
Had a laugh?
Liked the story?
Now, Dear Reader, please tell me what’s the meaning of Entropy ?
VIKRAM KARVE
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/
vikramkarve@sify.com
Appetite for a Stroll
http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm
A Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Whilst teaching information theory, before I start pontificating on the concepts of entropy, negentropy, syntropy and the laws of thermodynamics, I tell my students this witty story of the monkeys and the hats.
Once upon a time there was a young hat seller who used to roam around from town to town selling hats for a living.
On one summer afternoon, while travelling from one city to another, he felt tired and decided to take a nap in the forest.
He found a mango tree with lots of branches and cool shade. Placing his bag of hats beside him the hat seller went to sleep.
When he woke up after a refreshing nap, he found that there were no hats in his bag.
Bewildered, he exclaimed to himself, “What bad luck. Of all the people, why did the thieves have to rob me?”
Suddenly he looked up and noticed that the mango tree was full of monkeys wearing all his colourful hats.
He yelled at the monkeys and they screamed back.
He made faces at them and in response the monkeys made the same funny faces back at him.
He threw a stone at them and they showered him with raw mangoes.
“Oh my God, how do I get my hats back?” the hat seller pondered for some time, and finding no answer he got so frustrated that he took off his own hat and threw it on the ground.
To his surprise, all the monkeys also threw their hats to the ground.
The hat seller did not waste a second and hurriedly collected all the hats and went on his way to the next town.
Fifty years later, the grandson of the same hat-seller who continued the family business of selling hats was passing through the same jungle.
After walking all afternoon he was very tired and found a nice mango tree with lots of branches and cool shade and he decided to rest a while and soon was fast asleep.
A few hours later, when he woke up, he realized that all the hats from his bag had vanished.
He started searching for them and to his surprise found some monkeys sitting on the mango tree wearing his hats.
At first he was confused, and at a loss not knowing what to do, but then suddenly he remembered the story his grandfather used to tell him about the monkeys and the hats.
“I know how to fool these monkeys,” he said to himself, “I will make them imitate me and very soon I will get all my hats back.”
He waved at the monkeys and the monkeys waved back at him.
He blew his nose and the monkeys blew their noses.
He started dancing and the monkeys also danced.
He pulled his ears and the monkeys pulled their ears.
He raised his hands and the monkeys raised their hands.
Then, he threw his hat on the ground expecting all the monkeys to do likewise.
But instead, one monkey jumped down from the mango tree and walked up to him. Then, looking into the young man’s eyes the monkey said, "Do you think only you had a grandfather?"
Had a laugh?
Liked the story?
Now, Dear Reader, please tell me what’s the meaning of Entropy ?
VIKRAM KARVE
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/
vikramkarve@sify.com
Appetite for a Stroll
http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm
Saturday, October 31, 2009
HOW TO STUDY
SCHOLARSHIP
The Art of Learning
A Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Dear Reader, let me tell you a story, maybe apocryphal, about a scholar who had thoroughly studied the Bhagavad Gita for many years, considered himself an expert, travelled far and wide delivering discourses on the teachings of the Gita and was widely acknowledged as an authority on the subject.
The scholar’s ultimate desire was to deliver a discourse on the Bhagavad Gita at
So he went to
On hearing of the scholar’s erudition and fame, the King of Benares invited the scholar to deliver a discourse on the Bhagavad Gita in his court.
All the wise men of
Just as the scholar started to speak the King interrupted him and told him to read the Bhagavad Gita one more time in the evening and deliver his discourse the next day.
The Scholar was furious but he had no choice but to comply with the king’s wishes.
As he read the Bhagavad Gita with full concentration in the evening the scholar found some new meanings in the Bhagavad Gita and updated his speech accordingly.
Next day the same thing happened – the moment the scholar began to speak the King interrupted him and told him to read the Gita once more and then come the next day to give his lecture.
And again as the Scholar read the Gita he comprehended some new wisdom – something he hadn’t perceived before.
So he incorporated his new findings and proceeded to deliver his talk.
Once again the same thing happened – the king interrupted him and told him to again read the Gita once more before he gave his discourse.
And once again, while reading the Gita that evening, the scholar discovered some new wisdom in the Gita.
This cycle went on for days and days till the scholar realized how ignorant he was and how much more there was to learn from the Bhagavad Gita that he gave up the idea of delivering the discourse and decided to totally devote his entire life and focus his full efforts on the study of the Bhagavad Gita.
Days passed, and suddenly one morning, when the scholar was deeply immersed in his study of the Bhagavad Gita, the King went to the scholar’s house, sat before him with folded hands and requested the scholar to enlighten him about the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
GODSPEED
GODSPEED
A Nostalgic Musing
A teacher is a trustee. It is just like the birds. You take a flock of young students under your wings, nurture them, teach them to “fly”, and when they are ready, you release them into the world, set them free, watch them with pride as they fly into the sky, soar high above you, knowing that they will never come back, wishing that they reach great heights which you could never reach, for nothing gives a teacher more happiness than when his student excels and surpasses the teacher himself.
I have learned from experience that teaching has got less to do with knowledge and more to do with communication. Teaching is about relationships as well as pedagogy – it is more about feeling than facts.
It is all a question of vibes. Once you establish positive vibes with your students, you can feel the delightful chemistry between you and your students, it is like perfect impedance matching, the maximum power transfer theorem, and you can experience the classroom rocking with resonance, when all the resistance to the flow of knowledge disappears, the intellectual friction vanishes, the barriers melt away and seamless effortless learning is achieved.
It is not important how much a teacher knows. What is important is how much the student learns.
Like I said, communication skills are far more important than qualifications. Teaching is about relationships as well as pedagogy – it is more about feeling than facts. Soft Skills outweigh Hard Skills as far as the art of teaching is concerned.
A highly qualified Ph.D. who does not know the art of teaching and fails to establish good vibes with his students cannot make his lectures engrossing which may result in students losing interest in the subject and in some cases an insensitive teacher may even end up making his students hate and despise that subject.
It is easy to make simple things difficult but it requires good teaching, communication and soft skills to make difficult things easy and enjoyable to learn.
Today I feel a sense of pride tinged with nostalgic sadness as my protégés “fly” off to conquer great heights of success in their careers. It was a delightful experience to mentor young bright minds, to see them flower, blossom, bloom and flourish before your own eyes, observe them metamorphose from students into professionals.
I love being in the company of young people, full of zeal and enthusiasm, with a zest for living and a passion for learning. It makes me feel good and, as always, I “learn” more than I “teach”.
I feel sad, wanting to hold them back, not wanting to part, but I know I have to let them go to their destinies.
My dear students, as I watch you with pride in my heart, swiftly fly away, soaring high above me in the sky, vanish into the distance, to all my dear students, I sincerely wish you from the bottom of my heart: GODSPEED.
Godspeed – a wish for a prosperous journey and good fortune, my dear young friends, as you embark upon your first career, a new phase of your life.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Appetite for a Stroll
vikramkarve@sify.com
A Nostalgic Musing
A teacher is a trustee. It is just like the birds. You take a flock of young students under your wings, nurture them, teach them to “fly”, and when they are ready, you release them into the world, set them free, watch them with pride as they fly into the sky, soar high above you, knowing that they will never come back, wishing that they reach great heights which you could never reach, for nothing gives a teacher more happiness than when his student excels and surpasses the teacher himself.
I have learned from experience that teaching has got less to do with knowledge and more to do with communication. Teaching is about relationships as well as pedagogy – it is more about feeling than facts.
It is all a question of vibes. Once you establish positive vibes with your students, you can feel the delightful chemistry between you and your students, it is like perfect impedance matching, the maximum power transfer theorem, and you can experience the classroom rocking with resonance, when all the resistance to the flow of knowledge disappears, the intellectual friction vanishes, the barriers melt away and seamless effortless learning is achieved.
It is not important how much a teacher knows. What is important is how much the student learns.
Like I said, communication skills are far more important than qualifications. Teaching is about relationships as well as pedagogy – it is more about feeling than facts. Soft Skills outweigh Hard Skills as far as the art of teaching is concerned.
A highly qualified Ph.D. who does not know the art of teaching and fails to establish good vibes with his students cannot make his lectures engrossing which may result in students losing interest in the subject and in some cases an insensitive teacher may even end up making his students hate and despise that subject.
It is easy to make simple things difficult but it requires good teaching, communication and soft skills to make difficult things easy and enjoyable to learn.
Today I feel a sense of pride tinged with nostalgic sadness as my protégés “fly” off to conquer great heights of success in their careers. It was a delightful experience to mentor young bright minds, to see them flower, blossom, bloom and flourish before your own eyes, observe them metamorphose from students into professionals.
I love being in the company of young people, full of zeal and enthusiasm, with a zest for living and a passion for learning. It makes me feel good and, as always, I “learn” more than I “teach”.
I feel sad, wanting to hold them back, not wanting to part, but I know I have to let them go to their destinies.
My dear students, as I watch you with pride in my heart, swiftly fly away, soaring high above me in the sky, vanish into the distance, to all my dear students, I sincerely wish you from the bottom of my heart: GODSPEED.
Godspeed – a wish for a prosperous journey and good fortune, my dear young friends, as you embark upon your first career, a new phase of your life.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Appetite for a Stroll
vikramkarve@sify.com
GODSPEED
GODSPEED
A teacher is a trustee. It is just like the birds. You take a flock of young students under your wings, nurture them, teach them to “fly”, and when they are ready, you release them into the world, set them free, watch them with pride as they fly into the sky, soar high above you, knowing that they will never come back, wishing that they reach great heights which you could never reach, for nothing gives a teacher more happiness than when his student excels and surpasses the teacher himself.
I have learned from experience that teaching has got less to do with knowledge and more to do with communication. Teaching is about relationships as well as pedagogy – it is more about feeling than facts.
It is all a question of vibes. Once you establish positive vibes with your students, you can feel the delightful chemistry between you and your students, it is like perfect impedance matching, the maximum power transfer theorem, and you can experience the classroom rocking with resonance, when all the resistance to the flow of knowledge disappears, the intellectual friction vanishes, the barriers melt away and seamless effortless learning is achieved.
It is not important how much a teacher knows. What is important is how much the student learns.
Like I said, communication skills are far more important than qualifications. Teaching is about relationships as well as pedagogy – it is more about feeling than facts. Soft Skills outweigh Hard Skills as far as the art of teaching is concerned.
A highly qualified Ph.D. who does not know the art of teaching and fails to establish good vibes with his students cannot make his lectures engrossing which may result in students losing interest in the subject and in some cases an insensitive teacher may even end up making his students hate and despise that subject.
It is easy to make simple things difficult but it requires good teaching, communication and soft skills to make difficult things easy and enjoyable to learn.
Today I feel a sense of pride tinged with nostalgic sadness as my protégés “fly” off to conquer great heights of success in their careers. It was a delightful experience to mentor young bright minds, to see them flower, blossom, bloom and flourish before your own eyes, observe them metamorphose from students into professionals.
I love being in the company of young people, full of zeal and enthusiasm, with a zest for living and a passion for learning. It makes me feel good and, as always, I “learn” more than I “teach”.
I feel sad, wanting to hold them back, not wanting to part, but I know I have to let them go to their destinies.
My dear students, as I watch you with pride in my heart, swiftly fly away, soaring high above me in the sky, vanish into the distance, to all my dear students, I sincerely wish you from the bottom of my heart: GODSPEED.
Godspeed – a wish for a prosperous journey and good fortune, my dear young friends, as you embark upon your first career, a new phase of your life.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
MORAL DEVELOPMENT Musings by Vikram Karve
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Musings on Ethics
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Is Ethics relevant in the workplace in today’s world?
Can Ethics and Business co-exist? Or are the two mutually exclusive?
Or is "Business Ethics" an oxymoron, not relevant in today's business and corporate environment?
What about your personal life - does ethics matter?
Is there such a thing as Ethical Fitness? Do your personal individual moral values matter at the workplace?
When recruiting new people, or promoting/appointing persons to senior / sensitive positions, a number of attributes ( Hard Skills and Soft Skills) like Professional Competence, Managerial Proficiency, Domain-specific or Technical skills, and pertinent soft skills comprising leadership, communication, behavioural and emotional aspects, and even physical and medical fitness are assessed, evaluated and given due consideration.
But does anyone evaluate a candidate’s Ethical Fitness before recruitment or appointment?
No, I am not talking about the routine verification of antecedents or background integrity checks. I am talking of assessing Ethical Fitness.
Ethical fitness refers to ensuring that people are in proper moral shape to recognize and address ethical dilemmas. Ensuring Ethical fitness in a proactive manner will result in preventive, rather than corrective, Ethical Management.
Before launching any inquiry pertaining to the concept of Ethical Fitness, it is necessary to explore the moral dimension. Moral development is a prerequisite to ethical behaviour; in fact, a sine qua non for ethical fitness. Kohlberg offers a handy framework for delineating the stage each of us has reached with respect to personal moral development.
Stage 1. Physical consequences determine moral behaviour.
At this stage of personal moral development, the individual’s ethical behaviour is driven by the decision to avoid punishment or by deference to power. Punishment is an automatic response of physical retaliation. The immediate physical consequences of an action determine its goodness or badness. Such moral behaviour is seen in boarding schools, military training academies etc. where physical punishment techniques are prevalent with a view to inculcate the attributes of obedience and deference to power. The individual behaves in a manner akin to the Pavlovian dog.
Stage 2. Individual needs dictate moral behaviour.
At this stage, a person’s needs are the person’s primary ethical concern. The right action consists of what instrumentally satisfies your own needs. People are valued in terms of their utility. Example: “I will help him because he may help me in return – you scratch my back, I will scratch yours.”
Stage 3. Approval of others determines moral behaviour.
This stage is characterized by decision where the approval of others determines the person’s behaviour. Good behaviour is that which pleases or helps others within the group. The good person satisfies family, friends and associates. “Everybody is doing it, so it must be okay.” One earns approval by being conventionally “respectable” and “nice.” Sin is a breach of the expectations of the social order – “log kya kahenge?” is the leitmotif, and conformance with prevailing ‘stereotypes’ the order of the day.
Stage 4. Compliance with authority and upholding social order are a person’s primary ethical concerns.
“Doing one’s duty” is the primary ethical concern. Consistency and precedence must be maintained. Example: “I comply with my superior’s instructions because it is wrong to disobey my senior”. Authority is seldom questioned. “Even if I feel that something may be unethical, I will unquestioningly obey all orders and comply with everything my boss says because I believe that the boss is always right.”
Stage 5. Tolerance for rational dissent and acceptance of rule by the majority becomes the primary ethical concern.
Example: “Although I disagree with her views. I will uphold her right to have them.” The right action tends to be defined in terms of general individual rights, and in terms of standards that have been critically examined and agreed upon by the whole society. (eg) The Constitution. The freedom of the individual should be limited by society only when it infringes upon someone else’s freedom.
Stage 6. What is right is viewed as a matter of individual conscience, free choice and personal responsibility for the consequences.
Example: “There is no external threat that can force me to make a decision that I consider morally wrong.” An individual who reaches this stage acts out of universal ethical principles.
Moral development is in no way correlated with intellectual development or your position in the hierarchy or factors like rank, seniority, status, success or earnings, salary, material wealth. In the words of Alexander Orlov, an ex-KGB Chief, “Honesty and Loyalty may be often more deeply ingrained in the make-up of simple and humble people than in men of high position. A man who was taking bribes when he was a constable does not turn honest when he becomes the Chief of Police. The only thing that changes in the size of the bribe. Weakness of character and inability to withstand temptation remains with the man no matter how high he climbs.” Ethical traits accompany a man to the highest rungs of his career.
In a nutshell the governing factors pertaining to six stages of Moral Development which determine Ethical Fitness may be summarized as:
FEAR – Stage 1
NEEDS – Stage 2
CONFORMANCE – Stage 3
COMPLIANCE – Stage4
CONSENSUS – Stage 5
CONSCIENCE & FREE WILL – Stage 6
Before we try to delve into exploring how to evaluate Ethical Fitness, let us briefly ponder on the concepts of Ethical Susceptibility and Ethical Vulnerability.
Ethical Susceptibility is your inability to avoid ethical dilemmas. Ethical Susceptibility is environment dependent (on external factors) like, for example, your job, your boss, colleagues and subordinates, or the persons around you, or even the ‘prevalent organizational culture’.
Ethical Vulnerability is your inability to withstand succumbing in the given ethical dilemmas /situations. It is dependent on your internal stage of moral development in the given ethical situation.
Whereas being in an ethical dilemma is not in your control, to act in an ethical manner in the prevailing situation is certainly in your control.
Ethical vulnerability is a measure of the ease with which a man be ethically compromised, especially in an ethically poor climate. In situations where the ethical susceptibility is high, morally strong people (ethically non-vulnerable) should be appointed and conversely, only in jobs/situations where ethical susceptibility is low should ethically vulnerable persons be permitted.
If the environment is not ethically conducive, a person can intellectually inwardly reach stage 6 but deliberately outwardly masquerade and remain morally at stage 4 as he may find that he has to sacrifice too much to reach stage 6. This can be particularly seen in most hierarchical organizations where most “smart” employees make an outward preference of being at stage 3 or 4 (Conformance and Compliance) in order to avoid jeopardizing their careers, even if internally they have achieved higher ethical states. This Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde schizophrenic moral approach is at the heart of many ethical dilemmas people encounter in their professional lives and may result in internal stress due to ethical confusion.
Whenever two individuals at different stages of moral development interact with each other, both of them try to force or manoeuvre the other into their own appreciation of the ethical situation, thus leading to conflict.
In a formal hierarchical setup, the players in the chain may not be at similar stages of moral development thereby leading to ethical dissonance in the system. Where the ethical susceptibility is high, morally strong people (less vulnerable) should be appointed and conversely, in only such jobs where ethical susceptibility is low should ethically weak persons be permitted.
What is your stage of personal moral development?
Be honest with yourself and recall the decisions you made in recent ethical situations.
The six stages of moral development are valuable landmarks as they tell you approximately where you are and what changes you will have to make in yourself to move to a higher level of moral development. The ultimate goal is to engage in ethical decision making at stage 6. However, the level that you do reach will depend on your ethical commitment, your ethical consciousness and your ethical competence.
Food for Thought
What do you do if your boss is at a lower stage of moral development than you?
Do you masquerade and make pretence of being at the “appropriate” stage of what moral development and practice situational ethics to reap maximum benefits.
This Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde schizophrenic ‘situational ethics’ approach may cause your outer masquerade to turn into inner reality.
Do you want that to happen? Think about it!
Is there a need to assess Ethical Fitness in business and managerial situations?
Or is "Business Ethics" an oxymoron, not relevant in today's business environment where profit and success at all costs is all the matters?
Most importantly, can Ethics and Business co-exist? Or are the two mutually exclusive?
Is Moral Development relevant in your personal life and relationships?
Do you think it is necessary to evaluate and assess Ethical Fitness during Recruitment, Appointment and in Human Resource Management?
What about personal relationships like marriage - does ethical mismatch affect the relationship and isn't it better to ascertain and assess congruence in moral development of both the partners?
If so, how would you do it?
Dear Reader, what do you think? Please comment.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm
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