Principles of Ethics and Governance ASBA

1. Principles of Ethics and GovernanceASBA Frank Work Q.C. June 5, 2012

2. Disclaimers • I am one of the last people who should be holding myself up as an ethical paradigm: so I won’t. • I do not have any particular religious beliefs to prosthelytize. • I do not have any answers. • This stuff is hard.

3. Ethics • Ethics is about the way the world ought to be or should be. • Trying to distinguish between morality and ethics is not very useful. Both are about what ought to be. • Distinguishing between legality and ethics is very useful.

4. Ethics and legality • Speeding is illegal. You speed to the hospital to get an injured friend help. Your speeding was illegal but not unethical. • A lot of things that might be unethical are not illegal ie having an affair, lying (except under oath). • Ethical behaviour in and of itself should not be mandated by law ie making it illegal to lie – period. • If ethics and legality were the same, all laws would be ethical and all ethical acts would be legal.

5. But • There have been and are unethical laws, ie slavery, eugenics, laws against same sex marriage.

6. Right and wrong? • Instead of thinking of things in terms of “right’ and “wrong”, “good” or “bad”, it sometimes helps to think of things in terms of: • Ethically required, • Ethically permitted, or • Ethically forbidden.

7. A pique • For this reason, I have conceptual difficulty with words like “acceptable” and “appropriate”. • They are vague and misleading. • If you tell someone their behaviour is unacceptable, what does that mean? Illegal? Unethical? Wrong?Not something you would have done? Not acceptable to you? Probably the last one. • “Inappropriate” is even worse. It means “not suitable for the situation” but we use it as “wrong”. • These words do not tell the offender much.

8. Capital punishment • Suppose you think it is “right”. • Does this mean society is ethically required to kill murderers? • Does it mean society is ethically permitted to kill murderers?

9. Be careful • Ethics are not simply a matter of personal opinion. If they were, the Norwegian mass murderer would have to be seen to have behaved ethically: he thinks he did. • Similarly, ethics are not simply a matter of local custom or culture (cultural relativism). If they were, slavery or mutilation would be ethical. • “Good people make good choices; bad people make bad choices.” Is a person who makes a bad choice a bad person? Is a person who makes a good choice a good person?

10. Ethics is not as straightforward as it once was • The case of the murderer. • Someone asks you if you know where Sara is. You do. But you also know this person intends to harm Sara. • Can you lie to this person? • Kant would say “no”. You must tell the truth. A society where lies are okay cannot survive. Furthermore you are not responsible for what this person does. • No longer a satisfactory ethic.

11. Some suggestions • Think about what your ethical paradigm is. • Ie Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. • Write it down. • Think about your ethics from time to time: are you applying yours? • Buddhist door meditation (“mindfulness”).

12. Character • Having a good character means you are driven to behave in virtuous ways in situations that call for virtuous responses. • Requires not seeing life as cut up into fragments where you are called upon to be virtuous in one part but not another. • It is about harmonizing the way you experience the world at all times with the virtues themselves. • It is not something you turn on and off: it is a part of your being all the way to your core.

13. Being ethically aware • It will define you. • It will help make you consistent. • It will be a tremendous aid to making difficult decisions. • You will make better decisions.

14. Write it down • What do you stand for? • I am honest. • I am transparent. • I do unto others etc • I am compassionate. • I behave in such a way that my parents (or whoever) would be proud of me. • I act in a way that will make the world a better place for my children. • I believe that people should have the maximum freedom to exercise individual choice.

15. The Golden Rule • If I had to pick one, this would be it. • It has an equivalent in virtually every culture and religion. • The Golden Rule tests your action by seeing how it would look if you were on the receiving end.

16. Breaking down the Golden Rule • Everyone has similar basic interests. • Everyone is morally equal. • Everyone is owed equal moral consideration of those interests. • Would your action to another be acceptable to you if you reversed positions? • Note: this does not mean everyone hs to get what they want!

17. An example • Your friend Brett has a girlfriend. He is having trouble with the relationship and asks your advice. • You think the girlfriend is bad for Brett and he would be well rid of her. You decide that if you were in Brett’s shoes, you would want bad advice so that the relationship would crater and you would be better off. • When you put yourself in the other person’s shoes, you cannot use your own tastes and preferences to dictate how that person should live. (Paternalism)

18. Two ways of seeing it • Positive: do unto others what you would want them to do to you. Promote good. • Negative: Do not do unto others what you would not want them to do to you. Prevent harm.

19. A note on forgiveness • Opinion: we have become a harsh and unforgiving society. We are quick to judge on the basis of a tweet, an email, a 30 second clip on Youtube. We want those who stray outside our values punished. • Everyone makes mistakes. • The Golden Rule: When you make a mistake, you will want to be forgiven. • Therefore you must try to forgive those “who trespass against you”.

20. Useful ethical phrases • I want to think about this. • I don’t know. I will find out. • I was wrong. • I screwed up. • I am sorry. • I don’t understand. Please expalin. • No. • Yes.

21. Conclusion • There are no black and whites. Maybe there were once when we all had the same religious and cultural background. • The best you can do is to be aware, critically aware, of your own ethics and follow them as best you can. • Your ethics are part of your character. Self awareness in this regard is a good thing to have. • A lot organizations have “codes of ethics”. People should have them too. • Think about who you are and what you stand for. • Thanks.