Applied Ethics Notes for UPSC GS 4: Ethical Theories, Bioethics, Environmental Ethics, Ethics in International Relations, Business, Media and AI Ethics with Case Study Method

Ethics is not only about the personal behaviour. In the modern world, new questions arise every day: Is it right to use the gene editing on an embryo? Should a company close a profitable factory that pollutes a river? Is it ethical to give the military aid to a country that violates human rights? Who is responsible when an artificial intelligence system makes a biased decision? The branch of ethics that applies the moral principles to such real-life issues is called applied ethics. The UPSC Ethics paper (GS IV) asks about it in the theory questions, such as "Discuss the ethical issues in international relations", or as the theme in the case studies. These notes cover the major ethical theories, the main areas of applied ethics (bioethics, environmental ethics, media ethics, business ethics, ethics in international relations and the ethics of technology) and a method for writing the answers, with tables and examples.

Why Applied Ethics Matters for UPSC

The syllabus of the Ethics paper includes the "ethical issues in international relations and funding", the "corporate governance" and "ethics in private and public relationships". A student who knows the main ideas and has one or two examples for each area can write an answer that is both thoughtful and practical. Combine this with our notes on Ethics and Human Values, Moral Thinkers and Corporate Governance, CSR and Business Ethics for a complete preparation.

The Main Ethical Theories

Bioethics and Medical Ethics

Bioethics deals with the moral issues in the biology and the medicine. The four basic principles are the autonomy (the patient's right to decide, after the informed consent), the beneficence (to do good), the non-maleficence (to do no harm) and the justice (the fair distribution of the health resources). The common issues include the euthanasia (the Supreme Court allowed the passive euthanasia with the safeguards in 2018), the organ donation and the transplantation, the surrogacy, the gene editing and the designer babies, the clinical trials on the poor people, the privacy of the health data, and the allocation of the scarce resources such as the ventilators during the pandemic. For the case studies, ask whether the person has given a free and informed consent, whether the benefit outweighs the risk, and whether the poor and the weak are being exploited.

Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethics asks: What do we owe to nature and to the future generations?

• Anthropocentrism: The human beings are at the centre, and nature has the value because it is useful to us.
• Biocentrism and ecocentrism: All the living beings, or the whole ecosystem, have an intrinsic value, apart from the use for the humans. Deep ecology (Arne Naess) holds this view.
• Sustainable development and intergenerational equity: The present generation should not harm the opportunities of the future generations.
• Indian traditions: The Vedic and the tribal reverence for the nature, the Bishnoi sacrifice for the trees, the Chipko movement of the Uttarakhand women, and Gandhi's saying that "the earth has enough for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed".
• Climate justice: The countries and the people who contributed the least to the climate change suffer the most, which raises the questions of the fairness in sharing the burden.

Ethics in International Relations

• National interest versus the global justice: Should a country protect only its own interest, or also care for the world's poor and the vulnerable?
• Human rights and the intervention: Is it right to interfere in another country's affairs to stop a mass atrocity (the "Responsibility to Protect" principle)? What about the sovereignty?
• War and weapons: The ethics of the nuclear weapons, the just war theory, the arms trade and the use of the drones and the autonomous weapons.
• Sanctions and trade: The sanctions that aim to punish a government may harm the ordinary people.
• Foreign aid and funding: The aid with the political conditions, the "debt trap" concern and the transparent use of the funds, as well as the ethical use of the foreign funding for the civil society.
• Refugees and migration: The duty to give the shelter to the persecuted people versus the burden on the host.
• India's approach: The Panchsheel, the policy of non-alignment, the "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (the world is one family) idea, the humanitarian help during the crises, and the "Vaccine Maitri" supply during the pandemic.

Business and Corporate Ethics

Business ethics asks if the companies should care only for the profit or also for the people and the planet. Key ideas include the corporate social responsibility (mandatory CSR spending of 2 per cent of the net profit for the eligible companies under the Companies Act, 2013), the stakeholder theory (the duty to the employees, the consumers, the community and the shareholders), the fair advertising, the consumer protection, the fair labour practices, the environmental responsibility, the ban on the insider trading and the bribery, and the role of the independent directors and the whistle-blower policy in the good corporate governance.

Media Ethics

The media has the power to shape opinion, and so it has the responsibility. The ethical standards include the accuracy, the fairness, the independence, the respect for the privacy and the avoidance of the sensationalism, the "trial by the media", the "paid news" and the fake news. The Press Council of India (a statutory body) and the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority promote the self-regulation. The social media creates new concerns: the viral misinformation, the hate speech, the online harassment and the data privacy.

Ethics of Technology and Artificial Intelligence

• Bias and fairness: AI systems trained on the biased data can discriminate by the gender, the caste or the religion.
• Privacy and surveillance: The data collection and the facial recognition may violate the right to privacy (recognised as a Fundamental Right in Puttaswamy).
• Accountability and transparency: Who is responsible when an automated decision harms a person? The need for the "explainable" AI.
• Jobs and inequality: The automation can displace the workers, and the digital divide can deepen the inequality.
• Deepfakes and the misuse for the fraud and the political manipulation.

A Sample Case for Practice

Case: You are the District Magistrate. A large company has applied for the permission to set up a factory that will give jobs to 3,000 local people, but it needs land near a river and a forest, and some tribal families depend on that land. The state government wants the investment. What will you do?

Approach: Identify the stakeholders (the tribal families, the company, the local youth, the government and the environment), and the values in conflict (the development and the jobs against the livelihood and the environment, the legality and the compassion). Check the law: the Forest Rights Act (the consent of the gram sabha), the environment clearance and the land acquisition rules. List the options: reject, approve in a hurry, or ensure the legal process, the fair compensation, the rehabilitation, the pollution safeguards and the skill training for the local people, with the possible change of the site. Choose the option that follows the law, protects the weak and still allows the development, and explain it in the report to the government. This is the type of balanced reasoning that the case studies reward.

How to Write the Answer on Applied Ethics

1. Define the issue in a line, and name the ethical principle involved (for example, autonomy, justice, sustainability).
2. Present both sides: the benefits and the moral concerns.
3. Use a theory briefly (utilitarian, deontological or virtue) to show depth.
4. Add an example from the real life, the history or the news.
5. Conclude with a practical, balanced way: the laws, the institutions, the awareness and the individual responsibility.

Previous-Year Style Practice

• Which theory says that an action is right if it gives the greatest good to the greatest number? Answer: Utilitarianism.
• Who gave the categorical imperative? Answer: Immanuel Kant.
• What are the four principles of the bioethics? Answer: Autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice.
• What is the CSR rule for the eligible companies in India? Answer: 2 per cent of the average net profit under the Companies Act, 2013.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is applied ethics?

The branch of ethics that applies the moral principles to the practical issues of the real life, such as medicine, environment, business and technology.

What is utilitarianism?

The theory that an action is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number.

Who gave the categorical imperative?

Immanuel Kant, in the duty-based ethics (deontology).

What are the principles of bioethics?

Autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice.

What is deep ecology?

The view that all the living beings and the ecosystems have an intrinsic value, apart from their use for the humans.

What is the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)?

The principle that the international community should act to protect the people from the mass atrocities when their state fails to do so.

What is CSR?

Corporate Social Responsibility, under which the eligible companies spend 2 per cent of the average net profit on the social causes.

What is intergenerational equity?

The idea that the present generation should leave the resources and the environment for the future generations.

What is media ethics?

The standards of accuracy, fairness, independence and the respect for the privacy for the journalists and the media.

How can AI be unethical?

By the biased decisions, the invasion of the privacy, the lack of accountability and the misuse such as the deepfakes.

What is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam?

The Indian idea that the world is one family, which guides India's ethical outlook in the international relations.

How is this topic asked in UPSC?

As the theory questions on the ethical issues in the different fields and as the themes in the case studies.