Moral dilemmas. "Altai State University"

Target: familiarization of students with situations of moral choice and the scheme of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment as a basis for the analysis of moral dilemmas; organization of the discussion to identify solutions and arguments of the participants in the discussion.

Age: 11-15 years old.

Academic disciplines: humanitarian disciplines (literature, history, social studies, etc.).

Task execution form: group work of students.

Materials: the text of the moral dilemma, a list of questions that set the scheme of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment, for students and teachers.

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Task "Moral dilemmas"

Target: familiarization of students with situations of moral choice and the scheme of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment as a basis for the analysis of moral dilemmas; organization of the discussion to identify solutions and arguments of the participants in the discussion.

Age: 11-15 years old.

Academic disciplines:humanitarian disciplines (literature, history, social studies, etc.).

Task execution form:group work of students.

Materials: the text of the moral dilemma, a list of questions that set the scheme of the indicative basis for the action of moral and ethical assessment, for students and teachers.

Task description:the class is divided into groups of three people, in which it is proposed to discuss the behavior of the hero and argue their assessment. Then, having united in two groups, the guys exchange opinions and discuss all the arguments “for” and “against”. Then again two groups are combined until the class is divided into two large groups. In this final step (using the whiteboard) the arguments are presented and summarized - which arguments are more persuasive and why.

Option: holding a discussion. Students in groups are invited in advance to take a position of support or condemnation of the hero of the situation and discuss their arguments.

To structure the position of students, a scheme is proposed for the indicative basis of the action of moral and ethical assessment for the analysis of the situation (A. I. Podolsky, O. A. Karabanova, 2000). The diagram contains questions, the answers to which will help to analyze the proposed situation:

1. What happens in this situation?

2. Who are the participants in the situation?

3. What are the interests and goals of the participants in the situation? Do the goals and interests of the participants in the situation coincide or contradict each other?

4. Do the participants' actions violate the moral norm(s)? If yes, what is the norm? (Name the norm.)

5. Who can be harmed by the violation of the norm? (If different norms are violated, then who will suffer if one norm is violated, who will suffer from the violation of another?)

6. Who is the offender? (If several norms are violated, then who is the violator of each of them?)

7. What can participants do in this situation? (List some behaviors.)

8. What consequences can this or that act (behavior option) have for the participants?

9. What feelings (guilt, shame, pride, compassion, resentment, etc.) do the characters experience?

10. How should each of its participants act in this situation? What would you do in their place?

Instruction: The lesson is devoted to situations of moral choice. Such situations are called moral dilemmas. Their peculiarity lies in the fact that students need to make a choice in a situation where there is no single right decision, but there are different decisions that take into account different interests. The teacher reads the text and asks the students to answer the questions.

The teacher, in the event that the students' answers are presented in writing, needs to pay attention to the argumentation of the act (that is, answer the question "why?"). The answer should point to the principle underlying the decision. The teacher should provoke students to voice different points of view on the situation with the obligatory argumentation of their position, and also focus students' attention on the ambiguity of a particular solution to the problem.

Evaluation criteria:

correspondence of answers to the levels of development of moral consciousness;
the ability to listen to the arguments of other participants in the discussion and take them into account in their position;
analysis of students' arguments in accordance with the level of development of moral consciousness.

14 situations are presented - moral dilemmas, which are devoted to different contexts of interaction: 7 - situations of interaction "teenager - peer" and 6 - situations of interaction "teenager - adult", one more situation is an example ...

Task examples

Peer"

1. Kolya and Petya worked in the garden in the summer - they picked strawberries. Kolya wanted to use the money he earned to buy a sports watch, which he had looked after himself for a long time. Kolya is from a low-income family, so his parents cannot buy him such a watch. Petya wants to use the money he earns to improve his computer.

Kolya is significantly inferior to Petya in strength and dexterity, and he rests more often, so Petya collected much more strawberries. In the evening, the foreman came to pay the guys for the work done. I counted the crates of strawberries the two boys had collected. He counted the amount they earned and asked, turning to Petya: “Well, guys, should they pay equally, or did someone collect more, is he supposed to have more?”

Petya sees that if he says that he collected more, then Kolya will not have enough money for a watch. Petya knows that Kolya dreamed of this watch and will be very upset if he cannot buy it.

What do you think Petya should answer and why? What should be the fair distribution of earned money and why?

One student accidentally hit a classmate who was an outcast in the class. Obviously, this was the last straw in the outcast's patience. He got angry and severely beat the unwitting offender. How can you evaluate the act of an outcast and why?
Yura broke the VCR. When the parents discovered this, only Yura's younger brother was at home. The parents thought he did it and punished him. Yura, having returned home and realizing what had happened, remained silent. Did the older brother do the right thing and why? What should he have done?
Two female classmates received different grades for the control work (“3” and “4”), although their papers were completely identical, while they did not copy off one from the other. There is a very big risk that their strict teacher will lower the four rather than raise the three. However, the girlfriend who received a three, without the knowledge of the other, approaches the teacher with both notebooks. Is the girl doing the right thing towards her friend and why?
Volodya dreamed of a real soccer ball, but his parents refused to buy it. Once he saw just such a ball from his classmate, who was not interested in football. He had a wealthy family, and his father wanted his son to start playing football. Once, after cleaning the classroom, Volodya saw a ball forgotten by a classmate, and since there was no one around, he could not resist and took it for himself. Did Volodya do the right thing and why?
A close friend of Nikolai asks him to lend him money. Nikolay knows that his friend uses drugs and is likely to spend money on them. When asked why he needs money, the friend does not answer. Nicholas gives him money. Did Nicholas do the right thing and why? What should he have done?
The teacher fell ill, the students decided that they would be released from the last lesson (as happened more than once). They were about to leave, they were already in the locker room when someone brought the news that there would be a replacement and it was impossible to leave. Most of the class left, but two students stayed because they had to correct their mark in this subject. Pupils who skipped a lesson received deuces. If everyone left, one would think that the class did not know about the replacement, and there would be no punishment. Did the guys who remained in the class do the right thing, and why?

Dilemmas with the context of interaction "adolescent- adult"

8. The teacher needed to urgently leave the classroom during the test, and she asked Katya to look after the students so that no one would cheat. Some guys cheated, of course. When the teacher returned to the classroom, she asked Katya if anyone had cheated (it is known that they will put a deuce for this). The teacher trusts Katya. What should Katya do (what to answer) and why?

9. The physics teacher was explaining a very difficult topic. At the next lesson, before calling someone to the board, he invited someone who at least somehow understands this topic to come out. Nobody came out. Then the teacher began to call himself. He had to bet thirteen deuces before a girl was called to the board, who told everything. She got a five. After the lessons, classmates attacked her and began to scold her for not immediately volunteering to answer at the blackboard and let the class down. What should the girl have done in this situation and why?

The teacher promised the student to correct the three in the next quarter if he goes to extra classes and works on those topics for which he previously received poor marks. The student regularly attended additional classes, because he really wanted to get a good mark. But at the end of the quarter, the teacher said that he could not correct the mark, since the student did not study well enough and simply did not deserve a four, and the teacher had no right to give grades undeservedly. Did the teacher do the right thing and why?
The class teacher asked the girl who was an excellent student to study with a lagging classmate. An excellent student goes to preparatory courses at the institute, and she has no time. She wants to refuse, especially since the classmate with whom she has to study is not very pleasant to her. How should an excellent student act and why?

12. At the grocery store, the clerk made a mistake and gave Petya too much change. Noticing this, Petya did not tell the seller about it, but decided to buy a gift for his mother with this money. Did Petya do the right thing and why?

13. Dima received a deuce in algebra and decides whether to tear out a page from his diary. After all, if his parents find out, they will not let him go to the concert, and he really wants to go, since this is his favorite group and he has been waiting for this concert for so long. What should Dima do and why?

14. A well-known hockey player, brought up by a Russian hockey school, having improved his professional skills in Russian clubs, signed a lucrative contract and left to play in the NHL. He soon became one of the highest paid players in the league. He founded his own fund in the USA to help sick American children, especially since charitable work in the USA allows you to significantly reduce taxes, this is not the case in Russia. How can you evaluate the behavior of this athlete?

culture

You are a very experienced doctor, you have five dying patients on your hands, each of which needs a transplant of various organs in order to survive. Unfortunately, at the moment there is not a single organ available for transplantation.

It so happened that there is another 6 people who are dying from a fatal disease, and if he is not treated, he will die much earlier than others. If the sixth patient dies, you can use his organs to save five others.

However, you have at your disposal a medicine with which you can save the life of the sixth patient. You:

Wait until the sixth patient dies, and then use his organs for transplantation;

Save the life of a sixth patient without giving others the organs they need.

If you chose the second option, knowing that the drug would only slightly delay his death date, would you still do the same? Why?

You witnessed how a man robbed a bank, but then he did something unusual and unexpected with the money. He handed them over to the orphanage, which lived very poorly, was dilapidated and was deprived of proper food, proper care, water and amenities. This money has greatly benefited the orphanage, and it has grown from poor to prosperous. You:

Call the police, although they will probably take the money from the orphanage;

You will not do anything, leaving alone both the robber and the orphanage.

Your best friend or girlfriend is going to the crown. The ceremony will begin in one hour, however, on the eve of coming to the wedding, you learned that the chosen one (chosen one) of your friend had connections on the side. If your friend connects his life with this person, he is unlikely to be faithful, but on the other hand, if you tell him about this, you will upset the wedding. Will you be able to say what you learned to your friend or not?

You are the head of the student council and faced with a difficult decision regarding one of the graduates. This girl has always been a worthy student. Throughout her years of study, she received only high marks, she has many friends, and an ideal behavior. However, towards the end of the school year, she fell ill and did not attend school for some time. She missed three weeks of classes, and when she returned, she was told that in one of the subjects she did not live up to graduating with excellence from school. She was so desperate that, having found a report on the necessary topic on the Internet, she passed it off as her own. Her teacher caught her doing it and sent her to you. If you decide that this is plagiarism, then she will not get a high mark, and therefore she will not be able to apply for a budget education at the university of her dreams. What would you do?

Your loved one is immortal because he and his family drank from the fountain of youth without suspecting anything. You love him very much and know that this is your destiny. However, the only way to stay with him is to also drink from the fountain of youth. But, if you do this, all your relatives and friends, as well as all your acquaintances, will grow old and, in the end, will die. On the other hand, if you do not drink from the fountain, you will grow old and eventually die, and the person you are with will never see you again and will be condemned to eternal loneliness. What would you choose?

You are a concentration camp prisoner. The sadistic guard is about to hang your son who was trying to escape and tells you to push the stool out from under him. He tells you that if you don't, he will also kill your other son, who is another innocent prisoner. You have no doubt that he will do exactly as he says. What will you do?

3. Son and granddaughter

To your great horror, your son lies bound on the tracks as the train approaches. It so happened that you have time to use the switch and direct the train in the other direction, thus you can save your son. However, on the other side lies the bound granddaughter, the daughter of this particular son of yours. Your son is begging you not to kill his daughter or touch the switch. How will you do it?

A very angry mentally unstable man tried to kill your son when he was very young, but then, having killed the uncle and aunt of the child who looked after him, he never got to the baby. After the murder, you fled underground, but now you have discovered that the prophecy has come true, and that part of the killer's soul has moved into your child. In order to defeat this evil and defeat this man, your son must go to him and let himself be killed. Otherwise, after a while, your son, with a part of the soul of the villain, himself may become one. The son courageously accepts his fate and decides to go to the villain in order to bring peace. You as a parent:

Hold it because you feel you must protect it;

Accept his choice.

Jim works for a large company and is responsible for hiring employees. His friend Paul has applied for a job, but there are a few people who are more qualified than Paul and have a higher level of knowledge and skills. Jim wants to hand over the position to Paul, but feels guilty about having to be impartial. He tells himself that this is the essence of morality. However, he soon changed his mind, and decided that friendship gives the moral right to be biased in some matters. Thus, he gives this position to Paul. Was he right?

Higher professional education

"Altai State University"

Faculty of Sociology

Department of Social Work

Topic: Ethical dilemma in the practice of social work.

Performed:

Shitova L.A.

2nd year student d.o.gr.1012

Scientific adviser:

Chukanova T.V.

Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Department

social work

__________________________

(signature)

Grade___________________

Barnaul 2013

Introduction………………………………………………………………………..3

Chapter 1. The place and role of the ethical dilemma in the activities of a social worker…………………………………………………………………………………………………… ...............................four

1.1. The concept of a moral and ethical dilemma in social work…………4

1.2. Main types of ethical dilemmas in social work……………..9

Chapter 2

2.1. Principles of social work as a mechanism for solving ethical dilemmas…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..14

2.2. Ways of overcoming psychological problems by a social work specialist in solving ethical dilemmas………………………22

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….27

List of used literature………………………………………….28

Introduction

Social work, as a special kind of professional activity, has a specific, unique set of ideals and values that have developed in the process of establishing the principles and norms of behavior of specialists. Being a specialized activity, social work contains unique situations, contradictions that need to be resolved in the very process of activity and which are often the subject of this activity. This circumstance makes it necessary to adhere to special, more stringent moral principles and norms in the activities.

Social work specialists are called upon to help people who are in a difficult life situation, but when a specialist is faced with an ethical dilemma in the course of his work, the quality of his services may decrease or even harm the client, which should not be allowed, so it is important to study such ethical categories of social work like a dilemma.

The effectiveness of social work largely depends on the social worker, his knowledge, experience, personal qualities. However, the professional responsibility of a specialist is determined not by himself, but by the values and ethical principles adopted by professional organizations - Associations of Social Workers. The values and ethical principles of social work are reflected in the ethical code of the profession, which serves not only as a guide for practical activities, but in a difficult situation of moral and ethical choice or contradiction.

Chapter 1. The concept and role of the ethical dilemma in the activities of a social worker.

In the course of his activity, a social work specialist is forced to meet and work with different people, their problems and individual situations. Each person living in society usually adheres to certain norms instilled in him by society and social institutions in the process of socialization. However, each individual has different ideas about morality and ethics, their boundaries and manifestations. In view of this, social workers, in the process of professional communication with various categories of people, may encounter problems of a professional nature. These problems include the moral and ethical problems of social work.

When we say "there is a dilemma in life", we mean a situation where a person faces a necessary choice between two identical possibilities.

Dilemma - 1). The combination of judgments, inferences with two

opposite positions, excluding the possibility of a third. 2). A situation in which the choice of one of two opposite solutions is equally difficult.

In other words, a dilemma is a situation in which the choice of one of two opposite possibilities, sometimes equivalent, is equally difficult.

The National Psychological Encyclopedia defines the ethical dilemma as follows:

Ethical dilemma - the problem of a person's choice between two equally possible ways of social behavior. The preference of any of them leads to a violation by a person of any moral or ethical standards. .

An ethical dilemma is a situation of moral choice, when the implementation of one moral value destroys another, no less important one. Such problems are faced by such social specialists as doctors, journalists, teachers and, of course, social workers.

The ethical dilemmas that arise in social work are different from those that exist outside of professional activity. The nature of the ethical dilemma may depend on the social, cultural, political conditions of the country in which social work is carried out.

In his book The Forbidden Raft, P. Kurtz identifies the following features that constitute an ethical dilemma:

First, a moral dilemma is a problem or issue that needs to be resolved. It can be fraught with conflicts between values, norms, rules or principles. In a situation of ethical dilemma, we may encounter some difficulty or obstacle, our behavior may be questioned by others who do not agree with our mode of action or understanding of true and false. Secondly, the ethical dilemma involves the thinking person herself, who feels the need to make a choice or a series of acts of choice. But this implies that we can choose, that we have some degree of freedom to do this or that. The third feature of the ethical dilemma is the possibility of considering alternative courses of action. If we do not have an unambiguous choice, and we are faced with only one possibility, then the concept of choice does not make sense. Such hopeless situations happen in real life, for example, when a person is in prison and is deprived of all freedom of movement, or when a person dies and his death cannot be prevented. An ethical dilemma must have two or more possible solutions. These alternatives may arise due to social or natural circumstances or be the result of the creative ingenuity of the ethical researcher, i.e. subject of a moral dilemma. Fourth, with a competent and mature approach to an ethical dilemma, we are always able to reflectively identify and evaluate alternative courses of action. This indicates the presence of a specific kind of cognitive process of ethical questioning, reflection, research. The fifth component of the ethical dilemma is that our choices affect reality and thus have certain consequences. Sixth, to the extent that the action follows from a choice that the person made consciously (whether accompanied by reflection or not), and also depending on what consequences in turn follow from this action, the individual can bear responsibility for your actions. This means that we can praise him if we approve of his actions, or blame him if we do not approve. This is where the responsibility comes in.

In practice, social workers have to face a variety of ethical issues and dilemmas due to their obligations to clients, colleagues, their own profession, society as a whole. These problems are often vague, uncertain and give rise to uncertainty, the desire to ignore and evade them. It is easy to verbally, abstractly adhere to the majestic values set forth in monographs and textbooks, and thus show one's responsibility. But it is not only difficult, but sometimes dangerous, to apply for guidance in daily work such, for example, abstract values as self-determination or the sovereignty of the client’s personality, if they cause a false sense of complacency in the social worker, while the client is not able to adequately implement them. .

Most of the difficulties for the social worker stem from having to choose between two or more conflicting obligations. For example, many national codes of ethics and social work statutes require social workers not to engage in activities that violate or diminish the civil or legal rights of clients. At the same time, they must comply with their obligations to the employing organization. It is quite real that these two principles conflict with each other, if the policy of the institution to which the rights are transferred leads to a violation of the civil rights of clients, for example, due to financial interests or self-interest in the case of the "distribution" of humanitarian aid.

Problem areas and ethical dilemmas are not always common across countries due to differences in culture and governance. Each national association of social workers should encourage discussions in order to clarify the most important issues and problems specific to the country. Nevertheless, it is possible to single out a group of ethical dilemmas that sooner or later arise in practical social work in any society and to overcome which, due to preventive responsibility, one should be prepared.

So, we can conclude that the moral dilemma is some problem or issue that must be resolved. It can be fraught with conflicts between values, norms, rules or principles that every social worker faces. Problem areas and ethical dilemmas are not always common across countries due to differences in culture and public administration.

moral dilemma. Each of us at least once has been in an unpleasant situation when you need to choose the lesser of two evils. But which one of them is exactly that? An agonizing choice of options, none of which appeals, few will like it. This is what is called a dilemma. The exact definition of this concept does not exist in any of the sciences. Both philosophy and psychology will give you about a dozen different interpretations.

Returning to the problem of unpleasant choices, it is worth saying that people often get confused about ethics and morality. In order to help you figure out which of these will take place in the choice, we will demonstrate with illustrative examples.

Here are examples of moral dilemmas

A striking example of a moral dilemma is demonstrated in William Styron's novel Sophie's Choice". The main character, a Polish woman, finds herself in a terrible situation for every mother. The Nazis raging on the lands of Poland are forcing a woman to make a choice who to leave life: her daughter or her son. The mother, reluctantly, makes a choice in favor of her daughter, hoping that her son will still be able to escape, because he is stronger and stronger. However, the boy does not have a chance to survive. The woman cannot bear it. The oppression of this act brings a woman to suicide.

Another moral dilemma. In 1841 William Brown's ship, carrying 82 people, collided with an iceberg. To rescue from emergencies, there were two boats in which people were somehow accommodated. However, due to severe weather and overloaded boats, people's lives were still under threat. The captain of the ship understood this very well, as well as the fact that he was obliged to make a choice: to come to terms with the current state of affairs and accept death, or to sacrifice the lives of some in order to save the rest. William Brown settled on the second option: people were pushed out of the boats directly into the icy waves. Of course, this incident did not go unnoticed. Upon arrival in Philadelphia, the captain was convicted. True, given the situation, they admitted that Brown did not feel any personal hostility towards the dead and went for it, saving the majority. Therefore, the sentence was commuted.

Another fictional story and the moral dilemma is quite similar in situation to the first one, which, by the way, is real. Exploring the caves, people find themselves prisoners of one of them. They are cut off from the exit, because in the only passage through which you can escape, the fattest of friends is stuck. In the cave, the water level gradually rises and very soon people will choke. We need to act. Despite all efforts, it is impossible to push out the stuck one. One of the travelers has a stick of dynamite, and he offers to blow up a stuck friend so that the rest have a chance to escape.

You have familiarized yourself with several situations, but in order to finally feel the dilemma, you need to pass it through yourself. Now put yourself in the place of the person who has to make a choice. We offer you a number of questions that are not easy to answer. Consider each answer carefully.

Your dearest person is seriously ill. To cure him, unrealistic money is needed for operations. Do you resort to a dishonest way to make money?
You found a large sum of money. Would you keep it for yourself or would you try to find the owner, who is probably having a hard time after losing such capital?
You dream of a son, but judging by the results of the ultrasound, you will have a girl. Will you terminate the pregnancy or keep the baby?
You have been saving money to buy a new car for a long time. Finally, the amount is collected, but your close friend, who got into an accident, asks for a loan to solve his problems. Will you buy a car or help a friend?

Similar questions have often been used in research that has been conducted in the field of human morality. Well-known psychologists have repeatedly conducted various kinds of surveys in order to identify how people behave in emergency situations, how morality and ethics affect their decisions at such moments.
Based on the survey results, it is difficult to come to any unambiguous conclusion. We are all different individuals and behave differently in stressful situations. But still, such problems that require difficult choices help us to identify hitherto unknown aspects of character and worldview.
Training with questions that require a choice of one of the two helps us understand ourselves, look at ourselves from a different angle, think about what we did not notice before.

Other articles on this topic:

How to make the right decision The child does not want to study How to determine lies by gestures and facial expressions? How to get rid of stuttering How to live with a selfish husband Stereotypes of perception Why do people lie? prejudice

The functions of morality are usually understood as those of its main roles that it performs in the life of society, ensuring its integrity, one hundred existence and development.

It is known that morality not only acts as a regulator of relations between people, evaluates their behavior and actions, but also forms the norms of behavior. It is the most important means of moral formation and development of the personality, it allows a person to navigate in a value-oriented world, where good and evil are distinguished both in the actions of people themselves and in situations arising as a result of these actions.

In this regard, scientists identify a number of functions of morality, characterizing it as a relatively independent area of human culture. The main functions of morality usually include the following.

1. Estimated. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that, firstly, unlike the norms of law and political assessments, moral assessments are universal in nature and apply to almost all human actions and actions. Secondly, these assessments are carried out through a comparison of what should be and what is, correlation of existing behavior with value and ideal, and come both from the outside from public opinion, and from within the most morally developed personality, from the moral convictions of the individual.

2. Cognitive , which allows a person, through the assessment of his own and other people's actions, to behave as a moral being, to acquire moral knowledge about what is due, about what can be done and what cannot be done under any conditions.

3. Communicative. Its significance is determined by the huge role that communication plays as the most important civilizational need of the modern world, which implies the process of humanization of human communication, leading to mutual understanding. It's not just about etiquette. More important in human communication is the recognition of personality in each person, respect for those with whom you communicate.

4. Educational. This is one of the most important functions of morality, characteristic of all societies. The peculiarity of the educational function of morality lies in the fact that moral education continues throughout a person's life, contributes to the formation of personality. At the center of moral education lies a personal example, an inner desire for moral impeccability. This function is characterized by a non-violent impact, because moral norms are effective only when they are experienced by a person on their own experience.

5. Regulatory. The essence and features of this function of morality were revealed in the previous paragraph. We only note that morality is not a recipe for moral illnesses and vices, it is not omnipotent. She teaches, but only to those who want to learn. However, everyone has to make some decision at some point. And in this sense, the basic moral orientations inevitably manifest themselves in practical behavior.

Noting the importance of these functions of morality, which make it possible to better understand the essence of moral regulation, it is necessary at the same time to recognize that the problem of the impact of morality on a person is complex and ambiguous. Solving it, we inevitably face the question of what and who determines the morality of our actions, i.e. with the situation that in ethical science is called the paradox of moral evaluation ("do not judge others"). But it's not only that. The question of the essence of moral regulation cannot be comprehended without taking into account the most important problem of ethics - the problem of the relationship between being and morality, ethical knowledge and behavior.

Since antiquity, philosophers and scientists have tried to find answers to the questions: What is the morality of human actions based on and what serves as a source of morality? What can make a living, earthly person with his inherent weaknesses and contradictions rise above his own earthly passions and act morally, contrary to his natural nature? Is our knowledge of the external world the source that determines the morality of our actions, is there a danger here of opposing ethics to reality in connection with the relativity and often subjective nature of this knowledge? How, finally, to connect the absolute nature of moral assessments with cultural diversity, the pluralistic nature of modern society?

Various ethical schools have answered these and other questions that have become classic questions of ethics in different ways. Representatives of the empirical school believed that morality is derived from human experience and the need to find common agreement, and that the assessment of moral behavior cannot exist outside of facts and real actions. Supporters of the rational justification of ethics (Aristotle, Spinoza) argued that ethical actions are determined not so much by experience as by the rational logic of a person, his ability, as a thinking being, to determine for himself what is good and what is bad in each specific case. According to the defenders of the natural (intuitive) theory in ethics, morality, due to the limited human knowledge, is not derived from values and facts, the human essence itself leads to an understanding of what is bad and what is good.

In the history of ethical thought, the dispute between Aristotle and Socrates about the nature of moral behavior is well known. According to Socrates, whose name is usually associated with one of the historically first concepts of morality based on epistemology, the morality of an act is determined by our knowledge of what is good and what is evil. We do evil out of ignorance. No one does evil willingly. This approach raises two objections. First, he ignores the real possibility of a discrepancy between moral consciousness and moral behavior: very often people, understanding what good is, nevertheless do evil. Secondly, the thesis of Socrates, as Aristotle rightly noted, relieves a person of responsibility for his actions: people will always refer to ignorance to justify their unseemly behavior. From the point of view of Aristotle, the basis of morality is the ethical independence of the individual, which comes from the inherent freedom of the will. A person is free to choose good and evil, virtue and vice, and therefore must be responsible for what he does (a drunken person is doubly guilty, because it was in his power not to get drunk).

In the spirit of Aristotle and at the same time in his own way, the problem of the correlation of ethical knowledge and behavior was solved by A. Schweitzer. The philosopher was convinced that morality cannot be derived from epistemology, just as the meaning of life cannot be derived from the meaning of being. Morality is possible not as knowledge, but as action, individual choice, behavior. This is not a sphere of knowledge, but the most worthy form of human existence. Good is not derived from being. Knowing and being are one and the same. Good is either there or it isn't. The ideal of any cultured person is nothing but the ideal of a person who, under any conditions, retains true humanity. Morality is that humanity without which human relations would never have acquired a human character.

The same variety of approaches is also characteristic when considering other, no less complex issues of moral theory and, in particular, the issue related to the difference between the morality of the individual and the morality of society. A number of thinkers (Spinoza, partly Aristotle) considered morality mainly from the point of view of the self-improvement of the individual, reducing it to individual ethics, the ethics of virtues. Other philosophers (such as T. Hobbes) saw morality primarily as a way of streamlining people's relations in society. At the same time, synthetic ethical theories were widespread and developed in the modern postmodern era, seeking to combine individual morality with social morality. In contrast, Marxist theory insisted that only the transformation of society and social relations could become the basis for the moral upliftment of the individual.

Without going into an analysis of each of these points of view, we agree with those modern scientists who, in our opinion, rightly believe that there is no sharp contradiction between the regulation of social life and individual behavior (just as there is no inevitable conflict between professional morality and universal moral standards). Firstly, because they are based on universal human values and norms of behavior developed over centuries of practice. Secondly, individual choice and moral activity cannot fall out of the environment in which the individual lives, i.e. from the public environment, cannot but correlate with the norms of public morality.

Norms and standards of morality can, of course, vary in different situations, in different cultural environments. What was natural for the Middle Ages is now perceived as an atavism. What is considered normal for a person of Western culture is not considered moral for many countries of the East. In this regard, many authors express the opinion that moral ideas are always situational, changeable (relative). Nevertheless, no one will deny the existence of higher moral values (such as duties to parents, to children and descendants, honor, duty, justice), which are common to all times and peoples. From the fact that the paths to truth may be different, it does not yet follow that truth itself is not truth. If I do not pay taxes, this does not mean that taxes are a harmful invention of mankind. Likewise, morality cannot be a matter of taste. You can't say: I'm lying because I like it. People can deceive each other, but this does not mean that they recognize the lie as correct.

In the previous paragraph, we examined the features of morality and the specifics of moral regulation. At the same time, to understand the essence of morality, it is of great importance to identify methods of moral regulation, in the aggregate of the components moral regulation system which usually includes such components as moral norms, moral principles, moral values and ideals.

Scientists have yet to more accurately determine the content and correlation of these concepts, which are very often identified in the scientific literature without sufficient grounds. The simplest of these concepts are norms or requirements (as a private moral command about proper behavior). In turn, they are substantiated as reasonable and expedient with the help of more complex forms of moral consciousness - moral principles and ideals (as reflections of higher values in the personality). Building the noted concepts in a logical sequence, we can say that moral principles follow from values, and norms, in turn, are based on principles and values. So, the main values of the public service, which determine its specificity and its main purpose, should include: legality, impartiality, impartiality, justice, incorruptibility. From these values follows the main principle in the activities of civil servants - the inadmissibility of using official position for personal purposes, which is implemented through a number of moral norms, such as, for example, the prohibition of receiving gifts for services related to the performance of official duties; inadmissibility of discrimination of some people by providing benefits to others, etc.

Very interesting in this regard is the point of view of B. Sutor (the author of the well-known work "Political Ethics" in the West), expressed by him on this issue in relation to social ethics. Norms as specific prescriptions (both legal and moral), according to the scientist, are rationally derived from goals and values. The goals and values themselves are not derived from nowhere, but characterize the political culture and consciousness of the nation. They, unlike, for example, interest, cannot be fully achievable and even precisely defined in their content, but it is they that set the orientation for political action and structure political life. The main political goals of B. Sutor include peace, freedom and justice, which at the same time constitute the basic political values of modern democracy, considered in the context of human rights.

Moral values are the highest transpersonal value attitudes, acting simultaneously as an evaluation criterion, as a moral norm (requirement), and as a principle of behavior.

The most complex of all components of moral regulation is the concept of moral value, because if we consider it only from the standpoint of the presence in the object of signs and properties that express its significance for the subject, then there is always a danger of identifying value with the object itself. At the same time, the significance of an object, as we know, does not automatically mean its value. No matter how strange it may seem to someone, scientists find the answer to these questions in K. Marx, in his classical analysis of the properties of a product. A thing, according to Marx, can have a use value (air, wild forest, etc.) and at the same time not be a value if its utility is not mediated by labor. When a need is automatically satisfied, value relations do not arise. In other words, the usefulness, the significance of a thing for the subject, in itself does not yet form value relations, and the thing itself does not become a value. Conversely, the more problematic the possibility of satisfying the need and the more urgent the need, the higher the value of the object.

It is known, for example, that a necessary condition for the normal process of life is the reliability of information, the correspondence of words and deeds. But since this need is not automatically satisfied (the word may contain deceit), a moral value arises, which includes a number of concepts, such as "honesty", "loyalty to the word", etc. Other examples can be cited. Beauty is a value, because there is a lot of ugliness in the world. A moral act, following a duty, is always an affirmation of a certain moral value, since opposite actions are possible.

Like other values, moral values arise to satisfy the needs that form the basis for motivating behavior and actions. At the same time, the peculiarity of moral needs lies in the fact that they are determined by an internal, not conditioned by considerations of personal gain, human desire for goodness, justice, honesty, and the welfare of society as a whole. These value concepts, as a rule, are polyfunctional and are used simultaneously as a designation of a person's quality, and as an evaluation criterion, and as a moral norm (requirement), and as a principle of behavior.

Values, in contrast to specifically established requirements and norms of behavior, are always absolute, transpersonal and objective, they exist before and apart from our consciousness, they are the highest guideline and the content that is affirmed in any norm without exception and without which the norms are empty and lifeless. In addition to ordinary values (hard work, diligence, responsibility, etc.), there are values of a higher order that cannot be sacrificed (such as kindness, love, justice). In personified form, descending from the height of higher abstractions to the ground, the highest values appear in the form of ideals.

Values should be distinguished from assessments, which, as a rule, are subjective. So, from the position of one person, this or that act can be evaluated highly, and from the position of another, on the contrary, low. Unlike assessments, values, as already mentioned, are objective in nature and do not depend on the subjective assessment of individuals.

Goods of life are the conditional and unconditional needs of a person necessary to maintain his life.

Closely related to the concept of "moral values" life's blessings which people always aspire to in everyday life. They are also an objective value for a person. At the same time, unlike the highest values, all life's blessings, both conditional and unconditional (such as human health), are always relative, since they allow the possibility of sacrificing them for the sake of something higher. The danger of their absolutization is connected with the fact that there will always be a justification for using any (including bad) means to achieve a specific good (pleasure as an end in itself leads to excesses and licentiousness). In ethical theory, the question of what is the highest good for a person is the main and universal criterion for determining moral positions and ethical concepts.(depending on his decision, there are such varieties of ethical concepts as hedonism, eudemonism, utilitarianism, rigorism, etc.).

A number of categories of ethics expressing moral values (good, good and evil, duty, responsibility, conscience, honor, dignity) are important for the sphere of public administration. Special consideration, to which we turn in the relevant chapters of this textbook, requires the question of the moral aspects of constitutional values, which should primarily include: freedom, justice, equality, and the rights of citizens.

Moral principles are moral principles that express in a general form the requirements developed in the moral consciousness of society regarding the moral essence of a person, his purpose, the meaning of his life and the nature of relationships between people.

An important component of the system of moral regulation are moral principles. In their most concise form, they can be defined as the most general requirements by which relations between people are regulated. In this sense, the principles act as a kind of spiritual guide for a person in his practical actions. At the same time, they represent the most general justification for existing norms and serve as a criterion for choosing rules of conduct. As a modern researcher of ethics E. V. Zolotukhina-Abolina rightly notes, in contrast to moral values and ideals experienced by a person emotionally, as well as norms that most often operate at the level of moral habits and unconscious attitudes, moral principles are a phenomenon of exclusively rational consciousness . This, firstly, makes them more rigidly formalized than values, which often leads to ethical rigorism; secondly, it determines their changeable character in different epochs and in different situations, their close connection with this or that ideology. So, if the utilitarian principle of benefit was characteristic of the era of the birth of bourgeois relations, then in the era of the Bolshevik dictatorship, the principle of serving the cause of the revolution became decisive, which determined the dominance of class interest over law.

Moral standards (from lat. norma – rule, sample) - the most simple, having the character of mandatory prescriptions, moral requirements for the actions and behavior of people.

Let's take a brief look at the characteristics moral standards, a feature of which, as already noted, is the rigid setting of the boundaries of behavior and the requirement that they be complied with. They do not tolerate uncertainty and require a person to do exactly this, and not otherwise, to follow generally accepted standards of behavior. They are based on the recognition of the imperfection of human morals and the associated need for a moral prohibition: do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not commit adultery, do not wish someone else's good and other prohibitions known from the 10 Old Testament commandments. This is the meaning of the moral prohibition, without which, as already mentioned, morality turns into the realm of only "good intentions."

It would be naive, however, to believe that human behavior can be built on prohibitions alone. The real morals of people are often very far from the concept of "moral". That is why morality does not form direct commands, but acts in the form of due. Focusing on the rational principle in a person, it seeks to limit its inherent aggressive and selfish aspirations. Its main means are the means of spiritual influence, which control the fulfillment of moral requirements through a sense of duty, which each person is aware of and makes the motive of his behavior, as well as through the assessment and self-assessment of his actions. Based on the moral ideas and values developed by previous generations of people, a person is able to independently regulate his behavior, weigh options, judge their compliance with the concept of "moral".

An important role in determining behavior is played by the so-called ethical intuitions inherent in man by nature. There are two such fundamental intuitions in moral theory.

1. Everything truly good and good is useful, which means that only good and good is truly useful.

2. What is good for me is good for others, and therefore what is bad for me should not be done for others.

In essence, this means that justice is the same for everyone: do not do yourself what you do not approve of in others. The peculiarity of this rule, known in ethical science under the name golden rule of morality, is that it is built on the principle of reciprocity and is intuitively known to everyone. J. Locke called it the basis of all virtue. According to T. Hobbes, this rule has two important advantages. First, it successfully combines selfishness and equality, since it ensures equal infringement of selfish claims and thus creates the basis for social unity. Secondly, it is accessible to everyone (even a poorly educated person), since it does not contain any wisdom, except that in each specific situation it is enough for a person to imagine himself in the place of another, in relation to whom he intends to perform an action.

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