Ethics and Human Interface
- Briefly discuss a few of the biggest moral dilemmas that science faces today. (10 Mark)
Model Structure
Genetic engineering:
- Are we playing God by altering the genetic codes?
- Designer babies - Should the rich parents be given this control over their baby? This would perpetuate existing genetic divides based on class; it could also start weeding out many of the traits that truly make an individual and community successful in favour of more superficial ones. It also creates a social dichotomy that would reinstate lines of prejudice in society.
- There is a high risk of bio-contamination, which can threaten the existence of mankind. For instance, accidentally, a mutated strain of harmful bacteria can escape the lab, wreaking havoc on mankind. This can be viewed as a new category of weapons of mass destruction.
- GMOs reduce long-term biodiversity, threatening the existence of and pollute the rest of the existing varieties.
- But given the numerous benefits of genetic engineering, it becomes a challenge so as to where to draw the line.
Artificial Intelligence:
- Might create large-scale unemployment and inequality
- How do we distribute the wealth created by machines?
- Smartest species rules the planet. If machines become smarter than humans, they might take over the world, threatening our dominance and well-being.
Data collection and privacy:
- The principles of privacy and data protection must be balanced against additional societal values such as public health, national security and law enforcement, environmental protection, and economic efficiency.
Geo-engineering:
- No national or international governance body for regulating the geoengineering experiments.
- The scale of intervention is huge and might result in permanently changing the nature of the planet.
- It can affect the lives of all humans, and many of them might not have given consent to take part in the experiment.
- Can ethics be taught in educational institutions? Does the awareness of ethical reasoning make a person more ethical? (10 Mark)
Model Structure
Introduction
- As Theodore Roosevelt noted, to educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
Main Body
It is highly desirable to have ethics as a discipline in educational institutions, and it can impact students in the following ways:
- Studying ethics can make students less dogmatic and more tolerant.
- It will expose students to various alternative lines of reasoning about day-to-day scenarios.
- It will give an opportunity to think and become clearer about their own value commitments.
- Classes give students a safe place to talk about moral disagreements. They provide students with the language and social license to discuss topics they would not have otherwise felt comfortable bringing up, such as their moral concerns with shady practices they have observed.
- Teaching morality is not about inculcating substantive positions. The purpose isn’t necessarily to answer questions, but to raise them, and at the same time to provide students with a method (rules, or boundaries) in accordance with which the questions must be discussed.
- While there may never be consensus on the ‘right answer’ in ethics, ethics courses will help in improving the reasoning and reflecting on our intuitions, principles and values by challenging students to provide reasons for their views, and to counter the reasons of others without invoking flawed arguments or fallacies.
Conclusion
- Many scholars have raised questions on the efficacy of ethics courses being taught. They contend that it merely makes them aware of various kinds of ethical reasoning, but does not make a person more ethical. However, by equipping the people with ethical reasoning, it reduces unethical actions caused due to ignorance. When more and more individuals are ethically aware, it increases the propensity for ethical behaviour.
- Do private ethics have a bearing on public life? Can private ethical behaviour be separated from public ethics without consequences? (10 Mark)
Model Structure
Introduction
- Human beings are complex creatures, and hence, we can find people who are good in their personal lives but are unethical in their professional lives, and vice versa. However, integrity requires consistency in the sense that our moral standards, actions, and values should not be contradictory, irrespective of situation, time or place.
Main Body
Private ethics has an effect on public life, and a few examples discussed below show the impact:
- A moral transgression on the part of Bill Clinton by having an affair with Monica Lewinsky led to the loss of his reputation and impeachment proceedings initiated against him.
- A government employee is liable to be placed under suspension if he remains in custody for more than 48 hours.
- The suspension will come into effect, even if the government employee is arrested because of wrongdoing in their personal life. Public servants are supposed to be on duty 24/7, and hence any ethical violation, even in personal life, is taken seriously.
- People are an integral whole, and hence, it is very difficult to maintain a clear and precise distinction between public ethics and private ethics.
- No individual behaviour is without social implications. No social situation or problem is without individual repercussions.
- For instance, it is difficult to imagine a person who genuinely respects women's rights but indulges in sexual harassment at the office.
- However, we can find many hypocritical men who espouse equality for women, even when they don’t believe in it. They might deceive the outside world, but deep inside, it is difficult to be an ethical person in one theater, but not in the other.
Conclusion
- Thus, private and public cannot be separated, and being ethical implies consistency in all spheres of life.
- Examine how ethics, culture, religion, and morality help to shape public debate on important issues. (10 Mark)
Model Structure
- Ethics, morality, culture and religion have a significant impact on any public debate in the following ways:
- By providing the basic assumptions - e.g., on the debate on entry of women into Sabarimala, the believers feel that there is nothing wrong because God is a celibate and his wishes must be respected.
- Deciding the order of priority - e.g., India is a collectivist society. So, nation comes before community, community comes before family, and family comes before an individual.
- Limiting our choices - India faces severe protein malnutrition. But, low-cost beef products cannot be included in the menu of mid-day meals or subsidised canteens because of religious sentiments.
- Providing different lines of reasoning - e.g., vegetarianism should be preferred because Hinduism and Jainism recommend it. Activists believe that animals, too, have rights, which must be respected. Some ethicists believe that humans can eat animals because it is the law of nature.
- Ensuring human rights are not violated - e.g., despite the public sentiment to hand Kasab in the open, justice prevailed, and he was subjected to due process of law.
- Paving the way for reform and progress - e.g., discriminating on the basis of gender is unethical, hence women must be paid equally for equal work.
- "The global proliferation of generative Artificial Intelligence has created fresh moral dilemmas at the interface between human values and technology." In light of this statement, examine the essence and determinants of ethics that should guide both individual and institutional conduct in the age of AI. (10 Mark)
Model Structure
Ethics at the human interface concerns the moral principles that govern how individuals relate to one another and to the wider world. Generative AI sharpens this relationship because tools that fabricate text, images and decisions can either amplify human dignity or erode it.
The essence of ethics here lies in distinguishing the technically possible from the morally permissible. Deepfakes, algorithmic bias and opaque automated decisions show that capability alone offers no moral compass; conscience and human judgment must remain sovereign.
Several determinants shape conduct in this space. Individually, values absorbed from family, education and society—honesty, empathy and accountability—anchor responsible use. Institutionally, organisational culture, regulatory frameworks (such as the EU AI Act) and professional codes determine whether innovation respects rights or exploits vulnerabilities.
The consequences of ethical lapses are global: misinformation undermining democracies, surveillance threatening privacy, and automation displacing livelihoods. Conversely, ethically grounded AI advances healthcare, accessibility and education.
Thus, the guiding principles must be transparency, fairness, human autonomy and the precautionary protection of the vulnerable. As Kant urged, persons must be treated as ends, never merely as means—a maxim that should govern every human–machine interaction in this transformative era.
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