1.1 Public Sector Ethics
Ethics= The systematic reflection on morality.
Morality= The ideas and practices concerning good and bad, right and wrong.
Normative Non-normative
General Normative ethics Meta-ethics
Specific Applied ethics Descriptive ethics
Critics:
-Dogmatism= The idea that ethics is not necessary, because the answers to ethical problems are
already given.
-Scientism= The idea that even though ethics is necessary, it can never be a scientific enterprise.
Science is about facts, not about values
-Ethical relativism= The idea that even if ethical questions are open and even if they can be
addressed rationally, we should still not expect true objective answers to them.
Cultural relativism= Actual morality depends on cultural factors.
1.2 Public Values
Values= Moral ends or qualities of worth. Referring to abstract things, such as peace, justice or
loyalty.
Norms= Rules that aim to promote or protect certain values.
Public Values, provide normative consensus about:
1. The rights, benefits and prerogatives to which citizens should be entitled.
2. The obligations of citizens to society, the state and one another
3. The principles on which governments and policies should be based.
--> Bozeman, 2007
Shorter definition= Moral ends that shape the public sector.
Public sector/private sector
A. Legal
B. Economic
C. Political
D. Ethical
Public sector;
-Public organizations= The collectives that embody and aim to promote certain public values.
-Public policies= The plans to translate public values in concrete actions.
-Public management= The concrete actions aim to realize the public values embodied in the
organization and it's policies.
Individual level:
1. Public Service Ethos
2. Public Service Motivation
, 2.1 Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics= The ethical approach in which the notion of virtues is central.
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Aristotle:
-Everything in nature has a Telos (= a purpose)
The Telos of a knife is cutting.
-The Telos for humans is happiness.
-Eudaimonia= well-being or flourishing
-What we should do and how we should live.
-Living well consists in practicing the virtues
Virtue:
-A good character trait.
-A stable disposition to act in an appropriate way.
-Such as honesty, courage.
Vice:
-A bad character trait.
-Such as arrogance, laziness, impatience
Cardinal virtues, four core virtues:
1. Justice
2. Temperance
3. Courage
4. Prudence
Theological virtues, Christian tradition:
5. Faith
6. Hope
7. Charity
Distinction of Aristotle:
A. Intellectual virtues
-Regulate our thoughts
-Prudence
B. Moral virtues
-Regulate our emotions and actions
-Justice, temperance, courage
--> Prudence is necessary for performing all the moral virtues.
Principle of the Golden Mean:
-Every moral virtue is a mean of two extremes. One of deficiency and one of access.
-Courage is a mean of cowardice and recklessness on the other hand.
-Does not state that a virtue is always precisely in the middle.
-Does not imply that being virtuous is equal to mediocrity.
How do people become virtuous?
-They do not come naturally
-We have the potential to develop some virtues.
-Virtues must be required through moral education
Ethics= The systematic reflection on morality.
Morality= The ideas and practices concerning good and bad, right and wrong.
Normative Non-normative
General Normative ethics Meta-ethics
Specific Applied ethics Descriptive ethics
Critics:
-Dogmatism= The idea that ethics is not necessary, because the answers to ethical problems are
already given.
-Scientism= The idea that even though ethics is necessary, it can never be a scientific enterprise.
Science is about facts, not about values
-Ethical relativism= The idea that even if ethical questions are open and even if they can be
addressed rationally, we should still not expect true objective answers to them.
Cultural relativism= Actual morality depends on cultural factors.
1.2 Public Values
Values= Moral ends or qualities of worth. Referring to abstract things, such as peace, justice or
loyalty.
Norms= Rules that aim to promote or protect certain values.
Public Values, provide normative consensus about:
1. The rights, benefits and prerogatives to which citizens should be entitled.
2. The obligations of citizens to society, the state and one another
3. The principles on which governments and policies should be based.
--> Bozeman, 2007
Shorter definition= Moral ends that shape the public sector.
Public sector/private sector
A. Legal
B. Economic
C. Political
D. Ethical
Public sector;
-Public organizations= The collectives that embody and aim to promote certain public values.
-Public policies= The plans to translate public values in concrete actions.
-Public management= The concrete actions aim to realize the public values embodied in the
organization and it's policies.
Individual level:
1. Public Service Ethos
2. Public Service Motivation
, 2.1 Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics= The ethical approach in which the notion of virtues is central.
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Aristotle:
-Everything in nature has a Telos (= a purpose)
The Telos of a knife is cutting.
-The Telos for humans is happiness.
-Eudaimonia= well-being or flourishing
-What we should do and how we should live.
-Living well consists in practicing the virtues
Virtue:
-A good character trait.
-A stable disposition to act in an appropriate way.
-Such as honesty, courage.
Vice:
-A bad character trait.
-Such as arrogance, laziness, impatience
Cardinal virtues, four core virtues:
1. Justice
2. Temperance
3. Courage
4. Prudence
Theological virtues, Christian tradition:
5. Faith
6. Hope
7. Charity
Distinction of Aristotle:
A. Intellectual virtues
-Regulate our thoughts
-Prudence
B. Moral virtues
-Regulate our emotions and actions
-Justice, temperance, courage
--> Prudence is necessary for performing all the moral virtues.
Principle of the Golden Mean:
-Every moral virtue is a mean of two extremes. One of deficiency and one of access.
-Courage is a mean of cowardice and recklessness on the other hand.
-Does not state that a virtue is always precisely in the middle.
-Does not imply that being virtuous is equal to mediocrity.
How do people become virtuous?
-They do not come naturally
-We have the potential to develop some virtues.
-Virtues must be required through moral education
