HUMAN VALUES &

PROFESSIONAL
ETHICS
Prof. (Dr.) Sudeep Sharma (sudeep.sharma@gdgoenka.ac.in)
Associate Dean, School of Engineering
GD Goenka University
Let’s Begin the Journey
Course Objectives
• To inculcate human values and professional ethics in
students.
• To enhance the understanding of students towards
personal, professional & societal relationships and
achieve harmony in life.
• To develop moral responsibilities and ethical vision.
Course Outcomes
At the completion of the course, the student should be able
to:
CO1: Understand the importance of values, ethics,
harmony and lifelong learning in personal and professional
life
CO2: Apply the knowledge to perform self-exploration and
transformation augmenting harmony, peace and positivity
in the surroundings
CO3: Appreciate the core values that shape the ethical
behaviour of a professional
Course Content
• Unit I: Introduction: Character, Integrity, Credibility, Mutual
Respect, Dedication, Perseverance, Humility and Perception. Self-
Assessment and Analysis, Setting Life Goals, Consciousness and Self-
Transformation. Team Work, Conflict Resolution, Influencing and
Winning People, Anger Management, Forgiveness and Peace, Morality,
Conscience. Yoga and Spirituality.
• Unit II: Understanding Harmony: Harmony in human being.
Harmony in Nature and Existence. Harmony in family and society –
Roles towards Parents, Elders and Younger Ones, Responsibilities
towards society, Respecting Teachers. Transition from School to
College - Freedom & Responsibilities, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Gender
Social and Historical Consciousness, Respecting Cultural Diversity.
• Unit III: Life Long Learning: Willingness to be lifelong leaner
and gaining wisdom. Learning beyond the Classrooms,
Independent study and research, MOOC. Characteristics of
successful people, Goal Development Activities. Motivation, Will
Power, Time & Budget Management, Balance between
Curricular and Extra Curricular Activities, Handling peer
pressure, Setting Priorities.
• Unit IV: Professional Ethics: Ethical Human Conduct, Variety
of Moral Issues, Types of inquiry, Moral dilemmas, Moral
Autonomy, Kohlberg’s theory, Gilligan’s theory, Consensus and
Controversy, Models of professional roles, Theories about right
action, Self-interest, Customs and Religions, Uses of Ethical
Theories.
Mode of Evaluation
• MSE-I 20%
• MSE-II 20%
• Assignment 20%
• Class Participation 10%
• ESE 30%
• Reference Books:
 A Foundation Course in Human Values and Professional Ethics" by
R R Gaur)
 Professional Ethics and Human Values by R. S. Naagarazan

EXCELLENT (9-10)
Student initiates
contributions in each
FREQUENCY
discussion
Comments are relevant,
insightful and constructive,
uses appropriate
terminology, balanced
QUALITY between general
impressions, opinions and
specific, thoughtful
criticism
Student listens attentively
when others present
materials, perspectives, as
indicated by comments
LISTENING that build on others’
SKILLS
remarks, i.e., student
hears what others say &
contributes to the dialogue
Rubrics for Class Participation
GOOD (7-9)
Student initiates contribution
in more than half of the
discussions
Comments mostly relevant,
insightful & constructive;
mostly uses appropriate
terminology. Occasionally
comments are too general or
not relevant to the discussion
Student is mostly attentive
when others present ideas,
materials, as indicated by
comments that reflect & build
on others’ remarks.
Occasionally needs
encouragement or reminder
from the teacher of focus of
comment
AVERAGE (5-7) UNACCEPTABLE (<5)
Student initiates Student doesn’t
contribution at least in initiate contribution
half of the discussions and needs teacher’s to
solicit input
Comments are Comments are
sometimes constructive, irrelevant,
with occasional signs of uninformative,
insight. Student does lacking in appropriate
not use appropriate terminology, and rely
terminology; comments heavily on opinion
not always relevant to and personal taste
the discussion
Student is often Doesn’t listen to
inattentive and needs others, regularly talks
reminder of focus of or doesn’t pay
class. Occasionally attention when others
makes disruptive speak, detracts from
comments while others discussions, sleeps
are speaking etc.
Methodology
• Explorational and thus universally adaptable.

• Involves a systematic and rational study of the human being vis-à-vis the rest of
existence.

• Free from any dogma or value prescriptions

• Process of self-investigation and self-exploration, and not of giving sermons.

• Whatever is found as truth or reality is stated as a proposal and the students are
facilitated to verify it in their own right, based on their Natural Acceptance and
subsequent Experiential Validation.

• Dialogue between the teacher and the students to begin with, and then to continue
within the student leading to continuous self-evolution.

• This self-exploration also enables them to critically evaluate their pre-conditionings and
present beliefs.

• Importance: Clarity and Comfort in thinking, more confident about life and profession
Self Assessment & Analysis
Activity/Assignment #1
• Introduce yourself.
• What are your goals in life?
• How do you set your goals in life?
• How do you differentiate between right and wrong?
• What have been your achievements and shortcoming in
life? Analyse them.
Importance of Value Education
• Human aspiration for Happy, Fulfilling and Successful Life
• Purpose of Education: To provide adequate competence to actualize this
aspiration
• SKILLS DOMAIN: How to actualize? How to make it happen? Present
Education System – largely skill based
• VALUE DOMAIN: What is valuable? What is conducive to happy and fulfilling
life?
• Value Education: To provide competence of deciding what really is valuable for
human happiness – Outside the scope of Science & Technology
• Without value education - Serious crises at individual, societal and
environmental level
Values
• Character, Integrity, Credibility, Mutual Respect, Dedication,
Perseverance, Humility, Perception
• What are human values?
• Value: participation in longer order of which it is a part
• Value of pen – it can write (participation of pen in the bigger
order in which pen, paper and writer, all are present)
• Value of eye? Value of spinach?
• Value of human being? (participation of human being in
bigger order)
Self Assessment & Analysis
• Self-Explortion as the Process for Value Education: Dialogue
between ‘what you are’ and ‘what you really want to be’
• Focus attention on yourself, your present beliefs and aspirations vis-
à-vis what you really want to be (What is naturally acceptable to
you)
• Process of discovering that there is something innate, invariant and
universal in all human beings
• Process of becoming aware about your right relationship with other
entities in existence and through that discovering the
interconnectedness, co-existence, and order in entire existence, and
living accordingly
• Process of being in harmony with yourself and the entire existence
Content of Self Exploration
1. What is my Desire/Goal
2. What is my Program for fulfilling the Desire
• Do not accept/reject proposals on basis of following
 Scriptures
 Preached/Denied by great men
 Same/Difference view by majority
 Claims to have been verified through some physical instrument

• To be authenticated by you alone by means of verification at

level of natural acceptance and experiential validation
 Experiential Validation: Live according to it
 Behavior with Human Beings – Mutual Happiness
 Work with the rest of Nature – Mutual Prosperity
Some Possible Confusions
• I will be bored of happiness if I am always happy
• I will grow only if I am unhappy. If I become happy, my
growth will stop
• I need to be unhappy to recognize that I am happy
• We think of others only when we are unhappy. Thus it is
important/useful to be unhappy so that one can help
others
• Happiness and unhappiness cannot be separated
• Yes I want happiness but my desire doesn’t guarantee it.
So, why to talk of desire?
continued…
• My happiness depends on the others. What can I do about
it?
• We do not want happiness for ourselves – but we want to
make others happy (while we stay unhappy)!
• Happiness is a small thing. We have higher aspirations –
like contentment, peace, bliss, etc!
• Do not bother me with such abstract concepts, I have to
live and deal with things in my real life.
Setting Life Goals
• Career, Financial, Education, Family, Artistic, Attitude,
Physical, Pleasure, Public Service
• What you want to achieve in your lifetime
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time Bound
Consciousness & Self Transformation
• Consciousness – State of being aware and responsive to
one’s surrounding
• Self Transformation – Not just about changing yourself,
its paradigm shift for awakening of higher potential
• If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all
of yourself……
• The greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-
transformation
• Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
Physical Facilities
• Food, Clothing, Shelter etc.
• Is this all that we want?
• Can we find what else do we want
• SVDD to SSDD or SSSS
Relationship
•I live with other human beings
• Problems
 Due to lack of physical facilities?
 Due to lack of relationship?

• Where are we putting more efforts?

• Howdo I become competent to correctly identify
my needs for physical facilities?
Right Understanding
• I am able to decide my need for physical facilities by right
understanding
• I am able to ensure right feelings in relationship on the
basis of right understanding of myself and of others
The Correct Priority
• Right Understanding

• Relationship

• Physical Facilities

• Difference between Animal and Human Consciousness

• Transformation from Animal to Human Consciousness

• This transformation forms the basis for Human Values and Value Based
Living

• Does it appeal to your natural acceptance?

Influencing & Winning People
• Genuine interest in other people
• Don’t underestimate the power of Smile
• Call people by name
• Be a good listener
• Talk in terms of other man’s interests
• Sincerely make the other person feel important
• Only way to get best of an argument is to avoid it
• Show respect to other man’s opinions.
• If you are wrong, admit it quickly and empathetically
Team Work and Conflict Resolution
• Why Team work?
• Together Everyone Achieves More
• Respect, Trust, Care
• Less Me, More We
• Working together not against each other
• Division of tasks, multiplication of success
• How to resolve conflicts?
Anger Management, Forgiveness &
Peace
• Where does the anger come from?
• Do anger management techniques work?
• To be able to Forgive is power
Morality and Conscience
• Morality is concerned with principles and practice of
morals
• What ought or ought not to be done in a given situation?
• What is right or wrong about the handling of a situation?
• What is good or bad about the people, policies, and ideals
involved?
• Conscience is a person's moral sense of right and wrong,
viewed as acting as a guide to one's behavior.
Yoga - Eight Components of Yoga by
Patanjali
• Yama (Moral conduct)
• Niyama (Religious observances)
• Asana (Right posture)
• Pranayama (Control of breath)
• Pratyahara (Withdrawal of senses from external objects)
• Dharana (Focused concentration)
• Dhyana (Meditation)
• Samadhi (Super-consciousness)
Spirituality
• Way of living that emphasizes the constant awareness and
recognition of the spiritual dimension (mind and its development)
of nature and people, with a dynamic balance between the
material development and the spiritual development.
• Includes creativity, communication, recognition of the individual
as human being, respect to others, acceptance (stop finding faults
in others), vision (looking beyond the obvious and not believing
anyone blindly), and partnership (not being too authoritative,
and always sharing responsibility with others)
Spirituality
• Motivation
• Energy
• Flexibility
• Acceptance
• Variety
• Fun
• Tolerance and Empathy
• Creativity
Spirituality for Corporate Excellence
• Self Awareness – Realization of Self Potential
• Alertness in Observation and Quickness in Decision Making
• Being Visionary and Value Based
• Holism – Holistic Thinking Interconnected with Different
Aspects
• Compassion
• Respect for Diversity
• Moral Autonomy – Need not follow the crowd
• Creative Thinking and Constant Reasoning
• Ability to Analyze and Synthesize
• Positive Views of Adversity
• Humility
• Sense of Vocation
Setting Goals
Activity/Assignment #2
• Discuss your short term and long term goals.
• How do you set your goals?
• How do you handle responsibilities which have to be
fulfilled while working for goals