The revelations about ethics deficit discussed yesterday are shocking. There is hardly any aspect of business where the corporates have not indulged in unethical practices.

Therefore, the general public perception has been that ‘business ethics’ is an oxymoron or self-contradictory because there is no ethics in business as evidenced by massive corruption, scams, scandals, bribery to government officials, political contributions and the lavish life style indulged by the top executives.

Manipulations, dishonesty, causing environmental damage and profiteering are considered quite ‘normal’. This is one point of view and there are valid reasons to hold such a view.

While business houses are getting more and more powerful, there is also greater awareness and people have started questioning everything that business does.

There are increasing demands from stakeholders, the academicians, the civil society, the government and the international organizations to make business more ethical.

German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche said, “Only individuals have a sense of responsibility.” This means that corporate and institutional ethics is a misnomer.

It is the ethical and moral values of an individual (CEO or a top executive) that can make a difference and enforce ethics. Ethics cannot be taught ~ it comes from the heart, from the individual’s consciousness.

It comes automatically from the ‘Universal Moral Principles’ pervading the universe and is inculcated in the individuals naturally and also from the family and the schools since childhood.

The entire animal and natural world strictly follow the Universal Morality which is also present in every man but suppressed by our civilization.

Immanuel Kant, one of the greatest philosophers of all time, said that there is no ethics in this world or the outer world except ‘pure goodwill’ coming from the “Categorical Imperative” of the individual’s sense of duty. According to Kant, one does not need the Church or God to tell her or him what is right and what is wrong.

Every rational human being who is a moral actor is a ‘sovereign republic’ and he can legislate for himself, which in turn becomes a universal law applicable uniformly to everybody whether it is his own parents or himself.

Human dignity, rationality, consistency, universality, duty, unconditional love, and goodwill are the hallmarks of Kantian ethics ~ the ‘categorical imperative’ and ‘the kingdom of ends’ harmonizing with ‘the realm of nature’ (natural laws and morality).

Ethical values presuppose rationality, humility, gratitude and a sense of indebtedness. Unless an individual realizes the smallness of man and understands how he is indebted to others for his existence, he cannot develop the humility required to make ethics a philosophy of life.

Albert Einstein, the great scientist-philosopher realized the need to recognize human indebtedness more than anybody else, which shaped his illustrious life. In his book, The World As I See It (originally in German), Einstein writes : “A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labours of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. I am strongly drawn to the simple life and am often oppressed by the feeling that I am engrossing an unnecessary amount of the labour of my fellowmen.”

Einstein wondered about the meaning of our existence and purpose of human life ~ our ‘brief sojourn’ on earth and was convinced that we exist not for ourselves but for others. He writes: “But from the point of view of daily life, without going deeper, we exist for our fellow-men ~ in the first place for those on whose smiles and welfare all our happiness depends, and next for all those unknown to us personally with whose destinies we are bound up by the tie of sympathy.”

To me, there is no greater philosophy of life and ethics than this. But are the billionaires of the world listening? Of the 2668 billionaires (2022), only a very few like Warren Buffet and George Fenny are known to lead a frugal life and the vast majority do not tread the path of simple life shown by Einstein or Mahatma Gandhi.

The richest one per cent who have captured 63 per cent of the world’s wealth (2021) have quietly forgotten their responsibility, indebtedness and gratitude to the millions contributing to their wealth.

What Einstein said about human indebtedness and gratitude, Indian Rishis proclaimed three thousand years ago in a much wider and more universal context. Human ethical values are born out of the feeling of indebtedness.

Humans have inherited five categories of indebtedness or Rin in our existence on earth and all of us must express our gratitude and also to repay our debt. These are:

(1) Devarin ~ indebtedness to supra-human powers for the gifts of Sun, air, water, light etc.

(2) Rishi Rin ~ Indebtedness to sages who leading a life of utter self-denial, realise the highest truths and gave the wisdoms.

(3) Pitri Rin ~ indebtedness to parents and ancestors for their cumulative contributions to us.

(4) Nri Rin ~ indebtedness to humanity at large, to countless people who have contributed to make existence a reality.

(5) Bhuta Rin ~ indebtedness to all sub-human species ~ trees, animals, birds, fish, insects etc. for their incalculable gifts to us.

Ethics is the “oxygen” of life and without ethics, the world would turn into a lawless, anarchic, uncivilized and a cruel jungle to live in, where the only rule would be ‘might is right’.

Society and good life would collapse. It is not a question of ethics in business only.

If the world is to survive, ethics has to be the guiding and motivating force in all walks of life and at all levels ~ family, community, professional, social, political, judicial, cultural, technological and scientific.   

(The writer is a former DY. Comptroller & Auditor general of India and former Ombudsman of Reserve bank of India. He is also a writer of several books and can be researched at brahmas@gmail.com)