Ethics and Social Change

Social change can be defined as any significant alteration in the manner of behavior as well as the cultural norms and values of a given society. The changes are noted to be significant since they result in fundamental social consequences. The question of whether ethics can/should inform social change is debatable. By definition, ethics are principles perceived to be right or wrong and hence can be said to be a gold standard for guiding behavior. The Christian faith, for instance, explains that doing good and being morally upright helps advance change in society (Scott, 2016). Corruption prone areas ought to embrace ethical practices such as honesty, trustworthiness, and openness to help realize the change in society. As much as this appears to be logically viable, it can be argued that ethics is a preserve of those who wish to practice it and social behavior is influenced by an individual’s way of thinking and free-will to act. As such, ethics has no role in defining social change.

Another important discussion point is the ethical practice of democracy. In America, moral values have been said to be the guiding principle behind people’s way of voting. But if similar thoughts can be allowed to reflect on people’s perception regarding gay rights and debates on abortion, why are there so many discrepancies in acceptability? It implies that what is perceived to be morally and ethically right can be the opposite of another group of people (Murtadha, 2016). Therefore, it can be difficult to categorically state that ethics define social change. It is not easy to define what is ethical in any given situation and thus ethics cannot be ideally the source of change in society.

References

Murtadha, K. (2016). Urban University-Community Engagement: Questions of Commitment to Democratic Ethics and Social Change. Journal of Community Engagement & Higher Education, 8(1). Scott Bader, (2016). Ethics and social change. Retrieved from https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2016/26-february/features/features/theology-church-and-the-common-good