Structure:

• Brief introduction- What are Ethics and Human values? (20-30 words)
• How are they related? (50-60 words)
• Give some examples of great personality and their main value prescription. (60-70 words)
• Conclusion (20-30 words)

Supporting points:   

Brief introduction

Ethics is the study of human actions in the light of its rightfulness or wrongfulness as a means to achieve ultimate happiness.

Values are defined as ideas and principles that hold importance to any individual or society. They guide behaviours, choices and actions of individual or society as a whole. Values flow from ones' 'highest self'

Relationship between Ethics and Values:

Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. They help us to determine what is important to us. Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions; the sort of person we want to be; the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our interaction with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines for conduct.

Values in a narrow sense is that which is good, desirable, or worthwhile. Values are the motive behind purposeful action. They are the ends to which we act and come in many forms.

Personal values are personal beliefs about right and wrong and may or may not be considered moral. Cultural values are values accepted by religions or societies and reflect what is important in each context.

Values are essential to ethics. Ethics is concerned with human actions, and the choice of those actions. Ethics evaluates those actions, and the values that underlie them. It determines which values should be pursued, and which shouldn't.

Example: Courage is one such value. Those who value courage are willing to stand up for what they believe, even in the face of strong condemnation. Courage is a moral value when it deals with right and wrong conduct. Similarly, a person who values honesty will consider corruption as unethical. He might blow the whistle on financial wrongdoing by a superior.

Differences:

1. Ethics refers to the guidelines for conduct, that address question about morality. Value is defined as the principles and ideals, which helps them in making the judgement of what is more important.
2. Ethics is a system of moral principles. In contrast to values, which is the stimuli of our thinking.
3. Values strongly influence the emotional state of mind. Therefore it acts as a motivator. On the other hand, ethics compels to follow a particular course of action.
4. Ethics are consistent, whereas values are different for different persons, i.e. what is important for one person, may not be important for another person.
5. Values tell us what we want to do or achieve in our life, whereas ethics helps us in deciding what is morally correct or incorrect, in the given situation.
6. Ethics determines, to what extent our options are right or wrong. As opposed to values, which defines our priorities for life.

Four great personalities who taught us human values:

1. Martin Luther King Jr. - 'a person should be judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character'.
2. Mahatma Gandhi - who taught peaceful protest and who wove garments like the poorest of his neighbours.
3. Florence Nightingale - who left a privileged life to become a nurse to wounded soldiers in the most primitive conditions and who developed both nursing and statistics in order to assist medical advance for all humanity.
4. Swami Vivekananda – his idea of universal brotherhood, tolerance & harmony continues to liberate & touch the souls of millions.

Conclusion:

In the modern age where rights of public and consumers are of highest priority, a 'code of ethics'  on the principles of human values can go a long way in generating harmony and satisfaction for both professionals and public as a whole.