Structure

1. Introduction- briefly about universal values
2. Body – mention any three values and in your own words write its The 2^nd part is about their significance in civil services- elaborate with examples
3. Conclusion – briefly mention about how they can be cultivated

Universal values

A value is a universal value if it has the same value or worth for all, or almost all, people. Spheres of human value encompass morality, aesthetic preference, human traits, human endeavour, and social order.

Whether universal values exist is an unproven conjecture of moral philosophy and cultural anthropology, though it is clear that certain values are found across a great diversity of human cultures, such as primary attributes of physical attractiveness(e.g. youthfulness, symmetry) whereas other attributes (e.g. slenderness) are subject to aesthetic relativism as governed by cultural norms. This objection is not limited to aesthetics.

Relativism concerning morals is known as moral relativism, a philosophical stance opposed to the existence of universal moral values.

The claim for universal values can be understood in two different ways. First, it could be that something has a universal value when everybody finds it valuable. Second, something could have universal value when all people have reason to believe it has value.

Amartya Sen interprets the term in this way, pointing out that when Mahatma Gandhi argued that non-violence is a universal value, he was arguing that all people have reason to value non- violence, not that all people currently value non-violence.

Truth

Truth is considered as the highest human value connected with the intellectual domain of personality. We accord highest value among the five human values to truth. Because in our firm faith resides its infallibility. Truth is the essence of all world religion and the distinguished hallmark of glory and grandeur of human civilization. It is natural of every being. According to Sathya's explanation '' truth is the synchronization of our thought, word and deed. It is managing our inner and outer purity''. Sense of perception, truth inference and absolute truth are the three hierarchical level of perception in truth. Sense of perception: We speak truth, when we describe what we see or hear. This concept of truth is based on sense of perception. The truth sense of perception varies according to time, location, need and etc. Hence, our value judgment changes depending up on the quality and property which we assign to it. Truth

Inference: At a higher level, the truth of inference is arrived at through reasoning which is not wholly based on experimental science. ''All men are mortal'' is a truth of inference. We based this statement on the strength of our observation of those around us and extend it to arrive at a general conclusion even though we may not have seen every human being born in this world, dying. Absolute truth: Is beyond the reach of time and space. It is eternal and indivisible. It does not begin; it is always and ever existent.

It can not be marked out as such and such, nor can it be characterized by any characteristics. So, there is conception beyond perception, intellect and reasoning. Transition truth follow values of truth like truthfulness, curiosity, quest for knowledge, spirit of enquirer, study of one's self discrimination, secularism, respect of all religion and universal self-existent truth.

Peace

Peace is related to the emotional aspect of human personality. Righteousness blossoms in peace which is the most priceless possession of man's. It is the constantly sought purpose of all human endeavor. Right or wrong, whatever a man thinks or does is with the intention of attaining peace and happiness it thus,can never can secured from the outside world. Peace is also state of bliss,mental equipoise, tensionlessness and stillness of thought. Abstinence,freedom from sin,cultivation of virtues, discipline, purity, endurance, integrity, self control, self-respect, awareness of dignity of individual are sub-values of peace listed by Gokak (1981).

Love

Love is not an emotion. It is the form of energy which each individual transmits and receives every moment. It affect all forms of life and is a peculiar possession, which grows with sharing. Also,truth leads to righteous which unfolds in peace blossoms in to love. Love is the expression of divine with the individuals and is the power of soul. It is the mightiest of force in the world is truly representative of human nature. At human level, love assumes in many forms. The word love is used in the common parlance in the context of relation between mother and child,husband and wife,master and servant but not true love is. Love can be applied only to the total love towards divine. It utters selfless. An act of service done with love has three characteristics. Firstly, there is wholeheartedness in the action of our service rendered as an expression of love. Secondly,the act is filled with humility and selflessness. Thirdly, the act has nothing as selfishness and violence's. Sincerity, kindness to animals, sympathy, friendship, patriotism, tolerance and humanism are some tips of love.

Non-Violence

All the four human values above culminate in non-violence. Non -violence is the zenith of human achievement and perfection. It is the universal love that goes beyond our relation with other fellow beings and embraces all living and non living things. It is non-injury to human or sub- human being or to any form of living being thought word or deed. It means we should not harm or hurt us physically or vocally. It implies abstention from harsh or impolite word,condemning or contemptuous words,abuses or calumny and threatening words rebukes or scolds. By it nature non-violence has it own varieties. These are non-violence through action,through words and thought. In action it connotes to wards all living beings,peaceful co-existence,conflict less society,absence of quarrel and war. In speech not to inflict anybody through words. At mental level,it means malice towards none. Basically it means not hurting,amity,harmony and understanding in the context of plants and animals. Kindness,courtesy,good manner,helpfulness, unwillingness to hurt,consideration of others readiness to cooperate are the essential values of non-violence.

Kofi Annan’s view on universal values (additional reading)

The values of peace, freedom, social progress, equal rights and human dignity, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are no less valid today than when, over half a century ago, those documents were drafted by representatives of many different nations and cultures.

And they were not any more fully realized in actual human conduct at that time than they are now. Those great documents expressed an optimistic vision, not a description of existing realities. Let’s not forget that among the States that drafted and signed them was the Soviet Union, at the height of Stalin’s terror, as well as several unrepentant colonial powers.

The values of our founders are still not fully realized. Alas, far from it. But they are much more broadly accepted today than they were a few decades ago. The Universal Declaration, in particular, has been accepted in legal systems across the world, and has become a point of reference for people who long for human rights in every country. The world has improved, and the United Nations has made an important contribution.

But universal values are also more acutely needed, in this age of globalization, than ever before. Every society needs to be bound together by common values, so that its members know what to expect of each other, and have some shared principles by which to manage their differences without resorting to violence.

Globalization has brought great opportunities, but also many new stresses and dislocations. There is a backlash against it -- precisely because we have not managed it in accordance with the universal values we claim to believe in.

In the Universal Declaration, we proclaimed that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services”.

Globalization has brought us closer together in the sense that we are all affected by each other’s actions, but not in the sense that we all share the benefits and the burdens. Instead, we have allowed it to drive us further apart, increasing the disparities in wealth and power both between societies and within them.

This makes a mockery of universal values. It is not surprising that, in the backlash, those values have come under attack, at the very moment when we most need them.

Whether one looks at peace and security, at trade and markets, or at social and cultural attitudes, we seem to be in danger of living in an age of mutual distrust, fear and protectionism -an age when people turn in on themselves, instead of turning outwards to exchange with, and learn from, each other.

Disillusioned with globalization, many people have retreated into narrower interpretations of community. This in turn leads to conflicting value systems, which encourage people to exclude some of their fellow human beings from the scope of their empathy and solidarity, because they do not share the same religious or political beliefs, or cultural heritage, or even skin colour.

We have seen what disastrous consequences such particularist value systems can have: ethnic cleansing, genocide, terrorism, and the spread of fear, hatred and discrimination.

So this is a time to reassert our universal values.

In the face of such a challenge, we can reassert universal values only if we are prepared to think rigorously what we mean by them, and how we can act on them.

1. That means we must also be clear about what they are And one thing that should be clear is that the validity of universal values does not depend on their being universally obeyed or applied. Ethical codes are always the expression of an ideal and an aspiration, a standard by which moral failings can be judged rather than a prescription for ensuring that they never occur.
2. Also, our universal values require us to recognise the human characteristics, both good and bad, that we have in common with all our fellow human beings, and to show the same respect for human dignity and sensitivity in people of other communities that we expect them to show for

Of course having such common values does not solve all problems, or eliminate the scope for different societies to solve them in different ways.

We may all be sincerely committed to non-violence and respect for life, and yet disagree about whether it is legitimate to take the lives of those who have themselves taken life, or to use violence to defend the innocent when violence is being used against them.

We may all be genuinely committed to solidarity with our fellow human beings and a just economic order, and yet not agree which policies will be most effective in bringing about that order.

We may all be deeply attached to tolerance and truthfulness, and yet not agree how tolerant we should be of States or systems that seem to us intolerant and untruthful.

And we may all be genuinely committed to equal rights and partnership between men and women, without agreeing on how far the social roles of men and women should be differentiated, or whether it is the responsibility of society to enforce the sanctity of the marriage bond.

On all such issues we must expect differences to continue for a long time -– between societies and within them. The function of universal values is not to eliminate all such differences, but rather to help us manage them with mutual respect, and without resorting to mutual destruction.

Tolerance and dialogue are essential, because without them there is no peaceful exchange of ideas, and no way to arrive at agreed solutions allowing different societies to evolve in their own way.

Those societies that consider themselves modern need to recognise that modernity does not automatically generate tolerance. Even sincere liberals and democrats can sometimes be remarkably intolerant of other views. One should always be on one’s guard against such temptations.

On their side, societies that put a high premium on tradition need to recognise that traditions survive best, not when they are rigid and immutable, but when they are living and open to new ideas, from within and from without.

It may also be true that, in the long run, tolerance and dialogue within a society are best guaranteed through particular institutional arrangements, such as multi-party elections, or the separation of powers between legislature, executive and judiciary.

But these arrangements are means to an end, not the end in itself. No society should consider that, because it has found them useful, it has an absolute right or obligation to impose them on others. Each society should be given the space, not to distort or undermine universal values, but to express them in a way that reflects its own traditions and culture.

Values are not there to serve philosophers or theologians, but to help people live their lives and organize their societies. So, at the international level, we need mechanisms of cooperation strong enough to insist on universal values, but flexible enough to help people realize those values in ways that they can actually apply in their specific circumstances.

In the end history will judge us, not by what we say but by what we do. Those who preach certain values loudest –- such as the values of freedom, the rule of law, and equality before the law –- have a special obligation to live by those values in their own lives and their own societies, and to apply them to those they consider their enemies as well as their friends.

You don’t need to be tolerant of those who share your opinions, or whose behaviour you approve. It is when we are angry that we most need to apply our proclaimed principles of humility and mutual respect.

Nor should we ever be satisfied with things as they are. The state of the world does not allow that.

Do we still have universal values? Yes, we do, but we should not take them for granted. They need to be carefully thought through.

They need to be defended. They need to be strengthened.

And we need to find within ourselves the will to live by the values we proclaim –- in our private lives, in our local and national societies, and in the world