UPSC Ethics Simplified | Crisis of Conscience — the concept

Relevance: The topic is a part of UPSC CSE General Studies Paper-IV Ethics Syllabus. Aspirants will find the article useful for their Essay paper too. Moreover, the essence of the article will help aspirants in their professional lives or in life in general.

Nanditesh Nilay writes for UPSC Ethics Simplified fortnightly on Sundays. The first article is a concept while the second article is a caselet based on the concept. Don’t miss the point to ponder and Express Input below.

From ‘Voice of Conscience’ to ‘Crisis of Conscience’

For the UPSC, the terms such as Voice of Conscience and Crisis of Conscience is their assessment tool for whether the candidate is capable enough to recognise and appreciate that there is an innate and incorruptible faculty in all human beings called the ‘conscience’ and later identify as the source and the guide for ethical human conduct. Our last piece on the voice of conscience and the caselet was suggesting to listen to the fundamental sound of the inner self. As that voice from one’s conscience which finally guides an individual and is referred to as the ‘voice of conscience’; and this examination and the steel frame of India checks whether the candidate is aware of how one can develop the competence to heed to the ‘voice of conscience’ clearly. Since there will be an opposite force working to disturb, discourage and distance an individual from listening to the voice of conscience.

There will be several situations in which a lot of individuals will find their voice of conscience becoming feeble and subdued under the dominating effect of our sensory motivations, beliefs, and conditionings based on our superficial experiences. Thus, many times when we are faced with ethical dilemmas, we are not able to recognise the voice of conscience properly or find it intermixed with our external influences. And then appears a state of ‘Crisis of Conscience’.

In making ethical decisions, many a time an individual has to pass through an inner crisis, i.e. an inner conflict between the ‘voice of conscience’ and the extraneous influences and conditionings. In such a situation, either one is utterly confused or tends to take decisions contrary to one’s conscience. The objective of this paper and the service is to test whether the future bureaucrat is cognizant of this real-life situation and how he/she handles it in one’s life.

What is a ‘crisis of conscience’ exactly?

The state of crisis of conscience creates a lot of mixed emotions in and around. The crisis of conscience is like a competing situation of inner dilemma or the inner conflict between the voice of conscience and the influence of external motivations which compel a person to take a contrary decision. This creates a deeper inner tension or conflict where one does not find peace with oneself and is unable to find a way out of this situation. The capability to handle such a situation depends upon a person’s inner development or emotional intelligence etc.  Sometimes it is so discouraging that an individual finds himself or herself surrounded by a cluttered state of affairs where the ability to investigate good or bad loses the strings.

This crisis becomes the crisis of governance and hits the hope of the last person in any democracy.  It also creates an environment where nobody wishes to take ownership of failure or deadlock in the decision-making. The lack of conscience creates that void and the loss of voice. In such situations when people look towards bureaucrats to become a voice for their troubles or understand their pain and sufferings, a crisis appears — Crisis of conscience.

During the pandemic time, people across the world tried to save the world. There was no space for the crisis of conscience. It was the only Voice of Conscience across. With all kinds of noise, humanity was heard with deeper forms of consciousness. But later again there are a lot of examples across the globe where the crisis of conscience is looming large. If conscience is in crisis, who will listen to the voice of the common man? And that notion of civil service will be detailed in word and spirit.

Point to ponder: Conscience and Ethical decision making go hand in hand. Comment. (Answer in the comment box or through your email)

(The writer is the author of ‘Being Good and Aaiye, Insaan Banaen’. He teaches courses on and offers training in ethics, values and behaviour. He has been the expert/consultant to UPSC, SAARC countries, Civil services Academy, National Centre for Good Governance, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Competition Commission of India (CCI), etc. He has PhD in two disciplines and has been a Doctoral Fellow in Gandhian Studies from ICSSR. His second PhD is from IIT Delhi on Ethical Decision Making among Indian Bureaucrats. He writes for the UPSC Ethics Simplified (Concepts and Caselets) fortnightly.)

— Edited by Manas Srivastava

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