MODEL OF MORAL DECISION MAKING for UPSC

Ethics can be looked at from another point of view. In fact, the best way of approaching  any subject is to consider the problems which it analyses. A simple way of understanding moral problems is to consider the manner in which we take moral decisions. The elements involved in moral decision-making can be represented as in the following format. 
Model of moral decision making
Moral agent — X
Voluntary action or conduct — X picks Y’s pocket
X’s action is morally wrong — judgment
It is wrong to steal — moral standard
Religion, custom, law, social norm and the like — source of standard

With the help of the above model, we can get a simple overview of Ethics. Moral standards lie at the core of Ethics. As we shall see, many theories discuss different moral standards e.g. duty, social welfare and individual self perfection. Ethics also discusses the sources from which men derive their moral standards. Such sources are religion, laws, social customs and values imbibed at home or in school. Ethics also discusses the nature of the moral standards. For example, are moral standards objective or subjective? Are they based on intellectual analysis or simply derive from man’s innate moral sense? Are moral standards absolute and universal or are they relative to social situations at 
given times and places? Are they amenable to logical analysis or are simply unanalysable intuitions or feelings? We will discuss these issues as we go along. 

In our above example, the right course of action or right moral judgment can be easily seen. 
All will agree to the applicable moral standard. But situations often arise in which people differ on the applicable moral standard. Imagine a situation in which a man whose family is starving becomes 
desperate and breaks into a grocery store, and steals some items of food. What moral judgment should we pass on his action? We would tend to condone his theft out of a sense of natural sympathy for his suffering family. But those who take a stringent view of morality or adhere to absolute ethical 
standards will condemn the act of theft. “A theft”, they will say “is a theft irrespective of the thief’s