Lecture-3

FUNDAMENTAL VALUES AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN DAY TO DAY LIFE

The feeling of being related to every human being leads to our participation in an undivided
society. With the understanding of values in human relationships we are able to recognize the
connectedness with every individual correctly and fulfill it. There are definite values in human-
to- human relationships which need to be understood and fulfilled accordingly. These are known
as fundamental/essential values and they play an important role in day to day life.

Knowledge and understanding of the most basic human values is of basic importance to any
human in the world to

- make truly responsible decisions

- give a responsible direction to one’s life and children.

It is also of basic importance for any scientist, technician or politician, to give direction to the
development of science, technology and human development.

Only the highest universal human values can be seen as most basic human values and to be
universal, these basic human values have to be realistic, generally acknowledged and
independent of any religious belief, culture, or philosophy. For protection of these highest human
values, and to make them realizable for every individual, social or moral standards are needed.
Therefore, it could be stated that values are deeply held beliefs that guide us in what is right and
wrong. Values are taught so that one can have perfection in his/her personality.

The unique characteristics of values are:

 they are subjective, because every single human being views life through his own
perspective.
 Every person’s point of view is unique and therefore every person’s set of values is
unique.
 There are values that are positive (friendship, happiness etc) and negative (hate,
jealousy).
 Values are found in all cultures, societies and in all places where we live.

Importance of values: Values are the set of rules we have for leading our lives. They let us
know:

 What is important to us and help us prioritize.

 Values help us gain clarity and focus in our lives.
 Values help us make decisions which lead us to integrity.

All universal moral values are against human egocentrism and aim to prevent an egocentric
respect-less behaviour. Hence, our moral values are most important when we are in a state of

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frustration, anger or negativity. These fundamental values cannot be forced on anybody or any
society, but they can only function as behavioural and educational guidelines, and as
comparative verification concepts. They can only be desired and agreed upon, and hence
expected.

Grid of Human Values: Human values are those universal concepts, drivers of action which are
found in all cultures, all societies, and all times and in all places where human beings enlarge out
their lives. The five human values which can be found in all religions are: Truth, Right Conduct,
Love, Peace and Non violence.

GRID OF HUMAN VALUES AND SUB VALUES

Right conduct Peace Truth Love Non-Violence

Manners Patience Truthfulness Kindness Consideration
Health Concentration Creativity Friendship Cooperation
awareness
Helpfulness Positivity Honesty Forgiveness Global
Stewardship
Responsibility Self acceptance Determination Generosity Loyalty
Independence Self Discipline Fairness Compassion Active
Citizenship
Perseverance Thankfulness Trust Tolerance Justice
Courage Contentment Reflection Service Respect

I. Right Conduct: means showing respect for society’s laws, parents and elders and all the
customs and practices of other cultures and faiths. This will aim to develop self reliance, self-
discipline and enthusiasm. Right conduct consists of eight paths.

 Right View: means to abandon a self centered way of looking at things and see all things
clearly. Don’t think of personal gains only.
 Right Thinking: means not to be inclined toward a self centered attitude but to think of
things rightly, from a higher standpoint. This teaches us to abandon the three evils of the
mind i.e. covetousness (greed), resentment (angry mind); and evil-mindedness, and to
think of things with as generous a mind.
 Right Speech: teaches us to use right words in our daily lives and to avoid the “four evils
of the mouth”: lying (false language), a double tongue (gossip), ill speaking (slander),
and improper language (careless language). It may take some time to practice but even if
angry one should not loose temper.
 Right Action: means daily conduct and this can be achieved only if a person will refrain
himself from above said three evils that hinder right actions, careless killings, stealing
etc.

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  Right Living: This teaches us not to earn our livelihood through work that makes
trouble for others or through a vocation useless to society but to live on a justifiable
income that we can obtain through right work, which is useful for the society.
 Right Endeavour: means to engage constantly in right conduct without being idle or
deviating from the right path.
 Right Memory: means to practice with a right mind. If we hope that only we ourselves
may be right, we will become stubborn and self-satisfied people who are alienated from
the world.
 Right Meditation: means always be determined to believe in the teachings and not to be
agitated by any change of circumstances.

Taken altogether, the doctrine of Eightfold Path is the teaching that shows us the right way to
live our daily lives.

II. Peace: refers to the experience of harmony as well as balanced mental condition. Peace has to
be seen as a basic condition for freedom and happiness, for without peace there can not be real
freedom. Wherever there is fight, threat or hostility our freedom and happiness are inhibited or
totally prevented. For the realization of peace in a society, the universal values and standards of
safety, equality, respect and justice are needed which in turn can be achieved through
friendliness, empathy, loyalty, integrity and modesty. Peace, the absence of enmity and hostility,
is also a basic condition for trust and reliability, and the basis of all cooperation, creation and
sustainable trade. Peace can be fully realized when we have:

 Confidence in the inherent ability of human to see good, do good and be good.
 Peacefulness is related to controlling one’s desires. E.g. if a person want to make quick
money, there are cent per cent chances that he will earn it by engaging himself in some
anti social activity.
 Peace of mind is individual whereas peace in society is the result of positive acts, which
are not violent/ destructive but tolerant and constructive.

III. Truth: truth is an inherent value in the human psyche and the fact behind this is that no one
likes to be called a liar, not even most liars. It is much harder to sustain a lie than to maintain the
truth because one lie leads to another until the complexity is unmanageable. There are 2 aspects
of truth.

 Individual aspect- which includes honesty, frankness, self-knowledge, accountability etc

.
 Communal aspect- which includes integrity, reflection (how you are representing a
particular thing), accountability (CAG deal: government is fighting so that nobody can
raise question at their integrity and till they are not able to satisfy other parties they are
accountable for the same etc ).

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IV. Love: Love in a general sense can be best defined as feelings or an experience of deep
connectedness or oneness with any other human being or non human object. However, for some
love can also be experienced as something far beyond any comprehension and totally
indescribable. It is the essence of the experience of beauty, gratitude, joy, friendship, empathy,
loyalty, justice, true respect for nature, and positive creativity. Therefore, love is the essence of
the experience of anything beautiful and anything that makes life worth living, and a basic
condition for happiness. Hence, love has to be seen as one of the most basic and universal core
values.
Characteristics of Love

 Love is a form of energy which each individual transmits and receives every moment.
 Should be taken in wide sense of care/ concern i.e. should not consider it as pure
platonic relationships. Eg. Love between parent children, brother-sister etc.
 Unselfish care and concern for the well being of others and the world at large. E.g.
social service at old age homes.
 It is one possession which grows with sharing
 Love begins by manifesting towards parents and grows gradually to include family,
neighborhood, country etc.

V. Non-Violence: means amity (peaceful, friendly relations), harmony and the

understanding.
 It can be achieved through non- violation of the law, cooperation, unity and equality,
civic responsibility, social service, respect etc.
 The practice of non violence is not restricted to the physical plane alone but includes all
the three i.e. thought, word and deed.

Concluding the fundamental values, we can say that:

 Truth is what we speak.

 Right is what we practice.
 Love is what we live.
 Peace is what we give.
 Non- violence is the fruit.

Beside these five Fundamental Values other Basic Human Values are:

1. Respect – It prevents antisocial, hostile and criminal behaviour. The most basic principle
of any social community is feelings of connectedness which come out of our perception,
empathy and awareness that the other human are as we are ourselves. This creates trust
and a friendly attitude towards others. Respect can be seen as the basis of most of our
other social values like peace, freedom, justice and equality.

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 2. Equality -prevents arrogance and disrespect and is needed for justice. Although equality
is most important as a universal social standard, this standard should also be seen as a
basic human value because equality supports and stimulates an empathic way of thinking.
Equality is also the basis of other basic human values like justice, rule of law, human
rights, democracy, peace and freedom. Equality also means equivalence and it creates
modesty and hence it prevents arrogance and all of its negative consequences. Equality
as the basis of justice, freedom and peace is needed to maintain love and happiness. It can
also be observed that basically all humans share the same basic human qualities and
weaknesses and that all humans live out of their qualities, assumptions, desires and fears;
all are susceptible to frustration, anger, wrongdoing, greed, envy, jealousy and all
humans do make mistakes.
So no people in the world can think of themselves as a higher class of people . . .

3. Respect for nature -prevents destruction of nature, animal cruelty and saves nature from
human misuse and pollution. A basic moral standard of respect for nature refers to
protection of nature from over-exploitation and eradication of species. Understanding of
our human dependence on nature and awareness of being part of a precious and
vulnerable ecology can help us to accept the moral standard of respect for nature.
Respect for nature is also an important human value to prevent animal cruelty. Animal
cruelty is against our basic human qualities of empathy and realism and against our
highest human value of love.
4. Empathy - causes helpfulness, sharing and respect and is needed to experience love.
Focusing on empathy diminishes our egocentrism. Human empathy together with human-
friendliness and integrity is needed to experience the highest human values of love and
happiness. It is also the basis of human compassion and altruism.

CIVIC SENSE: is nothing but social ethics. In present day scenario, people particularly youth
are forgetting how to behave properly. Civic sense and good behaviour improves our personality
and gives good impression to others. Civic Sense is all about having consideration for a fellow
human being. It means being polite, showing consideration to elderly, women, children and
disabled people, driving in one’s lane without honking, throwing one’s garbage in dustbins,
smoking only at designated places and the list can go on. It is the consideration by the people
for the unspoken norms of the society.

Why is Civic Sense important?

Separatism, vandalism, intolerance, racism, road rage etc. are all examples of lack of civic sense.
People are becoming less and less tolerant of each other, of other's cultures, backgrounds, and

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other similar traits. India has really diverse people and the need of the hour is general civic sense.

When civic sense is absent in a society, it leads to a lot of problems. Disregard for the law is a
primary cause for lacking civic sense. A person who has high civic values does not resort to
shortcuts and unethical tactics to get his work done. There are spit marks, urine, vulgar graffiti,
random garbage and overflowing sewers at every nook and corner of India. NO city in this
country has managed to fight the menace.

Examples: Don’t use vulgar graffiti in public toilets, spit marks on the roads, proper parking,
dirty roads, don’t throw garbage here and there etc. So, in all cases it is not the government who
has to be blamed always but people must first question themselves and their own civic sense.
Roads are not dirty because nobody cleaned it, but because somebody dirtied in the first place.
You went to shopping complex to buy something. On return you will find your own car is
blocked by many more cars behind. You could not even take your car because behind your car
another big row is formed. This is a common scene in our cities. One must think about this trend
seriously. If there is no space for parking you can go just ahead and park the car/vehicle at some
distance away. By parking the vehicle there, we can go on foot to the shop.

Think over all these and be good mannered with good civic sense which will broaden your mind
and gives you satisfaction and happiness in life.

How can you teach your child about civic sense?

The inarticulate standards or social ethics of the society are known as civic sense. Since there are
no guidelines to define it, people often don't know what and how to teach their children about it.
Most people even believe that just keeping the public property clean is civic sense, however,
they don't realize that it's way more than not littering on the streets. Civic sense is regarding
everything that shapes our society - from maintaining law and order to paying respect to
everyone around.

Civic sense is of great significance and must be imparted onto the younger generation so as to
maintain a smooth functioning of the society. But in schools, no more than a couple of lessons
about civic sense are taught to the students. Schools' authorities must understand that teaching
children about civic sense at an early age makes a huge difference later on.

In the absence of civic sense within the society, various social issues crop up some of which
include racism, separatism, road rage and other criminal acts as well. As the importance of
imparting civic sense is decreasing, many people are becoming less tolerant of one another
which is giving rise to the communal frictions.

Teaching children about civic sense is essential and it should start at an early age. Because these
are the most basic and modest human behaviours which are thought about during a course of
time, these should not be enforced on students. Henceforth, other than teachers, parents should

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also be considerate about it. Teachers at school should keep in mind that they are teaching the
kids about their responsibilities towards the society.

As a parent when we teach civic sense, we also teach him about civic responsibility. Civic sense
is a school of thought in itself. It is belief in hygiene, respect for others members of the society
and human behaviour. We can start with teaching simple things to young children like keeping
our immediate surroundings clean and tidy. If the child learns to appreciate cleanliness, he will
be able to practice it outside home as well. So, by teaching the young child about civic sense, we
are not only making him better human being but also doing our bit for the future of the country.