Ethics are needed to resolve three different kinds of conflict that are relevant to the necessity of ethics and they are conflicts of ideas or beliefs; conflicts of interest and conflict of strife. There are different interpretations of ethics. Take the case of illegal immigrants or the discrimination against blacks and other people. People who discriminate feel that it is ethically right to carry on with their practices since they feel that illegal immigrants do not have a right to live and earn a living. On the other hand, supporters of illegal immigrants feel that extreme poverty and exploitation make the immigrants leave their country and seek a chance to survive. For supporters, ethical behavior stems from feelings of humanity and this is more important to them than making profits or prospering. So there are conflicts of ideas, interests, and strife in this example.
Conflicts of Belief are because our beliefs necessarily extend beyond the garden of knowledge, into the wilderness of conjecture and faith. Moreover, all beliefs that fail the two litmus tests necessarily conflict with the beliefs of other persons. Since a vast portion of our beliefs necessarily fails the two litmus tests, this means that a vast proportion of our beliefs are in conflict with the beliefs of others. Conflicts of belief are, therefore, an inescapable part of the human condition. Conflicts of Interest arise when two or more people have conflicting interests without having conflicting beliefs. Thus, if John and Harry both desire to have the same piece of land for themselves, they will have a conflict of interest between them.
This conflict of interest would still exist even if they happen to share the exact same beliefs so that there would be was no conflict of belief between them at all. Conflicts of Strife exist whenever two or more people regard each other as adversaries or competitors and consequently attempt to manipulate, deceive, control, overcome or even eliminate, kill or destroy one another. Unlike conflicts of belief and conflicts of interest, which are inescapable, conflicts of strife are frequently avoidable. It is always desirable to avoid conflicts of strife if the potentially conflicting parties can only find a way to do so. Nonetheless, in fact, conflicts of strife, like conflicts of belief and conflicts of interest abound. Conflicts of strife arise from conflicts of interest and conflicts of belief. But, although it is true that conflicts of strife are the product of conflicts of belief and conflicts of interest, it is by no means inevitable that conflicts of belief and/or conflicts of interest give rise to conflicts of strife.
A good example of the three conflicts is the belief by governments and industries about outsourcing. These entities feel that by increasing outsourcing, their profits would increase since the domestic markets are filled with high wage earners. These groups have a belief that they should be allowed to run their business as they want. On the other hand, people who have lost their jobs have a belief that local jobs should not be shipped overseas as the local workers would be jobless and starve. This conflict in belief has led to a conflict of interest and conflict of strife.