That is one perspective which has a time honourd tradition and has been the cornerstone of many a civilization, however, it fails in acknowledging another vital aspect and in doing so opens up such silly debates as right and wrong; that missing and vital element is liberty.
If we analyze this from the perspective of both dignity and liberty we realize that people can think whatever they like and the degradation of that persons dignity only comes from outside condemnation - a condemnation of something the outside can not know or control.
So in fact, saying you can't think this or that thing is a massive violation of liberty and therefore dignity. Yes, dignity and liberty are vitally linked IMO you cannot have one without the other.
Therefore maintaining thought crime as real is to humiliate and confine.
Ethical Theory
The development of ethical theory dates back to Plato and Aristotle. The word ethic has its roots in the Greek word ethos. Ethos is the perceived degree of character or credibility that a person believes exists in another person or object (Haskins, 2000). The amount of trust and belief one has in another will have an important impact in how persuasive one will be.
According to Kritsonis (2007), the value of ethical theory is in guiding teaching and learning. In the ethical realm, emphasis should be on ethical understanding and how it may be improved. A person who has knowledge of ethical theory is as moral as a person who lacks such knowledge. Moral conduct pertains to one’s actions in certain situations. To solve a problem, one should be clear of the choices for the given situation. Kritsonis (2007) precisely states, “Before a person can know where to go, he needs to understand where he is starting from.” There must be a mission in order to fulfill a vision. Moral decisions require a set of values to serve as a form of reference inn evaluating the consequences.
The values and morals an individual finds appropriate are called ethics. Ethical theory supplies rules. These rules are guidelines used in making decisions about a particular situation. Ethics in leadership deal with what leaders do and who they are. How leaders respond to a given situation and the choices they make are led by ethics. The concerns of ethical leaders are issues of justice and fairness. One cannot be a leader without involving values. One must be sensitive to the needs of others, care for others, and treat them in ways that are just in order to be an ethical leader.
I is interesting how so many years ego we see that the fundamentals with regards to ethics are no defrent from today.