What Are Ethics?

The word ethics derives from ethos ，the Greek term for the particular character or disposition of a people，society，or culture.In contemporary English usage，it refers，at least in the context that concerns us，to moral rules.To say that an act is ethical，therefore，is to say that it is morally defensible，in general，we make determinations about the morality of an act by holding it up to a general standard such as“Taking the life of another human being is wrong”or“You should never tell a lie.”Some of these standards may be codified in civil or criminal law，in which case everyone in society is required to observe them.Other ethical standards may be rooted in general social mores，violations of which lead to disapprobation but not legal penalty.In American society，for instance，it is widely considered unethical to take advantage of someone in a business transaction，even when doing so is not strictly illegal.Still other ethical standards may pertain only to specific social groups;in some religious and moral traditions，for example，it is thought to be unethical to slaughter animals for food in other than a prescribed manner，while others disdain eating meat altogether.

Such group-specific ethics have also evolved in many established professions and occupations such as law，medicine，and journalism.Legal ethics，for instance，proscribe attorneys from representing someone involved in an adversarial proceeding with an individual who is already a client of that attorney.Medical ethics guide physicians'decisions on administering life-prolonging drugs to terminally ill patients.Professional ethics forbid journalists from revealing confidential news sources.In cases such as these，whatever sanctions there may be against violators of professional ethics are levied，at least in the first instance，by the profession itself.(https://www.daowen.com)

Note that ethics and law are not identical.Although our public laws are，at least in theory，derived from general moral standards in society，many questions of ethics remain beyond the purview of the law，as clearly they must in a liberal，tolerant polity.This is an important point to remember，for in a society as law-oriented as ours，it is unfortunately easy to conclude，quite wrongly，that if something is legal，it must be ethical.Bear this warning in mind.