Why Ethics Matter
Why Ethics Matters
There are many situations in which ethical perspectives are in contrast to another person's opinion on the same subject matter. Every person has found themselves looking over his shoulder asking himself "am I doing the right thing?" Ethics is what a person does when no one is watching. Whether it is a corporation or a government entity, they all expect their employees to behave ethically.
What are ethics? Webster defines ethics as "a set of moral principles" or "a theory or system of moral values". A person's ethics can depend on how he grew up, his education, his religious preference and his life experiences. Life experiences more than anything else can define a person's ethical nature. A bad experience can leave a person jaded and more apt to lead a more unethical lifestyle while another person with positive ethical experiences is likely to have a positive influence within his life. As a person moves into different stages of life his personal (and professional) ethics may clash with others depending on his viewpoint. Personal philosophies (and ethics) can (and do) help in the decision making processes. While this is often the case, it is important that people take a moment to recognize the decisions that other people make. Just because ethical decisions are different, doesn't necessarily make them wrong. An example of this is abortion. In many places abortion is illegal because people feel that abortion is murder and have managed to pass a law that makes abortion illegal. In places where abortion is legal you will often find demonstrators on site of legal abortion clinics with picket signs and trying to prevent abortion from happening.
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, used ethics to describe a standard of behavior. He also used ethics as an area of study in exploring the nature of morality. He asked questions to define what is right and what is wrong. Aristotle's strongly believed that a person's life experiences molds a person into who
There are many situations in which ethical perspectives are in contrast to another person's opinion on the same subject matter. Every person has found themselves looking over his shoulder asking himself "am I doing the right thing?" Ethics is what a person does when no one is watching. Whether it is a corporation or a government entity, they all expect their employees to behave ethically.
What are ethics? Webster defines ethics as "a set of moral principles" or "a theory or system of moral values". A person's ethics can depend on how he grew up, his education, his religious preference and his life experiences. Life experiences more than anything else can define a person's ethical nature. A bad experience can leave a person jaded and more apt to lead a more unethical lifestyle while another person with positive ethical experiences is likely to have a positive influence within his life. As a person moves into different stages of life his personal (and professional) ethics may clash with others depending on his viewpoint. Personal philosophies (and ethics) can (and do) help in the decision making processes. While this is often the case, it is important that people take a moment to recognize the decisions that other people make. Just because ethical decisions are different, doesn't necessarily make them wrong. An example of this is abortion. In many places abortion is illegal because people feel that abortion is murder and have managed to pass a law that makes abortion illegal. In places where abortion is legal you will often find demonstrators on site of legal abortion clinics with picket signs and trying to prevent abortion from happening.
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, used ethics to describe a standard of behavior. He also used ethics as an area of study in exploring the nature of morality. He asked questions to define what is right and what is wrong. Aristotle's strongly believed that a person's life experiences molds a person into who
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