What is ETHICS?

Each society forms a set of rules that establishes the boundaries of generally accepted behavior. These rules are often expressed in statements about how people should behave, and they fit together to form the moral code by which a society lives. Unfortunately, the different rules often have contradictions, and you can be uncertain about which rule to follow. For instance, if you witness a friend copy someone else's answers while taking an exam, you might be caught in a conflict between loyalty to your friend and the value of telling the truth. Sometimes, the rules do not seem to cover new situations, and you must determine how to apply the existing rules or develop new ones. You may strongly support personal privacy, but in a time when employers e-mail and Internet usage, what rules do you think are accepted to govern the appropriate use of company resources?
The term morality refers to social conventions about right and wrong that are so widely shared that they become the basis for an established consensus. However, one's view of what is moral may vary by age, cultural group, ethnic background, religion, and gender. There is widespread agreement on the immorality of murder, theft, and arson, but other in the United States it is perfectly acceptable to place one's elderly parents in a managed care facility in their declining years. In most Middle Eastern countries, however , elderly parents would never be placed in such a facility they remain at home and are for by other family members.
Another example concerns attitudes toward the illegal copying ( piracy ), which range from strong opposition to acceptance as a standard approach to business. In 2003, 36 percent of all software in circulation worldwide was pirated, at a cost of $29 billion to software vendors. The highest piracy rates were in Vietnam and China, where 92 percent of the software was pirated. In the United States, the piracy rate was 22 percent.
Even within the same society, people can have strong disagreements over important moral issues▬in the United States, for example, issues such as abortion, the death penalty, ang gun control are continuously debated, and both sides feel their arguments are on solid moral ground.

Definition of ETHICS
ETHICS is a set of beliefs about right and wrong behavior. Ethical behavior conforms to generally accepted social norms, many of which are almost universal. However, although nearly everyone would agree that lying and cheating are unethical, what constitutes ethical behavior on many other issues is a matter of opinion. For example, most people would not steal an umbrella from someone's home, but a person who finds an umbrella in a theater might be tempted to keep it. A person's opinion of what represents ethical behavior is strongly influenced by a combination of family influences, life expressions, education, religious beliefs, personal values, and peer influences.
As a children grow, they learn complicated tasks▬riding a bike, writing alphabet▬that they out of habit for the rest of their lives. People also develop habits that make it easier to choose between what society considers good or bad.