Before we can apply ethics to our day-to-day activities, we must first understand what the term "ethics" means. While an idea as pervasive as ethics cannot truly be explained in a few sentences, a definition will give us a good starting point for exploring how ethics should factor in our decisions and our lives.

So... what are ethics?  Ethics are defined as:

  1. A system of moral principles.
  2. The rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.
  3. That branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

In laymen's terms: acting honestly, fairly, and of course, legally.

At times, ethics and common sense or the "gut-feeling" do not seem to coincide. The idea that "if I bend the rules a little, no one will notice" is common and can be used to rationalize or even justify unethical behavior, but in reality, ANY violation of established rules is unethical. Acting in a selfish manner rather than following guidelines is unethical. And most importantly, acting unethically is ILLEGAL. The risks for unethical behavior are generally far greater than the rewards that may be reaped for acting unethically. They include:

The key to conducting yourself ethically is to follow a few simple guidelines: