what is ethics supposed to do?

Answer 1

Ethics as a study is supposed to help you understand the values people use to make decisions, such as good, bad, evil, etc. Generally, "moral" is construed as fitting in with some specific religious belief system, while "ethical" means making decisions and taking actions based on a set of established criteria.

Confused? Let's take a specific example.

For instance, Business Ethics may mean not accepting a gift from a client or vendor worth more than $25, or giving such a gift. Or that you do not give recommendations to vendors (i.e., "Big Giftwrapping Business, LLC, uses Scotch Brand Tape because it comes in such cool dispensers!"). Or that management has a "no tolerance" policy on weapons on site, or regarding drunkenness or pornography at work, or that folks in the middle of gender-reassignment surgery will _not_ be subjected to any abuse or other harassment.

Business Ethics are rules that your company generally decides on (sometimes called Corporate Values or Corporate Business Guidelines) to help employees know how to act in business-related situations.

They are generally not related to religion at all (unless you believe that the NASDAQ is a temple, or the SEC is godlike ;-) ), but are rather based on tax, regulatory, and other external forces, as well as the way the people who have created and run the company want the company's values to be established and used by every employee.

There are other kinds of ethics. Figuring out how you will personally handle copyright infringement -- do you burn copies of your CDs? -- is an ethical decision. Whether you'll "improve" the clarity of a photograph that is part of the evidence for a study may be an ethical decision.

Many people feel strongly that morality and ethical behavior are the same thing, and these people feel this way because they may link their ethical decisions to their religious beliefs.

But, in general ethics are a philosophical study, and examining one's ethics helps one figure out the rules by which one makes decisions and runs one's life.

For a lot more information, see the Wikipedia entry on ethics, which talks about how different branches of ethical studies work, what they study, and how you can use them.

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There is also a sub-organization of the Scientology organization called "Ethics," about which I know nothing. You can find more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_%28Scientology%29

Answer 2

"rules" are theoretically guided or created by morals... Ethics means to obey the rules even when no one is watching

Answer 3

Teach you to be a moral person.