What are Ethics?

This week, our group of Mentorship students took a look at ethics.

                Now what do you think ethics are? Many people think of them as our feelings on an issue, or society’s expectations, or simply do not know what they are. The common belief is that ethics are considered to be the standards that all humans prescribe to when making important decisions or actions. However, this simple definition gives rise to many controversies of where it originates, who has it, or are there different kinds?

                First of all, I believe that ethics are built through our experiences. We accumulate ideas from our religion, our family, our friends, and our other environments to establish what is the accepted “rule book.” Thus, it is only logical that people can create their own understandings of codes of ethics based on their own cultures and experiences.

                This raises the question, are people more ethical than others? And I think so. Even though people may have an idea of what is right and wrong, they might choose to act wrongly. As their personal decision, they may choose their own path and how they take their lives. It is their every right to do so. However, this causes them to be considered as less ethical in the view of society.

                But isn’t that the same as morality? No, not really. Morals are personal “rule books.” It is wholly internal and individual. Ethics are based on society and external influences. So when we think of a choice we might think of ethics as “What would society think?” and think of morals as “What do I think I should do?”

                Everyone faces ethical questions in their life, and no one has more than doctors. On a day to day basis, doctors face the questions of “Should I prescribe this medicine?” or “Should I do this procedure?” Medicine is a field of work that deals in human lives. It is a delicate and incredibly important profession. The only thing they can do, the only thing I can do, is to make decisions based on the wishes of the patient and what is in the best interest of the patient. It will be difficult, but it is a path I am set on pursuing.

Joanne