Ethics are best defined as what ?

Question

Ethics are best defined as what ?

Answer 1

"What is morality, or ethics? It is a code of values to guide man’s choices and actions—the choices and actions that determine the purpose and the course of his life. Ethics, as a science, deals with discovering and defining such a code.

"The first question that has to be answered, as a precondition of any attempt to define, to judge or to accept any specific system of ethics, is: Why does man need a code of values?

"Let me stress this. The first question is not: What particular code of values should man accept? The first question is: Does man need values at all—and why?"

The Objectivist Ethics,” The Virtue of Selfishness; Ayn Rand

"Philosophers today usually divide ethical theories into three general subject areas: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. "

http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/ethics.htm

Answer 2

Ethics, in its broadest sense, just means having justifications for your actions.

Answer 3

Doing your duty according to a set code of behavior albeit a formal code or one of your own crafting.

Answer 4

Though morality is the way you behave when no one is looking, "ethics" is what determines your actions when you think you might get caught.

Answer 5

The branch of philosophy that concerns itself with the concepts goodness or rightness and their application to human action.

Answer 6

as what's the right thing to do.

what you believe in.