- - 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 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 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 track employee e-mail and Internet usage,what rules do you think are acceptable 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 for 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 behaviors that are accepted in one culture might be an acceptable in another. For example,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 replaced in such a facility;they remain at home and are cared for other family members.
Another examples concerns attitudes toward the illegal copying of software(piracy),which range from strong opposition yo 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 where in Vietnam and China,where 92 percent software was pirated. In the United States,the piracy 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,and gun control continuously debated,and both sides feel their arguments are on solid moral ground.

DEFINITION of MORAL 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 experiences,education,religious beliefs,personal values,and peer influences.
As children grow,they learn complicated tasks-walking,riding a bike,writing the alphabet-that they perform 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.