Question

What does unethical conduct mean? Word limit 200.

Answer 1

Behavior that falls below or violates the professional standards in a particular field. In law, this can include Attorney Misconduct or ethics violations. The standards for conduct to be observed by attorneys can be found in the Code of Professional Responsibility; members of the judiciary adhere to those found in the Canons of Judicial Ethics.

Unethical behavior is behavior that is contrary to our own moral principles as well as the principles admired in the community one lives in. Moral principles, such as fairness, honesty, dignity, and concern for individual rights are of profound importance. I would add that compassion for all living beings, (as made explicit in Albert Schweitzer’s phrase: “reverence for all life” as well as similar principles followed by Gandhi and the Buddhist and Jain religions). These place a high moral value on kindness and compassion for all sentient life which is best exhibited by both refraining from causing harm and by not being complicit in causing harm to any and all forms of life.

“Ethics’ refers to “ethos” and in its original meaning in the Greek tradition had to do with “character”. To be unethical in one’s behavior means that one is betraying one’s inner character and eventually experiencing a diminished faith in oneself. Unethical behavior can result, in its more extreme form, in self-loathing and self-harming. Business professionals, politicians and military leaders who behave unethically will eventually be caught in their own mistruths. An elderly friend liked to quote Shakespeare’s famous phrase: “oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”.

Unethical behavior includes: lying & misleading others, speaking badly of others, abuse of power relationships to advance one’s own agenda or/and to break trust with others, and/or to gain sexual favors. Among business corporations it includes releasing pollutants in water and toxins in the air that will be harmful to the community, installing defective products knowingly, price fixing, not paying adequate wages to employees, etc.

As you can see unethical behavior covers a great deal of territory, both in personal terms, as well as in terms of the collective.