Ethics is a code of conduct developed by certain institutions and professions as their specific, rationally developed, vetted, mode of professional behavior. These are strict and agreed-to standards of discipline that no member of that profession may go below without censure, fine, or even expulsion from the professional group. It is an essential self-policing measure that prevents harm to others from proscribed actions.
However, we must beware certain "egregious exceptions" that may exist regardless that they constitute a clear violation of agreed ethics.
Scientific ethics include falsification and confirmation of theoretical findings by controlled experiment. Without falsification and experimental confirmation, what a scientist may want to publish as a THEORY, may in fact be an unproven or even unprovable HYPOTHESIS. The egregious exceptions include the evolution hypothesis, often misquoted as theory: it has never passed scientific rigor, falsification, controlled experiment, etc.
Legal ethics are considerations of conduct by attorneys, including their mode of living and adherence to statute. Attorneys who commit malpractice may be censured, or if the circumatances dictate, they can be disbarred from ethical practice. Egregious exceptions include Bill and Hillary Clinton, both disbarred from ethical practice by the Arkansas State Bar Association, yet pursued political careers regardless their clear legal disqualification.
Medical ethics include client privilege and confidentiality. Physicians who do not adhere to professional ethics may lose their license. Egregious exceptions include abortion clinics, that purposefully deviate from the Hippocratic Oath and Human Rights Laws.
Virtually all professions have strict codes of ethics. How we behave at home is definitely a part of our ethical code. Most ethical codes overlap and have been agreed-to by the professionals who have bound themselves to that ethical code.
The scandal is that malpractice, documented by egregious exceptions, renders the body of ethical conduct rules inconsistent or in some disappointing cases, moot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics
