The word “ethics” is derived from the Greek word ethos (character), and from the Latin word mores (customs). Together, they combine to define how individuals choose to interact with one another. In philosophy, ethics defines what is good for the individual and for society and establishes the nature of duties that people owe themselves and one another.
Ethics is also called moral philosophy. It is the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong. 
The term is also applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles. How should we live? Shall we aim at happiness or at knowledge, virtue, or the creation of beautiful objects? If we choose happiness, will it be our own or the happiness of all? And what of the more particular questions that face us: is it right to be dishonest in a good cause? Can we justify living in opulence while elsewhere in the world people are starving? Is going to war justified in cases where it is likely that innocent people will be killed? Is it wrong to clone a human being or to destroy human embryos in medical research? What are our obligations, if any, to the generations of humans who will come after us and to the nonhuman animals with whom we share the planet? Ethics deals with such questions at all levels. Its subject consists of the fundamental issues of practical decision making, and its major concerns include the nature of ultimate value and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.
Although ethics has always been viewed as a branch of philosophy, its all-embracing practical nature links it with many other areas of study, including anthropology, biology, economics, history, politics, sociology, and theology. Yet, ethics remains distinct from such disciplines because it is not a matter of factual knowledge in the way that the sciences and other branches of inquiry are. Rather, it has to do with determining the nature of normative theories and applying these sets of principles to practical moral problems.
Business ethics is a form of the applied ethics that investigates ethical principles and moral dilemmas that often arise in business and business relations.
There are four major ethics theories or models.
Theological ethics comes from the word telos, the end or the goal. Actions are judged to be morally good if they achieve a good goal or outcome. Teleological ethics are utilitarian in that they seek to arrive at ethical decisions on the basis of a projected outcome that would bring about the most good for the greatest number of people. “…an act is right if and only if it or the rule under which it falls produces, will probably produce, or is intended to produce at least as a great a balance of good over evil as any available alternative.” The teleological approach abandons any claim to moral certainty. An example of teleological ethics is John Stuart Mill. Any ethical doctrine that makes theistic assumptions is theological. The ethical theories characteristic of the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and ISLAM are thus theological. However, ethics can be religious without being theological. There are theological versions of most of the standard ethical views.
Deontological moral systems are characterized by a focus upon adherence to independent moral rules or duties. To make the correct moral choices, we have to understand what our moral duties are and what correct rules exist to regulate those duties. When we follow our duty, we are behaving morally. When we fail to follow our duty, we are behaving immorally. Typically in any deontological system, our duties, rules, and obligations are determined by God. Being moral is thus a matter of obeying God. Deontological moral systems typically stress the reasons why certain actions are performed. Simply following the correct moral rules is often not sufficient; instead, we have to have the correct motivations. This might allow a person to not be considered immoral even though they have broken a moral rule, but only so long as they were motivated to adhere to some correct moral duty…
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