1. ( used with a singular or plural verb ) a system of moralprinciples: the ethics of a culture.
2.The rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particularclass of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.:medical ethics; Christian ethics
3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbadebetrayal of a confidence.
4. ( usually used with a singular verb ) that branch ofphilosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct,with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certainactions and to the goodness and badness of the motives andends of such actions.