Ethics is defined as?

• A. It is a branch of criminal law that enforces penalties for wrongdoings.
• B. Ethics is primarily concerned with financial compliance in organizations.
• C. Ethics is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad, and with moral duty and obligation; it is a set of moral principles or values.
• D. Ethics is the study of political systems and governance.

Answer: (C)

Ethics is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad, and with moral duty and obligation; it is a set of moral principles or values. This captures ethics as a system of guiding norms about right and wrong and what people ought to do, not just what laws require or how systems are run. It helps you reason about actions when laws don’t dictate a single course, focusing on integrity, responsibility, and the justifications behind decisions. For contrast, describing ethics as a branch of criminal law ties it to penalties and legal enforcement, which is about the law rather than moral principles. Labeling ethics as financial compliance centers on regulatory rules and procedures, not the broader questions of what ought to be considered right. And calling ethics the study of political systems points to political science, not the evaluation of moral duties and values that ethics explores.