The study of ethics, from the Greek meaning ‘character’, may be defined as the philosophical enquiry into theories of human conduct: establishing what is morally right as opposed to what is morally wrong. Ethics may be simply described as moral philosophy, or perhaps the principles of goodness by which people live. For the purpose of this unit, we may use the term ethics interchangeably with right conduct or moral goodness. Essentially ethics is the reasoning behind our assessment of the morality of actions or decisions. We will study professional ethics and codes of conduct as mechanisms whereby professions are able to represent to the public that certain standards of behaviour, competence and care are being met. Codes of ethics are universal statements of principle, which provide adherents with general guidance about positive or good behaviour. A code of conduct typically provides some form of rules, which are specific and relate to certain behaviours in that profession or business. These rules usually provide descriptions of conduct, which is unacceptable to the profession or business. Some professions and organisations combine codes of ethics and codes of conduct while others, such as the Financial Planning Association, keep the two separate.