Ethical Surveying
Ethics is a word which has different definitions and connotations depending on whom you ask. Webster defines ethics as “…a theory or system of moral values, the principle of conduct governing an individual or group, a consciousness of moral importance, a guiding philosophy, the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation”1 and according to Wikipedia it means “…the philosophical study of moral phenomena. It investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. It is usually divided into three major fields: normative ethics, applied ethics, and metaethics.”2 My personal definition of the word is simple: “Ethics is what you do when no one is looking.”
In this course, we will examine ethics from several perspectives (surveyor, business owner, employer, and employee), offering scenarios and allowing you the opportunity to examine your own personal definition of ethics.