Ursini 1

Amanda Ursini

Mrs. Buescher

Spring Service Learning, BCOL

2 March 2018

A Code of Ethics: Uniquely Improving Life

As someone who is about to enter society as an adult and be responsible for all of my

thoughts and actions, it is important that I establish a moral code, or code of ethics, that I will

follow. A code of ethics is essentially the collection of principals and values that affect how

people choose to act. The code varies from person to person, and is what makes us morally

unique. The personal code of ethics might influence whether one would help someone or not,

and how one could define benefiting the community. Due to the conglomeration of morals in

varying levels of importance, naming my top five major standards that I find most valuable will

help me in serving my community by keeping them in the forefront of my mind. To me, those

are: equality, empathy, kindness, love, and honesty. These serve as guidelines for my personal

code of ethics, and reinforce how I look at and act in the world.

In agreement with most people, I’d say that what I consider morally just or unjust is a

combination of nature and nurture. Some things, such as my capacity for love and ability to tell

the truth, are mostly hereditary. I come from a family of loving and mostly-truthful people, so I

was born as such. On the contrary, my adherence to equality, empathy, and kindness are a result

of the environment around me. I was and still am lucky to grow up in such a time of

technological boom, where I can access a myriad of information from across the world and form

my own opinions on what I believe is right or wrong. My family has had an influence on my
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morality, but the older I get, the more I find that I am finding my own moral compass and way of

believing things. Some situations that I have been through have made it so that I aspire to regard

empathy as a very important moral. Religion may have slightly influenced my ethics, as I was

raised to be kind to others and help when possible. Now that I am older, I don’t follow the same

religion, but the ethics that I learned are universally important no matter where they were learned

from. In terms of Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning, I fall under the “law and order”

orientation, or level four. Maintaining the social order is possible through our own code of ethics.

Without that, there would be no order in the world. Our personal codes allow us to develop

morally, possibly in stages as Kohlberg suggests, and live our lives the best way that we see fit.

Correspondingly, maintaining the social order requires that citizens entertain the notion of

civic virtue. Civic virtue, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, is “personal qualities associated

with the effective functioning of the civil and political order, or the preservation of its values and

principles” (Banyan 1). To me, this means that civic virtue is people being people and going

about their lives while abiding by their moral code, and keeping in mind the common good of

their society. This also integrates the theory of integrity, which I define as having and abiding by

your own moral principles. Another definition for integrity is being whole and unbroken, which

is what happens as a society when we all develop and abide by our own moral codes. I think that

a “good citizen” in society is no universal one way of acting or being, but doing their best to

better those around them and themselves. This is where the importance of civic virtue operates,

as one cannot be a good citizen without practicing it. Civic virtue, in essence, is meant to keep

our society together by sharing a common goal- common wellbeing. It is rare to have someone in

a society who wants to see all others suffer. A trait most in a society will share is the desire to
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keep the commonwealth stable. As a result from this desire of common well being, there are

many programs to help others. People volunteer their freetime for the sake of others, which

shows how kindness and equality are important in their moral codes.

There was a time in my past where I experienced an ethical dilemma, and neither of my

options would be considered those of a “good citizen” who demonstrates civic virtue. In my

junior year of high school, I was presented with a quiz that I had forgotten to study for, and

seemingly two options. I could cheat on the quiz, which would compromise my code of ethics, or

I could fail the quiz, which would hurt my grade in that class, which I was already struggling in.

I had to debate my options quickly, and I decided to go the route that didn’t have me

compromising a standard of honesty that I believe in. I faced the consequence of a bad grade, but

it didn’t feel as bad as going against what I believe in. I knew that I had chosen to do the right

thing, which wasn’t necessarily for the greater good, but for the good of my morality.

I learned from this lesson the importance of honesty in my code of ethics, and the

importance of following what I believe in. I think that a code is important for every citizen, as it

established what they believe is the right thing to do. Without that, following law would be

pointless and our society would be primal and futile. Many laws are based on ethical principles,

such as those on murdering and robbery. Without these, society would have no grounds for

anything that we now consider wrong. It is important for each individual to have their own code

of ethics to follow so that, as a society, we don’t collapse. It’s also important for individuals to

think for themselves and have a grasp in what they truly believe in to keep our society diverse

yet whole.
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Given these points, I think that even the small concept of having a code of ethics is a big

deal and responsibility for everyone to have. With values in mind, people can make calculated

decisions that will affect all types of situation, not even specifically moral ones. Morals keep us

aligned with a greater good, and seperate humans from the animals around us. Morals, ethics,

and the like are engrained as such a foundation in our society, yet it is rare that we reflect on

them and make sure that they accurately represent who we are and what we believe in. This

assignment has helped me to evaluate what I give value to in my life, and make sure that I am

applying it to the community as a serve others. With my code of ethics fresh in my mind and the

inclination to pursue the common well being of our community, I hope that my service learning

project truly makes an impact and shows others that volunteering is a advantageous component

of civic virtue.
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My Top Five Major Standards:

Equality

Empathy

Kindness

Love

Honesty
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Works Cited
Banyan, Margaret E. “Civic virtue.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, inc., 23 Nov. 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/civic-virtue.

Lahdenperä, Jori. “The Importance of Equality.” The Importance of Equality,

Malardalen University Sweeden, 2012,

www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:535081/FULLTEXT01.pdf.

Pascal Molenberghs Senior Lecturer in Social Neuroscience, Monash

University. “Understanding others feelings: what is empathy and why do we

need it?” The Conversation, 27 Feb. 2018,

theconversation.com/understanding-others-feelings-what-is-empathy-and-why-d

o-we-need-it-68494.

Raghunathan, Raj. “The Need to Love.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 8 Jan.

2014, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sapient-nature/201401/the-need-love.

Smalley, Ph.D. Susan. “Why Kindness Is So Important.” The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 July 2008,

www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-smalley/why-kindness-is-so-import_b_114669.

html.
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“The Importance of Being Honest.” The Odyssey Online, 4 Nov. 2017,

www.theodysseyonline.com/the-importance-being-honest.