But ethics applies as much to the behavior of the atheist as to that of the devout religious person. Yet if ethics were confined to religion, then ethics would apply only to religious people. Most religions, of course, advocate high ethical standards. Nor should one identify ethics with religion. In fact, feelings frequently deviate from what is ethical. A person following his or her feelings may recoil from doing what is right. But being ethical is clearly not a matter of following one's feelings. Like Baumhart's first respondent, many people tend to equate ethics with their feelings. The meaning of 'ethics' is hard to pin down, and the views many people have about ethics are shaky. These replies might be typical of our own. 'Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts.' 'Being ethical is doing what the law requires.' 'Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs.'
'Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong.' Some years ago, sociologist Raymond Baumhart asked business people, 'What does ethics mean to you?' Among their replies were the following: Ethics is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.
