Inphilosophy,ethics were the study ofmorality. Everysociety had a different set of socialvalues and mores thatdefined what was ethical and what was not; in some cases, twocultures' ethics could be so radically different that conflict was inevitable. In cases where one's ethics was reversed, it was known asmoral inversion.
In general, theUnited Federation of Planets, and particularlyHumans, considered the preservation of life paramount to all other things.Starfleet Academy offered at least one course on ethics,Interspecies Ethics. A course entitledMoral and Ethical Issues of Command was also taught. (DS9: "The Ship";VOY: "In the Flesh")
Vulcans were particularly known for being ethical. (DS9: "Bar Association")
Thy'lek Shran felt thatCaptainJonathan Archer was easy to work with because unlikeTellarites he understood ethics and tried to live by them, even if he was not always perfect. (ENT: "United") Archer previously once noted that he admires theVulcan ethics. (ENT: "The Andorian Incident")
Chief among guiding principles ofStarfleet was thePrime Directive, though according toChakotay, there were "many times when Starfleet personnel have decided on strong ethical grounds to ignore it". (VOY: "Prime Factors")
In2259 of thealternate reality,James T. Kirk protestedSpock's moral objections toUSSEnterprise's mission to killJohn Harrison, saying, "I'm not going to take ethics lessons from a robot!" (Star Trek Into Darkness)
While attempting to procuredilithium crystals from theHalkans,James T. Kirk noticed the similarity between Halkan and Federation ethics, in that they would rather die as a race than allow anyone to take even one life with the power of the crystals.Later, when mistaken formirror Kirk,Tharn refused them again for the same reason, but with more certainty. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")
Jean-Luc Picard was interested in ethics, evidenced by his bringing a copy ofEthics, Sophistry and the Alternate Universe along with him on hisvacation. (TNG: "Captain's Holiday")Q expressed his distaste for Picard's ethics when the captain refused the temptation to visitTagus III, which would breakTaguanlaw. (TNG: "Qpid") Picard later debated ethics withMoriarty when the latter wished to giveconsciousness to the hologram ofCountessRegina Barthalomew. Picard argued that the moral and ethical implications of creating another sentientholographic character deliberately were vast; Moriarty countered, asking if it was morally acceptable to deny him his beloved to ease the captain's conscience. (TNG: "Ship In A Bottle")
Artificial lifeforms such asData andThe Doctor were programmed withethical subroutines to allow them to make moral choices. (TNG: "Datalore";VOY: "Equinox, Part II")
In2369, whileKeiko O'Brien was on leave onEarth,Miles O'Brien took charge of herschool onDeep Space 9. One of thehomework projects he assigned to the olderstudents was to write anessay defining what ethics was.Nog claimedVulcans had stolen his homework as theFerengi did not have ethics. (DS9: "The Nagus")
Quark had a low opinion of Human ethics; nevertheless, he once confided tohis mother that prolonged exposure to Humans was developing his conscience. (DS9: "Ferengi Love Songs")
Branches of ethics[]
Business ethics[]
To redeem the Federation's cut of theIotian'sill-gotten gains, Kirk suggested that it be used towards promoting ethical development onSigma Iotia II. (TOS: "A Piece of the Action")
WhenDeanna Troi confrontedDevinoni Ral about his unethical usage of hisempathic abilities from his secretly quarter-Betazoid heritage to negotiate theChrysalians' rights to theBarzan wormhole, he countered by asking her if she revealed her abilities to every enemy theUSSEnterprise-D encountered. According to him, having an edge in a business deal was less serious than a life-and-death situation. (TNG: "The Price")
The Ferengi valued profit, and the ethical standards (or at times lack thereof) in their society reflected this. For example, when Quark was selling the vacuum-desiccated remains of the entrepreneurPlegg,Odo found Plegg very much alive; rather than pressing charges or expressing outrage, Plegg found this amusing. (DS9: "Body Parts") One of theRules of Acquisition stated "Treat people in your debt like family: exploit them." (DS9: "Past Tense, Part I", "The Darkness and the Light")
One method of demonstrating one's distaste for unethical business practices was aboycott. In2372, while observing various individuals as they passed byQuark's,Julian Bashir askedMiles O'Brien which side of thestrike he thought aVulcan science officer would support, O'Brien guessed correctly that she would choose labor. (DS9: "Bar Association")
Political ethics[]
ProfessorNatima Lang, a member of theCardassian dissident movement, was ateacher of political ethics. According to herstudents,Hogue andRekelen, "her teachings will change the future ofCardassia." It was for these teachings on political ethics that Lang was wanted byCardassian Central Command. (DS9: "Profit and Loss")
Educational ethics[]
Cheating on a test was considered a violation of theStarfleet Code.In2258 of thealternate reality,CadetJames T. Kirk was accused of violating the ethicalcode of conduct by cheating on theKobayashi Maru scenario. (Star Trek)
Medical ethics[]
Denobulan medical ethics had the will of the patient at its core, rather than the necessity of providing a cure if possible. (ENT: "Bounty")DoctorPhlox summed this up with the statement "Hippocrates wasn't Denobulan." (ENT: "The Breach") The Doctor also shared this ethical belief. WhenSeven of Nine's body began toreject herBorg implants, he toldJaneway that if a patient asked him not to treat them, he would be obligated to comply, whether or not their life was in danger. (VOY: "The Gift")
Later, an irate Phlox askedFer'at where his medical ethics were upon learning that the Vulcan had lied about his area of expertise. (ENT: "The Expanse")
In2151, Phlox expressed his concerns that curing theValakian people of theirdisease would not be ethical, as it would be interfering with their naturalevolution. (ENT: "Dear Doctor")
In2152,Malcolm Reed complained about Phlox's treatment of hisfoot, saying "It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain.", to which Phlox replied, "It's unethical toharm a patient." (ENT: "Dead Stop")
The protocols of the VulcanCouncil of Physicians stated that anyone accused ofethical misconduct was entitled to a hearing before the rankingmedical officer in theprovince orterritory where the accusation was made. In 2152,Jonathan Archer remindedOratt of this whenT'Pol was accused of misconduct after contractingPa'nar Syndrome from an involuntarymind meld. (ENT: "Stigma")
In2153, Archer asked Phlox to revivea dying alien to so he could question him. Phlox responded by saying that keeping someone who was dying a painful death conscious was unethical, leading Archer to respond that they were"going to have to bend a few ethics." Phlox complied. (ENT: "Harbinger")
A violation of medical ethics was one of the factors that could leadStarfleet Medical to pursue aformal inquiry into a medical staff member's actions. Dr.Beverly Crusher was the subject of such an inquiry when she performed anautopsy on Dr.Reyga,Ferengi death rituals aside. (TNG: "Suspicions")
In2372, whenQuinn wished toend his life, Janeway remindedTuvok of the double effect principle of assisted suicide, which stated that relieving one's suffering could be ethically justified even though to do so would result in death. (VOY: "Death Wish")
In2375, the crew of theUSSVoyager struggled with the ethical implications of allowing ahologram of the notoriousCardassian "doctor"Crell Moset to assist the EMH with the treatment ofB'Elanna Torres, primarily because the knowledge the program used was derived from cruel medical experiments performed onBajorans. (VOY: "Nothing Human")
While attempting to dodge The Doctor's ministrations in2376,Lewis Zimmerman threatened to report him to themedical ethics board. (VOY: "Life Line")
In2381, one of the training drills the crew of theUSSCerritos was put through involvedMedical Ethics. (LD: "I, Excretus")
Scientific ethics[]
According toSaavik, every ethicalscientist in thegalaxy deemedprotomatter"dangerously unpredictable". (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
According toVash,Sovak aidedProfessorSamuel Estragon primarily in less than ethical situations. (TNG: "Captain's Holiday")
Ethical texts and teachings[]
Ethical topics[]
- Compassion
- Dignity
- Double effect principle
- Ethical dilemma
- Ethical misconduct
- Ethical subroutine
- Honor
- Immorality
- Morality