The temptation is remarkable. The run is long. The body screams, “No more!” So, when some runners in the New York City Marathon hit the Queensboro Bridge, temptation sets in, and rather than finishing the last 10 miles through Harlem and the Bronx, they hop a ride on the subway and head toward the finish line at Central Park. A total of 46 runners used the subway solution to finish the race in the 2008 New York City Marathon.

We look at this conduct and react, “That is really unfair” Others, particularly the 46, respond, “So I skipped a few boroughs. I didn’t do anything illegal.” That’s where ethics come in; ethics apply where there are no laws, but our universal reaction is, “It just doesn't seem right.”

We all don’t run marathons (or run partial marathons), but we do see ethical issues and lapses each day. A high school student was required to memorize the Preamble to the US.

Constitution for an in-class quiz. When he reported to class, one of his classmates, not known for his sartorial splendor, was wearing a suit and tie. When asked why he was so dressed up, the student lifted his tie to show the inside, where he had taped a copy of the Preamble. We call it cheating on a quiz, but there is no criminal act involved in cheating.
However, the other students, who have taken the time to memorize the Preamble, look at this conduct and exclaim, “That’s not fair!”
In college, some students use apps to print out labels for their soda cans and chip bags that seem to be normal but have exam information embedded in everything from the bar code to the trademark. Students who study and rely on memory watch others use these unauthorized materials and think, “That’s cheating!” No one will be arrested, but it is not fair. And the grading system will not reflect accurately who really knows the material and who has skated through, although their GPAs will be virtually the same. That idea of self-policing, of stopping ourselves when we take advantage of others, even though our -
conduct does not violate a law is the self-restraint that ethics brings.
We are probably unanimous in our conclusion that those in the examples cited all behaved unethically. We may not be able to zero in on what bothers us about their conduct, but we know an ethics violation, or an ethical breach, when we see one.
But what is ethics? What do we mean when we say that someone has acted unethically?
Ethical standards are not the standards of the law. In fact, they are a higher standard.
A great many philosophers have gone round and round trying to define ethics and debated the great ethical dilemmas of their time and ours. They have debated everything from the sources of authority on what is right and what is wrong to finding the answers to ethical dilemmas. An understanding of their language and views might help you to explain what exactly you are studying and can also provide you with insights as you study the cases about personal and business ethics. Ethical theories have been described and evolved as a means for applying logic and analysis to ethical dilemmas. The theories provide us with ways of looking at issues so that we are not limited to concluding, “T think ...” The theories provide the means for you to approach a dilemma to determine why you think as you do, whether you have missed some issues and facts in reaching your conclusion, and if there are others with different views who have points that require further analysis....................

Discussion Questions 1. Your friend, spouse, child, or parent needs a specialized medical treatment. Without the specialized treatment, your friend, your spouse, or your child cannot survive. You are able to get that treatment for him or her, but the cost is $6,800. You don't have $6,800, but you hold a job in the Department of Motor Vehicles. As part of your duties there, you process the checks, money orders, and other forms of payment sent in for vehicle registration. You could endorse these items, cash them, and have those funds. You feel that because you open the mail with the checks and money orders, no one will be able to discover the true amounts of funds coming in, and you can credit the vehicle owners’ accounts so that their registrations are renewed. Under the various schools of thought on ethics, evaluate whether the embezzlement would be justified.
2. Three employees of a department store were conversing about their futures. One employee was sharing that when 2017 arrived, in just a few days, most of them would be going to part-time status because of slow sales, the economy, and health care costs.
The remaining two employees seemed crestfallen.
But the knowledgeable employee explained that there was something that they could do. “Get yourself fired because the money you make on unemployment will be better than part-time work here, and you can get ninety-nine weeks of unemployment.
Plus, you are eligible for medical care through the government because you are unemployed. It’s a better deal. It is so not worth it to keep working.”
When they asked how they could get fired, he had a solution: “Just don’t meet your numbers. You'll be gone in no time.” Classify the suggestion of getting yourself fired and collecting unemployment under the appropriate ethical school of thought.
3.In the movie Changing Lanes, Ben Affleck plays a young lawyer who is anxious to become a senior partner in a law firm in which one of the senior partners is his father-in-law, played by the late Sidney Pollack. Affleck discovers that his father-inlaw has embezzled from clients, forged documents, and committed perjury, all felonies and all certainly grounds for disbarment. Affleck finally confronts Pollack and asks, “How do you live with yourself?”
Pollack responds that he did indeed forge.