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On this website are the resources, tools, advice, and guidance you'll need to compose and promote a code of ethics, either for yourself, your family, your business, your community, your profession, your school, your organization, your government, or any other person or group that you believe could be bettered by such a code. (This website can also be a place where you can offer advice to others who are working on their codes as well as help to promote others' codes.)
You may choose to call your code of ethics a "code of ethics," but there are any number of other titles you may prefer that may be appropriate; for example: "oath," "pledge," "declaration," "constitution," "affirmation," "vow," "promise," "prayer," "proclamation," "creed," "credo," "canons," "tenets," "testament," "contract," "laws," "resolutions," "commandments," "code of honor," "honor code," "declaration of commitment," "position paper," "statement of principles," "statement of purpose," "statement of obligations," "rights and responsibilities," "standards and practices,""guidelines," "policy," etc.
Regardless of what you will entitle your code, it is essentially any verbal declaration of the intention, suggestion, or requirement to follow certain beliefs, principles, or rules. But such a definition understates the true value of codes. For in fact, the best codes are no less than expressions of dedication to integrity, civility, decency, and the pursuit of excellence, all of which are necessary for the survival of civilized society. As such, oaths, pledges, and codes of ethics are among the most powerful tools for instilling those requisites of civilized society. And as you create, use, apply, and perhaps publicize and advocate, your code or codes, you effectively reinforce, legitimize, and strengthen the messages behind them.
To create your code, your first step is to decide for whom your code will be intended. Once you have made that determination, you need to begin the tedious process of thinking and writing - thinking about what beliefs, principles, or rules are important, and then writing them down. The list will grow and shrink as you edit it and as new ideas come to you. Be sure also to refer to our extensive and continually growing library of codes (accessed by using the "Categories" links on the right) to see whether similar codes already exist; and even if there are no similar codes, the Categories provide an excellent way to comprehend the variety of different styles of codes.
In addition, use our links to useful information about writing codes (see the FAQs about codes category). And refer to the Site Info - Projects category to learn about other projects under way. At some stage, when you feel you are willing and able to express your thoughts about your code, you can solicit advice, suggestions, and comments by submitting a "comment" at the particular category that best fits your interest. For it is when you begin interacting with other thoughtful persons that your code-creation really begins. And it is a process that perhaps will never truly end, since codes can be lifelong companions that may require tweaking, revising, amending as life experiences and understandings enlighten and clarify your pursuit of excellence in whatever may be your endeavor.
