In CS 4100 (Senior Seminar), we discussed various systems of ethics and were tasked with defining our own personal code of ethics. Some students fell into an established systems (Utilitarianism, Nihilism, Religious systems, etc.) while others, myself included, tried to argue that their own code of ethics is personalized or unique.

Ultimately, I think that each and every person is responsible for their own decision making and by proxy, comes to develop their own personal system of ethics based on experiences they’ve had or influences they favor. Personally, I think these two are the most important aspects of a personal code of ethics; experience is the only true teacher. Any man who finds himself in the same situation twice is going to draw more from his previous experience than from any other source – instinctually if not consciously.

In terms of established systems, I trend toward Utilitarianism because I try to asses the ‘value’ of any decision via logical deduction rather than emotional instinct.