I have tried with many dictionaries to search for a synonym of the phrase “code of conduct”. I wonder if it has the same meaning as “code of ethics”. Your help is much appreciated.
Learn English – Does “code of conduct” mean the same as “code of ethics”
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Best Answer
A code of conduct can be a result of codes of ethics but does not necessarily have to be. For example, a code of conduct can include rules about how a manager should organize business meetings or in what way employees should clothe themselves. These are not necessarily ethical imperatives but may still be codified in a code of conduct.
This gets a little trickier when the codes of conduct are about ethical things. For example, the EU's "Space Code of Conduct" is about how countries should ethically conduct themselves in space operations. However it is distinct from a hypothetical "Space Code of Ethics" in the sense that the Code of Conduct is about what countries should do in space whereas a "Space Code of Ethics" would be more about the underlying why that determines how countries choose to do things in space.
So a code of conduct is about how things should be done whereas a code of ethics is an underlying set of principles that determines why certain actions would be preferred. It can be against your ethical code to kill animals for food because you think animals are conscious beings, but it can also be against a code of conduct to kill animals for food because you are a zookeeper and eating the animals will cost you your job.