This three-page graduate paper outlines the author’s position regarding ethics in our society. The author creates a personal definition of ethics and expresses his opinion as to its role in society, and cites the need for ethics as it applies to research in today’s society. The paper concludes that the role ethics plays in society should be more comprehensive, for in many cases ethical standards are respected unless acting in an ethical manner becomes too inconvenient or disadvantageous. In research, ethics is often a matter of balancing benefits against costs, for in many cases there is no consensus on what is ethical and what is not.