Institutional Ethics. Drawing Lines for Militant Democracies

摘要

At his 2009 confirmation hearing for Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder was asked whether he would pursue a criminal investigation of the interrogation programs of the Bush administration. He responded, 'Senator, no one's above the law, and we will follow the evidence, the facts, the law, and let that take us where it should.' But he added, quoting Barack Obama, then- President-elect, 'We don't want to criminalize policy differences' and finally pleaded for time to study the matter. 'One of the things I think I'm going to have to do,' Holder added, 'is to become more familiar with what happened that led to the implementation of these policies.' Many articles on ethics begin with the notion that the term ethics derives from the Greek word ethika, from ethos, meaning 'character' or 'custom' based on individual behavior. From this we deduce principles or a standard of human conduct, often termed morals (from the Latin mores, 'customs'). By extension, the study of such principles becomes the foundation of moral philosophy. The focus or unit of analysis is the individual, and the question is, 'What is the right thing to do'.