Ethics In philosophy , ethics were the study of morality . Every society had a different set of social values and mores that defined what was ethical and what was not ; in some cases , two culture s ' ethics could be so radically different that conflict was inevitable . In cases where one ' s ethics was reversed , it was known as moral inversion . In general , the United Federation of Planets , and particularly Human s , considered the preservation of life paramount to all other things . Starfleet Academy offered at least one course on ethics , Interspecies Ethics . A course entitled Moral and Ethical Issues of Command was also taught . ( , ) Vulcan s were particularly known for being ethical . ( ) Chief among guiding principles of Starfleet was the Prime Directive , though according to Chakotay , there were " " many times when Starfleet personnel have decided on strong ethical grounds to ignore it " " . ( ) " In 2259 of the alternate reality , protested ' s moral objections to ' s mission to kill John Harrison , saying , " " I ' m not going to take ethics lessons from a robot ! " " ( ) " While attempting to procure dilithium crystal s from the Halkan s , James T . Kirk noticed the similarity between Halkan and Federation ethics , in that they would rather die as a race than allow anyone to take even one life with the power of the crystals . " Later , when mistaken for , Tharn refused them again for the same reason , but with more certainty . " ( ) Jean - Luc Picard was interested in ethics , evidenced by his bringing a copy of " Ethics , Sophistry and the Alternate Universe " along with him on his vacation . ( ) Q expressed his distaste for Picard ' s ethics when the captain refused the temptation to visit Tagus III , which would break Taguan law . ( ) Picard later debated ethics with when the latter wished to give consciousness to the hologram of Countess Regina Barthalomew . Picard argued that the moral and ethical implications of creating another sentient holographic character deliberately were vast ; Moriarty countered , asking if it was morally acceptable to deny him his beloved to ease the captain ' s conscience . ( ) Artificial lifeform s such as Data and The Doctor were programmed with ethical subroutine s to allow them to make moral choices . ( ; ) In 2369 , while Keiko O ' Brien was on leave on Earth , Miles O ' Brien took charge of her school on Deep Space 9 . One of the homework projects he assigned to the older student s was to write an essay defining what ethics was . Nog claimed Vulcan s had stolen his homework as the Ferengi did not have ethics . ( ) Quark had a low opinion of Human ethics ; nevertheless , he once confided to his mother that prolonged exposure to Humans was developing his conscience . ( ) Branches of ethics . Business ethics . To redeem the Federation ' s cut of the Iotian ' s ill - gotten gains , Kirk suggested that it be used towards promoting ethical development on Sigma Iotia II . ( ) When Deanna Troi confronted Devinoni Ral about his unethical usage of his empathic abilities from his secretly quarter - Betazoid heritage to negotiate the Chrysalian s ' rights to the Barzan wormhole , he countered by asking her if she revealed her abilities to every enemy the encountered . According to him , having an edge in a business deal was less serious than a life - and - death situation . ( ) The Ferengi valued profit , and the ethical standards ( or at times lack thereof ) in their society reflected this . For example , when Quark was selling the vacuum - desiccated remains of the entrepreneur Plegg , Odo found Plegg very much alive ; rather than pressing charges or expressing outrage , Plegg found this amusing . ( ) One of the Rules of Acquisition stated " Treat people in your debt like family : exploit them . " ( ) One method of demonstrating one ' s distaste for unethical business practices was a boycott . In 2372 , while observing various individuals as they passed by Quark ' s , Julian Bashir asked Miles O ' Brien which side of the strike he thought a Vulcan science officer would support , O ' Brien guessed correctly that she would choose labor . ( ) Political ethics . Professor Natima Lang , a member of the Cardassian dissident movement , was a teacher of political ethics . According to her student s , Hogue and Rekelen , " " her teachings will change the future of Cardassia . " " It was for these teachings on political ethics that Lang was wanted by Cardassian Central Command . ( ) Educational ethics . Cheating on a test was considered a violation of the Starfleet Code . " In 2258 of the alternate reality , Cadet was accused of violating the ethical code of conduct by cheating on the Kobayashi Maru scenario . " ( ) Medical ethics . Denobulan medical ethics had the will of the patient at its core , rather than the necessity of providing a cure if possible . ( ) Doctor Phlox summed this up with the statement " " Hippocrates wasn ' t Denobulan " . " ( ) The Doctor also shared this ethical belief . When Seven of Nine ' s body began to reject her Borg implants , he told Janeway that if a patient asked him not to treat them , he would be obligated to comply , whether or not their life was in danger . ( ) Later , an irate Phlox asked Fer ' at where his medical ethics were upon learning that the Vulcan had lied about his area of expertise . ( ) In 2151 , Phlox expressed his concerns that curing the Valakian people of their disease would not be ethical , as it would be interfering with their natural evolution . ( ) In 2152 , Malcolm Reed complained about Phlox ' s treatment of his foot , saying " " It can ' t be ethical to cause a patient this much pain . " " , to which Phlox replied , " " It ' s unethical to " harm " a patient . " " ( ) The protocols of the Vulcan Council of Physicians stated that anyone accused of ethical misconduct was entitled to a hearing before the ranking medical officer in the province or territory where the accusation was made . In 2152 , Jonathan Archer reminded Oratt of this when T ' Pol was accused of misconduct after contracting Pa ' nar Syndrome from an involuntary mind meld . ( ) In 2153 , Archer asked Phlox to revive a dying alien to so he could question him . Phlox responded by saying that keeping someone who was dying a painful death conscious was unethical , leading Archer to respond that they were " " going to have to bend a few ethics . " " Phlox complied . ( ) A violation of medical ethics was one of the factors that could lead Starfleet Medical to pursue a formal inquiry into a medical staff member ' s actions . Dr . Beverly Crusher was the subject of such an inquiry when she performed an autopsy on Dr . Reyga , Ferengi death ritual s aside . ( ) In 2372 , when Quinn wished to end his life , Janeway reminded Tuvok of the double effect principle of assisted suicide , which stated that relieving one ' s suffering could be ethically justified even though to do so would result in death . ( ) In 2375 , the crew of the struggled with the ethical implications of allowing a hologram of the notorious Cardassian " doctor " Crell Moset to assist the EMH with the treatment of B ' Elanna Torres , primarily because the knowledge the program used was derived from cruel medical experiments performed on Bajoran s . ( ) While attempting to dodge The Doctor ' s ministrations in 2376 , Lewis Zimmerman threatened to report him to the Medical Ethics Board . ( ) Scientific ethics . According to Saavik , every ethical scientist in the galaxy deemed protomatter " " dangerously unpredictable " . " ( ) According to Vash , Sovak aided Professor Samuel Estragon primarily in less than ethical situations . ( )