Definition
Geoscience ethics consist of the formal statements in Codes of Ethics or Codes of Conduct issued by geoscience organizations or licensing bodies. The geoscience ethics codes have common elements (honesty; competence; integrity; protection of the public’s health, safety, and welfare; conflicts of interest resolution; maintenance of an employer/client’s confidential information; and respect for colleagues) and some less common elements (publishing issues). Also, there are emerging issues including statements on harassment and discrimination, unsustainable development, geodiversity, and geoheritage.
Introduction
Ethics and morals concern themselves with distinguishing right from wrong, with actions, and with the volition involved in the actions. Dictionaries define “ethics” in terms of “morals” and “morals” in terms of “ethics,” so the terms are circularly defined and interchangeably used. As discussed in Abbott (2017), “morals” are defined as informal statements that everyone...
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Abbott, D.M. (2020). Geoscience Ethics and the Petroleum Industry. In: Sorkhabi, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Petroleum Geoscience. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02330-4_50-1
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