Ethics

While listening to the Congressional ethics bill proposals I was reading a book. One of the characters asked, "Why do we spend so much time discussing ethics." The other responded, "Without struggling with ethics what is life for?"

What is life for?

One answer I saw on television. Life is for obtaining temporal things. Buy this, buy that.

Another answer; life is for pleasure, joy, happiness. Tell that to those involved in war.

I need to find a good journal or book to redevelop my understanding of ethical behavior and how people across the world define them and their lives.