This paper discusses the connotations of the holistic ethics and the system ethics. The holistic ethics refers to the ethical consensus recognized in a certain period and a certain range, which depends on the generation of the system ethics. The system ethics is the systematization and the legalization of the ethical requirements and practices. It is generally studied and formulated by relevant institutions to provide reasonable value orientation for institutions as the soul of institutions. It is shown that the status change from the individual virtue to the holistic ethics is a basic feature of contemporary ethics and moral， and an important transformation of the ethical practice paradigm. The system ethics and the institutional ethics are important and urgent topics in current ethical theoretical research and ethical practice, especially for medical ethics and high biotechnology ethics.

holistic ethics  /  system ethics  /  institutional ethics  /  codification of ethics  /  ethics practice paradigm