Immoral and unethical are not synonyms, although teasing out the difference between the two can be tricky. It occured to me that a good way to understand that difference would be to come up with areas where they don’t overlap. So …
What’s an example of something that’s immoral, but ethical?
What’s an example of something that’s ethical, but immoral?
I have some ideas of my own, but before I post them I’m curious as to what other people come up with.
If we go with the notion that morals come from within (i.e. are personal) whereas ethics come from without (i.e. are societal), then anytime you disagree with society, your ethics and morals are not in alignment.
E.g. If I believe that “all information wants to be free”, copying DVD’s that I rent is moral but unethical. However, if I expect my own intellectual property to be copyprotected, that is ethical, but immoral.
To continue with my above definitions, then anything from being a pot-smoker in today’s Idaho* to being a member of the underground railroad in Antebellum South Carolina* would qualify as such an ethical/moral schizm.