While we’re at it we can throw in integrity, honor, and principles. I am aware of the Morality vs. Ethics thread that was posted in GQ, but somehow that didn’t quite answer it for me.
Here are some of the distinctions that were made there:
[ul]
- [li] Morals is something that desribes a persons inner beliefs[/li][li] Ethics is how you apply your morals in dealing with other people (jaydabee) [/ul][/li][ul]
2.[li] Morals are imposed from outside one’s self[/li][li] Ethics are something that are arrived at after philosophical thought and introspection (Jo3sh)[/ul][/li]3. Moral pertains to personal behavior (especially sexual) measured by prevailing standards of rectitude. Ethical approaches behavior from a philosophical standpoint; it stresses more objectively defined, but essentially idealistic, standards of right and wrong, such as those applicable to the practices of lawyers, doctors, and businessmen. (Amer Heritage, 2nd Coll Ed, 1982)
[ul]
4.[li]Morality: a code of conduct derived from a religion;[/li][li]Ethics: a code of conduct applying to a specific profession;[/li][li]Integrity or Honor: a code of conduct, demanding or not; personally accepted by the individual ,of his own free will, the nature of which is decided upon by that individual; and which applies only to that individual.[/li][li]A Philosophy: a standard of personal honor or integrity that has been codified and shared with others; but does not specifically refer to a religion. (Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor)[/ul][/li]
Judging from the previous thread this topic is more appropriate for either GD or IMHO, so I’m posting it here. Any other thoughts on how these things differ?
Bill Norton
Austin, TX
My defenitions of morals and ethics.
Morals: Universal or general standards of right/wrong or good/evil.
Ethics: Standards of behavior within a specific organizatin or profession.
The interesting and useful thing about these defenitions is that they are independent, and for that reason using these defenitions is helpful because it draws a useful distinction between two ways of judging or describing a person’s behavior.
It is possible for an action to be moral, but unethical. For example, let’s assume that a university professor is having a sexual relationship with a student, or a military officer is having a similar relationship with an enlisted man/woman. Let’s further assume that both parties are fully consenting and that neither party is exploiting or attempting to exploit the other. In each case the behavior is unethical, because it violates standardized rules of behavior for the given profession. Such ethical rules exist for the protection of the student/enlisted man/woman, in effect to prevent a person in power from leveraging that power to gain sexual favors. But at the same time, the relationship would be entirely moral (or at least morally neutral; in any case, it would not be immoral), because in each case it is benefitting both parties and harming no one.
The pages they’re found on in the dictionary. Not much else.
Morally, the end justifies the means.
Ethically, the means justify the end.
Being moral means always doing the right thing, being ethical means doing it the right way.
Defining “right” is beyond me.
An old college friend of mine once gave me the best quick comparison of the two that I’ve ever seen:
Morals: The way you behave when only God’s watching.
Ethics: The way you behave when He isn’t looking.
– Bob
You can do something that’s perfectly ethical, and still have it be immoral.
I like Bob’s definintion up there.
[list=A]
[li]Morals–a code of conduct derived from a religion.[/li]
[li]Ethics–a code of conduct that applies to a specific profession; i.e. doctors.[/li]
[li]Honor–a code of conduct you voluntarily accept for yourself, from a variety of sources.[/li]
[li]Integrity–how true you are to your codes and yourself[/li]
[li]Humanity–without this, the rest is meaningless.[/li][/list]