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Permalink Reply by George on May 30, 2011 at 5:56am

It's kind of hard to pin down all the uses of the terms.

On the most basic level, Ethics is the branch of philosophy that studies and seeks to understand human moral systems.

I think of morality is a set of traditions, ideals of right and wrong that are passed down via one's culture, while ethics is a set of rules that are consciously worked out and reconsidered by an individual or group.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Clay on May 30, 2011 at 11:15am

I think that makes sense to me. Ethics can be consider a formal study of our morality. Listing those moral rules would be part of it.

 

Although as I write this it occurs to me that ethics is more than just a study of what is, it is also a study of what should be. Many groups, business and advocacy groups, will try to create ethical rules which they think people should adhere to.

 

 

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Permalink Reply by booklover on May 30, 2011 at 7:38am

I don't know about the difference, but the 10 commandments after the first few are pretty lame...

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Permalink Reply by atmonauta on June 3, 2011 at 5:07pm

Hi guys, interesting thread. In addition, id say ethics is a set of standards, morality is the (variable) compass to navigate between right and wrong. Example: a lawyer defending a killer is doing his job (ethical duty) with no prejudice to his morals which oppose killing. Ethics is the philosophical approach to morality, which stems from contextual culture and society. Deontology is the set of rules applying to a function, the code of conduct. Im italian, so maybe there is some loss in translating ,morals,.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Clay on June 4, 2011 at 2:21pm

I have never heard of Deontology before. That alone makes the question worth asking.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Shafer-Skelton on June 10, 2011 at 11:46am

my understanding on Deontology is that it is a type of moral system. its based on adherence to rules. for instance revealed religions are deontological ethical systems. they are based on adherence to the revealed rules of their particular god.

 

"Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner, character, proper behavior") is a sense of behavioral conduct that differentiates intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good (or right) and bad (or wrong). A moral code is a system of morality (for example, according to a particular philosophy, religion, culture, etc.) and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code. Immorality is the active opposition to morality, while amorality is variously defined as an unawareness of, indifference toward, or disbelief in any set of moral standards or principles."-Wiki

 

Ethics is the philosophical discussion of morality. In the colloquial sense ethics is also a synonym for morals. Isnt english fun? Some random people started saying ethics in place of morals not understanding the distinction and now we get to confuse generations of laymen for our amusement.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Wood on June 4, 2011 at 9:10am

Morality: what lots of people think now.  Ethics: what lots of people think for quite a while.  Both ultimately boil down to:  Albert Schweitzer--yay!  Hitler--boo!

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Permalink Reply by Secular Forces 2013 on June 4, 2011 at 9:33am

dictionary?

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Clay on June 4, 2011 at 2:30pm

Of course you are right, but the literal definitions of these two words are close to being the same. If you look only at the dictionary definitions you might miss the differences. And also the definitions of many words are only the start of the understanding of what those words means. There is also the connotative definition, the implied meaning.

Although the two words have close to the same meaning and many people use them interchangeably, I do believe there is a slight difference between them. And I was curious if others felt the same way.

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Permalink Reply by George on June 5, 2011 at 1:37am

Some useful resources:

Ethics vs morals and morality - What's the distinction?  blog post

quotation:  "[Ethics is] is the philosophical study of morality. The word is also commonly used interchangeably with 'morality' to mean the subject matter of this study; and sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition, group, or individual. Christian ethics and Albert Schweitzer's ethics are examples."

-- John Deigh in Robert Audi (ed), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 1995

 

Word of the Day - Morality vs. Ethics

Broadly speaking, morals are individual principles of right and wrong, and a system of ethics deals with sets of those principles. Both terms entered the language in the Middle English period, with moral being the older form by about 100 years (c. 1300).

 

Article on Atheism.about.com:  What are Ethics and Morality?

The terms ethics and morality are often used interchangeably and can mean the same in casual conversation, but morality refers to moral standards or conduct while ethics refers to the formal study of such standards and conduct. For theists, morality typically comes from gods and ethics is a function of theology; for atheists, morality is a natural feature of reality or human society and ethics is a part of philosophy.

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Permalink Reply by mojo5501 on July 4, 2011 at 8:12pm

The way I think about the distinction is similar to what you mentioned:  ethics are on the outside/external and morals are in the inside/internal.  Ethics can be situational and we take context into account...historical context, cultural context, etc.  They are rules...guidelines. 

 

I think of morals in absolute terms and ethics in relative terms.  It may be considered immoral to kill, for example, but ethically acceptable to end suffering.  When moral values and judgments are applied in a real setting, that equals ethics.  Ethics boards in hospitals, for example, will reach consensus with families about 'end of life' decisions.  The whole discussion about 'death panels' brought up by the Republicans during President Obama's health care reform plans paint a broad brush about palliative care and hospice care that oversimplifies the real moral dilemmas families face every day....human values, attitudes, judgments are subjective! 

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Nicole on July 18, 2011 at 11:21pm

In the field of psychology, we're taught that morals are our own values. Ethics are the code set for us that determine right or wrong in legalese. Our instructor gave us an example: What would you do if your client came in and told you they murdered someone last night?

 

The moral answer would be to report it because somebody died and this person could get away with it. The ethical answer would be that you cannot break confidentiality, as a psychologist, as this client is not currently threatening to kill someone.

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