Ethical vs. Moral: What is the difference?

[Copernicus]

Both ethics and morality can refer to personal codes of conduct. If I behave in a way that brings unnecessary harm to another, then my conduct could be described as unethical and/or immoral. That is, the concepts overlap. But what is the difference? Is there a difference?

Just to stir the pot a little, here are some additional questions to help you think about it:

• Is there a difference in terms of instinct or how ethical and moral standards are learned?
• Is either necessarily grounded in religion?
• Can ethical conduct and moral conduct conflict? If so, under what circumstances?

 

[Just_me_Mike]

Both have the same root cause. As such they will be the same for some people and different for others.

The focus on what the differences are only encourages further ignorant understandings of where both came from and what relevance they have in today's world. (Not saying you are ignorant at all!).

Morals and ethics whatever they truly be, are akin to the wonders of the nuclear bomb. We create or discover something with great potential, and then the ignorant and greedy take it over, rendering it useful only for the mediocre of intellect.

 

[MSizer]

Both ethics and morality can refer to personal codes of conduct. If I behave in a way that brings unnecessary harm to another, then my conduct could be described as unethical and/or immoral. That is, the concepts overlap. But what is the difference? Is there a difference?

They refer to the normative evaluation of an action. Ethics stems from the Greeks and Moral stems from Latin. Both involve normative matters, but morality is a subset of ethics. Ethics includes law, morality and etiqutte, while morality is the subset that entails personal culpability. Bernard Williams, who's "Introduction to Moral Philosophy" is a very popular introductory text to moral philosophy in the english world believes that we should pitch the concept of morality altogether and revert to the idea the Greeks and Romans had which was that one's ethical correctness was related more to one's ability to perform his/her role in any given context. I don't agree with him though. I think personal culpability does in fact matter in most cases (I do think there are exceptions).

In everyday discourse though, the two words are exchangable. To most people, saying something is unethical or immoral is the same thing, and I don't see a need to get picky about it.

Is there a difference in terms of instinct or how ethical and moral standards are learned?

Yes - etiquette and law are purely cultural constructs, while moral matters are those which have the potential to deeply hurt concious beings existentially, and those matters are universal among all concious beings (the principals are universal, but the details vary among species because biological needs vary).

Is either necessarily grounded in religion?

No. That takes way too much typing to address in a single post.

Can ethical conduct and moral conduct conflict? If so, under what circumstances?

Yes. The Jim Crowe laws were legal constructs, therefore they were normative (hence ethical technically), and according to law, proper, but they were clearly immoral.

 

[Beyondo]

They refer to the normative evaluation of an action. Ethics stems from the Greeks and Moral stems from Latin. Both involve normative matters, but morality is a subset of ethics. Ethics includes law, morality and etiqutte, while morality is the subset that entails personal culpability. Bernard Williams, who's "Introduction to Moral Philosophy" is a very popular introductory text to moral philosophy in the english world believes that we should pitch the concept of morality altogether and revert to the idea the Greeks and Romans had which was that one's ethical correctness was related more to one's ability to perform his/her role in any given context. I don't agree with him though. I think personal culpability does in fact matter in most cases (I do think there are exceptions).

In everyday discourse though, the two words are exchangable. To most people, saying something is unethical or immoral is the same thing, and I don't see a need to get picky about it.

I at one time I worked for a tax mediation service and the term ethical was used very frequently. E.g. The IRS views soliciting business for tax payers who need help over the phone as unethical but not illegal. Also if a business owes taxes and is a LLC or corporation the shareholders or partners can close the business down and move to a new location under a new business name and tax-id without notifying the IRS. This is not illegal but is considered unethical to advise a client to do so. And yet another example; if a court orders that a individual or company disclose their bank accounts it is not illegal to move money from those accounts to another bank after disclosing the information, but it is considered unethical.

So there are differences between what is ethical and legal, at least in this country.

 

[MSizer]

...So there are differences between what is ethical and legal, at least in this country.

Are you agreeing with me then, or was I unclear? (that sounds snarky, it's not, I'm just honestly asking)

 

[Copernicus]

I do not believe that "ethical" and "moral" can be used interchangeably. For one thing, "ethical" is seldom used in a religious context. A Catholic might consider it immoral to get a divorce, but would such behavior ever be called "unethical" by a Catholic? Moreover, it might be unethical for a government regulator to become a lobbyist for the industry he regulated immediately after leaving his government job, but would it ever be called "immoral"? It seems to me that we use these words in very different contexts sometimes, and that gives a clue as to their core meanings. Congress has an "ethics" committee, but, even though representatives like to pontificate on morality a lot, they would never call it a "morality" committee.

 

[MSizer]

I do not believe that "ethical" and "moral" can be used interchangeably. For one thing, "ethical" is seldom used in a religious context. A Catholic might consider it immoral to get a divorce, but would such behavior ever be called "unethical" by a Catholic? Moreover, it might be unethical for a government regulator to become a lobbyist for the industry he regulated immediately after leaving his government job, but would it ever be called "immoral"? It seems to me that we use these words in very different contexts sometimes, and that gives a clue as to their core meanings. Congress has an "ethics" committee, but, even though representatives like to pontificate on morality a lot, they would never call it a "morality" committee.

Well, OK. I don't personally see it myself. What is the point of an ethics commitee if not to assess the permissibility of certain actions? Is not the permissibility of actions based on whether they inflict some form of unfairness or harm on people? Seems like the same thing to me.

 

[Revoltingest]

Ethical vs. Moral: What is the difference?

One view:
"Moral" is a general set of values.
"Ethical" includes what is "moral", but also incorporates standards of behavior (ie, protocols) which help achieve moral goals.

Example:
Real estate agents may be dual agents (ie, acting on behalf of both the buyer & seller).
This is perilous because of the potential for conflict of interest, but ethics standards of
disclosure & behavior make it function morally because of transparency & met expectations.

 

[Copernicus]

Both ethical and moral codes can be called standards of personal conduct. I'm not sure that moral behavior is any less goal-based than ethical behavior. But I have heard non-religious people argue that morality does not really exist, only ethics. That is partly what prompted this thread--that ethics is almost always thought of in secular terms. Usually, we think of ethics in terms of a profession or the law.

Most people seem to think that religious authorities define morality, but secular authorities define ethics. It is an interesting distinction to ponder when people of religious faith so often accuse atheism of undermining the basis of morality. As an atheist, I would define morality as an ethical code that generally holds for all situations, whereas "ethics" is usually an ethical code that is limited to a specific social context. Ethics, then, would usually be a subset of morality, although I suppose that there might be contexts in which ethical standards override morality and vice versa.

The real estate scenario is an interesting case where ethics and morality might be somewhat at odds. I disagree with the claim that real estate brokers operate transparently. They are usually sales agents for sellers, but they do not always make that clear to the buyers. Smart buyers tend to bring in their own "buyer's agent" for that reason, although I suspect that much of what brokers do on both sides is manipulate perceptions in order to bring the parties together, even though it may not be in the interests of the buyer or seller. After all, no sale, no commission.

 

[Revoltingest]

The real estate scenario is an interesting case where ethics and morality might be somewhat at odds. I disagree with the claim that real estate brokers operate transparently. They are usually sales agents for sellers, but they do not always make that clear to the buyers.

At least in Michigan, this is made clear by the legal requirement to disclose the nature of the agency relationship. If a buyer or sell actually read the documents, then all is clear.....but laziness & incompetence can defeat understanding.

Smart buyers tend to bring in their own "buyer's agent" for that reason, although I suspect that much of what brokers do on both sides is manipulate perceptions in order to bring the parties together, even though it may not be in the interests of the buyer or seller. After all, no sale, no commission.

The system is not perfect. When I was a broker, I knew untrustworthy agents. It pays to be careful & seek legal counsel when appropriate.

The point is that different systems of ethics (ie, rules) could all achieve a moral result. Each individual rule might be amoral by itself, but
these rules of each system should function together with the net result being moral.

 

[Beyondo]

Are you agreeing with me then, or was I unclear? (that sounds snarky, it's not, I'm just honestly asking)

I was just noting situations where the everyday discourse of the word "ethical" is fuzzy and acting unethically is a legal strategy.

 

[ManTimeForgot]

They refer to the normative evaluation of an action. Ethics stems from the Greeks and Moral stems from Latin. Both involve normative matters, but morality is a subset of ethics. Ethics includes law, morality and etiqutte, while morality is the subset that entails personal culpability. Bernard Williams, who's "Introduction to Moral Philosophy" is a very popular introductory text to moral philosophy in the english world believes that we should pitch the concept of morality altogether and revert to the idea the Greeks and Romans had which was that one's ethical correctness was related more to one's ability to perform his/her role in any given context. I don't agree with him though. I think personal culpability does in fact matter in most cases (I do think there are exceptions).

In everyday discourse though, the two words are exchangable. To most people, saying something is unethical or immoral is the same thing, and I don't see a need to get picky about it.



Yes - etiquette and law are purely cultural constructs, while moral matters are those which have the potential to deeply hurt concious beings existentially, and those matters are universal among all concious beings (the principals are universal, but the details vary among species because biological needs vary).



No. That takes way too much typing to address in a single post.



Yes. The Jim Crowe laws were legal constructs, therefore they were normative (hence ethical technically), and according to law, proper, but they were clearly immoral.

I conceive of Ethics and Morality in exactly opposite contexts. Ethics is the application of Morality not the other way around. Morality is the understanding of the implications of our behavior with respect to the decision making network of all foreseeable actors (beings capable of voluntary action and reaction). Ethics are the set of guidelines (restrictions mostly) to our behavior we derive from Morality. I do not use the terms interchangeably.

I conclude that for someone who posits that racism is a moral imperative that for that person acting in a way which is egalitarian with regards to race is unethical, but I would not concede that it is immoral since I think morality transcends our personal beliefs about morality.

MTF

 

[Smoke]

Ethical vs. Moral: What is the difference?

Ethics comes from a Greek root and morals comes from a Latin root. Therefore, ethics is superior to morals.

Seriously, I don't think there's any objective difference. However, for reasons that aren't at all clear to me, when people talk about morality they're usually talking about sex. When they talk about ethics, they're usually talking about honesty.

 

[Copernicus]

Ethics comes from a Greek root and morals comes from a Latin root. Therefore, ethics is superior to morals.

Seriously, I don't think there's any objective difference. However, for reasons that aren't at all clear to me, when people talk about morality they're usually talking about sex. When they talk about ethics, they're usually talking about honesty.

I still don't see ethics and morality as synonymous expressions. Ethics has a secular connotation. It is associated with human authority, and it is often associated with a specific context, such as a profession. Morality, more often than not, is associated with divine authority or an abstract principle that represents a general standard of behavior. Sexual behavior is associated with morality because we do not usually see such behavior as limited to, say, a profession. (I suppose that one could talk about an ethical code associated with prostitutes, just as one can talk about "honor among thieves"--again a matter of ethical conduct limited to a specific profession or class of individuals).

 

[Revoltingest]

Think of ethics as a system of rules & standards which achieve moral goals.

 

[ellenjanuary]

I Know of one true absolute moral standard - the world does not weigh against her single tear.

When standard definitions fail to define, innovate. Ethics are the combination of individual moralities. People have morals, societies have ethics - and I tend towards the "morality does not exist" subset - even though my morality is absolute. Hmn. Ya gotta be crazy to be the fool.

My belief is that ethics should supersede morality 'cross the board. Ain't no "greater good;" there is only the greater whole.