What is the difference between Morals and ethics?

Question

I get the notion, but a nice succinct definition would be very much appreciated

Bolan, are you saying that atheists cannot be ethical, because that is what is implied in your answer

Answer 1

ETHICS is your own personal ability to know what is right and wrong and how your innerself chooses to act in a certain situation
ethics come from with in you
MORALS are rules set by a group that determine the acceptable behavior with in a group , and this not necessary has to be ethical , morals come from the people you interact with
A gay person can a ethical , a good human being but his behavior can be deemed unmoral and evil by the people that surround him , now if then the environment he is in is change to a different subject group then he will no longer be deemed unmoral , based on who he sleeps with ,

Answer 2

Bolan is an idiot. Sorry man.

Morals and ethics are the same thing. Its entymology (the study of where words come from).
So... Ethics come from the Greek 'ethica' or Aristotles 'ethos; while Moral come from the Latin.
However when we talk about virtues, metaphysics (Greek phiolosophy) we say 'ethics.' When we talk about more modern philosophy we use moral. This which is ethical is also moral.
Anyway.... Its the same thing.

Answer 3

Kalin P, you must suffer from foot in mouth issues. Ethics (according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary) comes from Middle English ethik, from Middle French ethique, from Latin ethice, and from Greek ethikos.

Morals are beliefs and values that one holds, whether from religion, family values, or other areas, that allows someone to distinguish between right and wrong.

Ethics is a theory, system, or set of moral values.

For the lay person, take everything you know as right from wrong and place them in an egg container. When you look from a different view, the individual eggs (knowing right from wrong in an individual event) would be one moral. Where as the whole case of eggs and how & where the case gets used would be ethics.

Answer 4

Ethics and morals are not the same thing.

Morals are the concepts of what is “good” and what is “bad” and how one should behave given this; they get formed and become a tradition in a certain society for a certain period of time. The moral rules may be very different in different countries or even in the same country in different epochs. Morals are a subjective phenomenon since most of their rules do not follow from objective necessity and advisability. The moral rules are about how to dress, where and how much one can bare the body, what turns of speech are decent and what are not, what one should be ashamed of, what “appropriate” to do and what is not, etc.

Ethical principles are objective. They follow from real necessity and advisability. They are based on one’s understanding of the Path to Perfection, to God. This is what God tries to explain people.

Ethics is the science about the correct attitude of man to:

a) God (in all of His aspects and manifestations),

b) other people, and all incarnate and non-incarnate beings,

Answer 5

Morals are specific statements about what is right and wrong whereas ethics is the study to determine what is right and what is wrong.

By way of comparison it's like the difference between 'scientific laws' and 'science' - the first are statements about what is the case and the latter is the study of what is the case.

PS I disagree with the point about Kant by the way - I think any attempt to make what is right and wrong a matter of contingent subjectivity creates all manner of problems eg it is surely the case that genocide (eg Holocaust, ethnic cleansing etc) is absolutely wrong not just a matter of your point of view.

Answer 6

Ethics is more a philosophical term, and has a more systematic quality - it's a theory about good and bad.

Morals is more subjective: it determines a personal code of conduct or a one-off response. It is conceived psychologically.

This does NOT mean ethics is "objective" - it is not possible to be objective about moral questions, and if you like I can give you a long lecture about the problems Kant's ethics fall into through seeking to puruse objectivity! (basically, his ideas end up overlapping with Sade's)

Answer 7

Morals are usually religiously based. Ethics are kind of the same, except religion doesn't have anything to do with them.

Answer 8

Ethics is the main stone
Moral is the way of ethics

Answer 9

Morals: standards of behaviour
Ethics: rules or principles governing behaviour making sure you maintain your morals

To give a driving analogy:
Morals: to drive safely and courteously
Ethics: keep, left (or right), don't parp your horn at old ladies, stay at or below 30 in built up areas, etc.

Answer 10

morals are the code of beliefs you hold to be the correct behavior in life- ethics is using that code even if no one is watching.