Time has come to distinguish the terms ethical and moral from each other?

Question

RE: question (these two terms together open to abouse?) and response from CT

Sometimes "ethical" is used as a synonym for "moral," as in, "He is a very ethical (moral) person." For some people, "moral" has religious connotations that "ethical" does not. The relevant field of psychology, however, has been called "moral development" for more than a half-century. No religious connotations there. God bless, Tom Lickona

ethics is like the planets orbiting around the sun and morality is like earth rotating on its axis - very vivid analogy may help the next generation to clarify it better than we 50+ have been able to

posed this question in the "philosophy" section and got different (but similar) and more complex answers...both terms are abused so much

Answer 1

Look up the words Ethics & Morals in a Dictionary and then in a Thesaurus. Then think.

Why should others do ALL your thinking for you?

Answer 2

Ethical means dealing with the ethics. You do something because it is not right. It may or may not 'seem' right to you, but if it is generally perceived as such, it is ethical.
Moral, however, has to do with what a particular person thinks of an issue or what stand is taken by him/her. No matter the general view, if you have a definite stand against a particular issue - usually in good way, then you are moral.
In other words, if you stick to the rights, you're ethical, no matter what you think about the issue. But if you are strongly for the good, it is your own view, then you're moral.

Answer 3

true they have become used in tandum for the most part as one affects the other but here is a good definition of both:

"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 is “appropriate” to do and what is not, etc.

Ethical principles are objective. They follow from real necessity and advisability.

Ethics is the science about the correct attitude of man:

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

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

c) to one’s own life path."

Answer 4

The ethical person knows the right thing to do. The moral person does the right thing and does it for the right reason. Morality includes the concept of moral obligation. I must do the right thing, not just because doing the right thing makes me feel good, but because I am obligated to do so.

Answer 5

I agree that ethical would be what society perceives it to be........... the correct way to act or react. What to do when confronted with a situation that would indicate a standard of conduct by the norm. Moral is modes of conduct that are the difference between right and wrong as our conscience dictates. Yes they have be used interchangeably but I react to morals as a Christian code of conduct. Thanks for the thought provoking question!

Answer 6

Ethical: conforming to acceptable standards (consistent with agreed principles of correct moral conduct). It is usually used when reference is made to professional practice (as in the ethics of the medical profession).

However, Moral Moral: relating to issues of right and wrong and to how individuals should behave or based on what somebody’s conscience suggests is right or wrong or rather than on what the law says should be done, regarded in terms of what is known to be right or just, as opposed to what is officially or outwardly declared to be right or just. It also means giving guidance on how to behave decently and honorably, good or right, when judged by the standards of the average person or society at large or able to distinguish right from wrong and to make decisions based on that knowledge or a conclusion about how to behave or proceed drawn from a story or event. Similarly, it can defined as a short, precise rule, usually written in a rather literary style as the conclusion to a story, used to help people remember the best or most sensible way to behave or principles of right and wrong as they govern standards of general or sexual behavior.

Moral covers a wider range of human affairs both in terms of individual or group conduct or behaviour, interpersonal relations as well as official and unofficial functions or activities and how we related with our environment.

Answer 7

Morals are conforming to a specific moral code. Ethics are what you do even if you know that no one will ever find out.

Answer 8

Strictly speaking, ethics are beliefs: if you have poor ethics, you have lax standards; but your morals are your behavior: if you have poor morals, you behave badly. You can have high standards but still fail to follow them: strong ethics and weak morals.