What is the difference between ethics and morals? I have always viewed them as nearly synonymous, the main difference being morals are how I ought to value myself, whereas ethics are how I ought to value others. This is a difference I have created through my own personal understanding, and I admit that it may be a complete misconception. I view the world from a more scientific standpoint, and so I do not necessarily agree that what is written in law is necessarily ethical, just as how I do not necessarily believe that what is written in holy books is moral. To gain a sense of my own standing in the world, I objectively view my own desires and potential with that around me, from which I gain the aforementioned view of what is ethical versus what is moral. Even though the two are deeply linked, I find a need to make a distinction between the two when viewing data for myself, while still respecting that I may be wrong, either through definition or colloquial use of the terms.
What is the diving line between morals and ethics, or are they the same approach to the common question: What ought I/we do?
Many theorists describe ethics as the philosophical study of morality (but not vice versa), suggesting that the former achieves a higher level of abstraction.
ReplyDeleteI can see that. I believe that this discussion relates directly to my lifelong habit of assigning definitions to things for my own sake until I understand them fully at a later point, i.e., in my childhood, I referred to any bug-like creature as a bug (including spiders and worms, which have their own scientific categories), but made the distinction as to whether or not they possessed the ability to fly. If it couldn't fly, it was a bug, and if it could, it was an insect. Of course, now my increased understanding has drawn a finer and more commonly accepted distinction, and I believe I will continue to make such progress in more complicated fields (such as morals and ethics) as I progress and grow older.
ReplyDeleteTo me they seem to mean the samething...or at least that's how may of us apply the two terms. Meaning many of us use the words interchangeably like synonyms of each other. Many fields of study have an ethics code which tells them what they can and can't do and why. And in some fields there are severe consequence for breaking the ethics code because it is "wrong".
ReplyDeleteEven the very popular Dictionary.com uses the word ethical in the definition of moral....
Moral- of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical:
As you scroll further down the page this is what they have under synonym...
"Morals, ethics refer to rules and standards of conduct and practice. Morals refers to generally accepted customs of conduct and right living in a society, and to the individual's practice in relation to these: the morals of our civilization. Ethics now implies high standards of honest and honorable dealing, and of methods used, especially in the professions or in business: "
I feel this clears up the difference a bit but I still feel that they go hand in hand....If it wasn't morals or ethics there wouldn't be a need for the other. If we didn't have morals...a sense of what's right and wrong would wouldn't have come up with ethics and ethics codes for different fields of study.
Question:
Do you too believe that without morals there couldn't be ethics or can we have one without the other???