Ethics vs. Morality
Ethics and morality are fundamental concepts in philosophy that relate to human behavior and societal norms. While they are often used interchangeably, they have distinct meanings: ethics refers to a set of prescribed codes or principles governing conduct, while morality encompasses the personal beliefs and societal standards that guide individual actions. Ethics is prescriptive, setting expectations for how individuals should behave according to societal rules, often outlined in codes for professions, religions, and organizations. In contrast, morality is descriptive, reflecting the principles that individuals or societies hold and how they evaluate actions as right or wrong based on their values.
Ethical judgments aim to establish good or bad behavior within a societal context, whereas moral judgments may vary more significantly between individuals based on personal experiences and circumstances. For example, actions viewed as acceptable in one culture might be considered immoral in another. The interplay between ethics and morality can often lead to complex dilemmas, as individuals navigate personal beliefs against societal expectations. This exploration can be illustrated through philosophical exercises that challenge individuals to make difficult decisions, highlighting the subjective nature of moral reasoning. Overall, both ethics and morality play crucial roles in shaping human interactions and the functioning of societies.
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Ethics vs. Morality
Overview
Ethics and morality belong to the branch of philosophy concerned with the character, conduct, and institutions of people. The words ethics and morality both concern virtuous behavior according to social values and customs and often are used interchangeably. Differences exist between them, although even among philosophers the definition of each is debatable. In general, ethics is a philosophy or code of behavior, while morality is an individual's or group's beliefs and conduct. Some educators identify ethics as the study of morality and teach that various types of morality exist within that context.
Ethics goes much deeper than simply obeying a code or doing the right thing, just as morality is more than an effort to behave in a socially approved manner. The ideal, virtue ethics, is embraced to varying degrees by individuals based on their beliefs. For example, the range of behavior falling between complete honesty and dishonesty is wide, although if a society is to thrive, most people must believe in its value and make a habit of behaving honestly. Humans often rely on willpower to avoid falling outside accepted standards, but even individuals who consider themselves honest sometimes interpret the ethic to their own advantage. An individual might see no harm in neglecting to return an extra dollar's change at the local mini-mart. Others might have no problem committing fraud if they become rich, regardless of how many others may be hurt.
Both ethics and morality involve making choices based on one's values. Many philosophy exercises require students to make almost impossible decisions, such as asking whether it is right to kill one person to save five.
Ethics
Ethics is prescriptive, meaning it sets forth how people are expected to act. An ethical judgment establishes whether an act is right or wrong, or a thing is good or bad within the society that created the rules. Because ethical values are not inherent properties of things, such as color or shape, the judgment is applied by a human source, presumably for the greater good of the society. Ethical codes of conduct for professions, religions, institutions, and other groups also prescribe acceptable behavior for their members.
Living by a code of ethics benefits not only individuals and society in general, but also institutions within the culture. Most businesses, professions, and organizations write ethics codes for employees or members. Businesses would have a difficult time operating if they took advantage of customers or overlooked employee fraud. According to the Josephson Institute at the Center for Business Ethics, studies show that not having a company ethics code hurts sales, stock price, productivity, communication, employee retention, and other aspects of business. Because professions such as medicine and law require a high level of integrity, their ethics codes reflect the responsibility, privacy concerns, and potential for unintended harm involved in their work.
Ethical guidelines also help people make decisions. When confronted with a difficult choice, ethical standards guide individuals toward exhibiting honesty, loyalty, and compassion for others. One method of choosing an ethical course of action is the reasonable person concept, which establishes a community standard for acceptable conduct. For example, if a man rents an apartment to his unemployed cousin for half the usual rent, and she is three months behind in paying, should he evict her? What if she has a child? Considering the course of action a reasonable person would take can help with such decisions.
Morality
Morality is a descriptive term for the principles that guide behavior within a human society or by individual members of the society. It judges whether the society or its citizens are moral—that is, living within the code of conduct of the society. For example, members of a society that considers it immoral for an unmarried man and woman to live together will view societies where such actions take place to be immoral.
Individuals also hold their own moral standards, which in general fit into the ethical code of their society. But a person's moral judgment might deviate based on personal experience or need. For example, in a society where it is considered acceptable for adults to drink alcoholic beverages, an individual might make a moral judgment about inebriated people he or she has seen and choose to avoid alcohol. Another person might disregard a standard against stealing if her children were starving and she had no other way to obtain food. Morality often overlaps with other codes of a society, such as law, religion, and even etiquette. An act is generally judged to be moral or not by whether it can be helpful or harmful to others or to the person who implements it. However, neither a written set of rules nor a universal set of consequences for moral failings exists.
Morality is also relative. What might be considered an act with no moral consequence, such as driving sober and within all laws, could result in unintentional harm. For example, if a person driving at night strikes a pedestrian dressed in dark clothing who suddenly steps into the road, the driver has not behaved immorally or been willfully reckless, yet has injured someone and may experience deep feelings of guilt. In other situations, a seemingly ordinary decision could be considered immoral. For instance, drinking a bottle of water is not a moral or immoral act. Yet if three people were stranded at sea with one bottle of water, it would be considered morally unacceptable for one person to drink it all.
Bibliography
Andre, Claire and Manuel Velasquez. "What Is Ethics?" Issues in Ethics. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University. 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v1n1/whatis.html
Chmielewski, Christine. "Values and Culture in Ethical Decision Making." NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources. National Academic Advising Association. 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/Values-and-culture-in-ethical-decision-making.aspx
Gert, Bernard. Edward N. Zalta, ed. "The Definition of Morality." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Fall 2012 Edition. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/morality-definition/
"Morals, Ethics, and Metaethics." Department of Philosophy. Lander University. 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/types.html
"Professional Ethics." Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions. Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at Illinois Institute of Technology. 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. http://ethics.iit.edu/teaching/professional-ethics
"Why Is Business Ethics Important?" Josephson Institute Center for Business Ethics. Josephson Institute. 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2015. http://josephsoninstitute.org/business/overview/faq.html#9