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Thursday, February 1, 2024

The Difference between Morality and Ethics

 Introduction

It has been long time people use the two terms interchangeably with the same meaning. It means that when we talk ethics, we actually mean the same as morality.  However, the two words are very much different, and different in meaning.

Many books on ethics and on morals are not pointing out their differences and using the terms interchangeably and it gives the reader the understanding that the two are the same. In fact, they are not. But in my first article, I told the reader that I am using the tow terms for the same thing. My purpose was for the reader not to have the two terms enter the mind of the reader at the same time. Now I would like to clarify the two terms. The difference between ethics and morals can seem somewhat arbitrary to many, but there is a basic, albeit subtle, difference between the two. The conflict of arguments on the pro and cons on the two terms have been leading to confusing discussion on ethics and morals. Up to this moment, many books out there have not pointed clearly the difference; books have used the terms interchangeably as I did. John Deigh (1995) in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy states that the word ethics is "commonly used interchangeably with morality…... and sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition, group or individual." Knowing such confusions, we cannot just let it be but we need to draw the line between the two so that people can understand and use the terms properly.   

This simple article is really intended to distinguish between the two, for the reader not to be confused with the two, although they are conveying the same thing but it might be good to see the context within which the two may show the difference. Hopefully this article will help to settle the difference and I believe, many may not be able to agree with the things presented here.  

Ethics

In my previous article that I posted on the same blog, that when we discuss ethics, it should be neutral. One should not bring in his mind the ethics that he gets from his religion or what he/she gets from his culture. Ethics is independent concept that cannot be mixed with religion.  As it was emphasized by Richard Paul and Linda Elder (2006) of the Foundation for Critical Thinking, that "most people confuse ethics with behaving in accordance with social conventions, religious beliefs and the law", and don't treat ethics as a stand-alone concept.  

Starting from the point of view of Paul and Elder, it can be argued that ethics is a philosophy of moral. Ethics helps and guides a person in making a moral decision particularly when a person facing a moral dilemma. Ethics help a person understand why he/she chooses a certain act and not the other one. Thus, ethics is about the philosophical process of answering 'Given what we know, what should we do in a particular situation and circumstances. It guides moral agent to make a moral decision. It helps us to examine our choices of action if our choices or decision are ethically correct and will lead to a more or less moral decision. I call it more or less moral decision, because there is no such thing as morally perfect decision when we apply ethics. Circumstances surround the problem and situations come into play and make it more or less morally perfect. 

In Ethics we discuss human act and act of man. Human acts mean the act that is purely belonging to man which is inspired by reason and free will. While the act of man means the acts that are not purely belonging to man because animal can do the same such as eating, drinking, sleeping but this act can be subjected to ethical evaluation depending on the circumstance, situation, motivation or intention and the purpose and consequence. In this case, not all acts are subjected to evaluation.

Reason and free will is the starting point in which someone can evaluate a certain act if it is morally bad/wrong or good. Example is determining the morality of killings. A person killed his wife on Christmas evening and he was arrested and now he is under investigation. Killing in full sense is immoral and if there are no circumstance surround the killing, then the person will be given full sentence. But when it applies ethic in the examination of the killing, the gravity of its morality will be lessened or mitigated or it will be increased and the sentence might be lessened or increased. Why? Here the circumstance is scrutinized if the act was really done in full knowledge/reason and no other external factors or internal factors that forced him to do so. Or the person may have done it in because he was under the influence of liquor, drugs. Drug testing and liquor testing is required. If it is proven, then it can be said that his full knowledge and freedom were not present during the act. The punishment might be lessened. But if the investigation proved otherwise that it was premeditated that the person really wants to kill his wife because he wants to marry another one, then the case is completely changed. The full/maximum sentence can be given to the person.

The tools that are being used by ethics in examining the moral problems are not only reason and freewill but also intention, means, end and consequence. A student wants to be dean lister. How is she/he going to achieve such dream? The concern here is the means to achieve such desire. A moral choice or a good choice would be to study hard and bad choice would be to cheat.  The student has the choice whether to study hard or to cheat. If he/she chooses to study hard and achieve his/her purpose, then she/he would be praised but he/she chooses to cheat and she/he achieved but the consequence is that she/he might be removed from dean’s lister.

 In relation to the case of consequence, let us take the case of double effect of a pregnant woman. The doctor declared that the pregnant mother is in risky situation and the family has to choose whether to save the life of the mother or the son.  The family cannot decide but something has to be done. Not to operate, both will die. But the operation /cesarean result would be either the mother or the son is going to be sacrificed. The perfect choice here would be that both should be saved and the doctor really works to save both human life but as a consequence of the operation would be either, the son or the mother is sacrificed. In this case, the intention is good, the means is good and the purpose is good but the consequence is that the son died. In this case moral burden to the doctor or the family is perfectly mitigated.

Those examples clearly remind us that ethics is guiding principles in moral decision or moral choice. In case of moral dilemma, ethics can guide the moral agent how to make more or less morally praised decisions under a certain circumstance. Ethics is a philosophy that questions or explains morality, values and subsequent outcome of certain act. Ethics is the critical reflection on personal and social morality. Groups and societies have moral expectations just as individuals have moral judgments. Thus the purpose of knowing ethics is clear. It is to guide the person or the group on how to make a moral decision.  Ethics is the science of Morals. It makes sense of moral decisions. It explains why one ought to do and not to do. Ethics are an integral part of social laws and politics. In any dichotomy situation, one where two choices are available, ethics steps in to identify the best action-choice. Ethical action is defined and questioned within our interactions with people, environment and other non human beings. Ethics is an approach, a method of making decisions. Ethics is about deciding to the best of our ability, without fear or favor. It is about being aware of the many aspects of each issue and trying to include them into the decision making process. It is about being aware of the outcome of our decisions, good and bad. Ethics is about making a well-considered decision and having the moral courage to accept the responsibility of our decision. Ethics is more a way of approaching decisions, ethics is not a set of values but a way of developing values for a certain situation as it is understood.

Using the tools that are given or provided by ethics, a person can make a better choice of actions that will be morally acceptable. However, experience would tell us that there is no such perfect moral decision. Either one or more of the rules are violated. Seldom we find that the intention is good, the means is good, the end is good and the consequence is good. If such happen, then it is morally perfect. Often time, a person emphasizes more on the ends or the consequence, and then she/he ignores the motives and the means. That is the case of consequentialism ethics which emphasizes on the consequence or the ends. As long as the ends or the consequence is good, then the motives, the means do not matter. The ends justify the means. Whatever means, either good or bad, as long as the result is good, then it is moral. Often time people prioritize the intention or the motives and ignoring the ends or consequence and so it is morally acceptable. Therefore, people are choosing the lesser evil, meaning the decision is still immoral but to a lesser extent.  

In summary, we can say that ethics is not sets of values and to be applied in our lives but ethics is a philosophy of moral. Ethics is a way of reaching an answer in any situation. The aim is to reach the best answer. But all problems are complicated. The more we learn about a problem, the more complicated it becomes.

Morality: Universal and Relative

Many have tried to define morality but these definitions bring more confusions and lead to uncertainty. Often morality is defined as ethics and ethics is defined as morality. Leaving behind all those kinds of definition, now let us put forward the definition that we would like to adopt.  

Morality can be defined in its descriptive and normative sense. Morality in its descriptive sense refers to some codes of conduct put forward and accepted by a society, some other group, or a religion, or individual for the guide of behavior. Morality in its normative sense refers to codes of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons which is not limited to a particular group, culture or individual (Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2002). This is what we call universal morality which is applied to all rational being everywhere. While relative morality is applied to a specific group, society or individual.

To take “morality” to refer to an actually existing code of conduct put forward by a society results in a denial that there is a universal morality, one that applies to all human beings. This descriptive use of “morality” is the one used by anthropologists when they report on the morality of the societies that they study. “Morality” has also been taken to refer to any code of conduct that a person or group takes as most important.

When “morality” is used simply to refer to a code of conduct put forward by any actual group, including a society, or individuals, it is being understood in the descriptive sense of morality.

Morality” in a normative sense, refers to a code of conduct that applies to all beyond a cultural boundary. It is universal.  In the normative sense, morality should never be overridden, that is, no one should ever violate a moral prohibition or requirement. All of those who use “morality” normatively hold that all rational persons should obey it. It is a must.

The main objective of morality is to be able to highlight 'right' and 'wrong'. As a code of conduct, moral codes define 'appropriate' and 'expected' behavior. Community morality is usually defined via commentaries and codes of authority. Morality is better understood as an assimilation of beliefs about the essentials to lead a 'good' life. Moral codes are based on value systems that have been tried and tested.

Conclusion

It is clear that ethics is the philosophy of morality. Morality is the moral codes of conduct. Ethics is theories or concepts of morality that explains why a certain act is good or bad. Morality is rules that have been adopted as code of conducts, either by a society or universally.

 

 

 

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