Difference Between Ethics and Morals

• Ethics and morality have a hierarchical relationship: ethics studies the theory that supports morality.
• Ethics is a discipline that works on the norms that regulate conduct.
• Morality is the set of beliefs that governs the actions of individuals.

What is the difference between ethics and morals?

Ethics and morality They belong to the same conceptual family of the field of ethics which is a philosophical discipline specialized in human behavior.

In general, The relationship between the two is considered to be a hierarchical relationship. since ethics studies the theory that supports the moral norms that govern everyday behavior, so morality is subsumed under ethics. However, this distinction, as well as the hierarchical distribution, is widely disputed.

The ethics

Ethics is the discipline that reflects on the principles that govern behavior . It is a branch of philosophy that over time became an autonomous discipline. The name “ethics” comes from the Greek ethikos (which means “relating to one's character”) and is rooted in ethoswhich means “character” or “dwelling.”

The ethical concern for good and happiness constitutes a philosophical concern because it is a concern of the human being. . Plato and Aristotle, two of the most important philosophers of antiquity, wrote and researched about these ethical concepts, as well as virtue and the ultimate goal or purpose of the human being. Other ancient and most medieval philosophers did the same. Among the latter were Saint Augustine (354-430) and Saint Thomas (1225-1274), who related ethics to theology.

Modernity, together with the work of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) brought with him the idea of ​​normative ethics, linked to the concept of categorical imperative . The categorical imperative is a Kantian concept that is used as an ethical maxim to regulate the behavior of oneself and others.

During the 20th century, on the other hand, The “ethical turn” was created, which consisted of the transition from metaphysical questions to ethical questions. . The idea of ​​alterity (the idea of ​​the “other” who is not “I”) was taken with greater rigor and, at the same time, the difference between metaethics (the meaning of moral terms) and normative ethics began to be investigated. (the question of which actions are good and which are bad).

The morality

Morality is the set of beliefs, customs, norms and values ​​that govern the actions of an individual or a group . The word “moral” comes from Latin moraliswhich is the equivalent of Greek ethikos. Moralis comes from morwhich means “custom” or “character.” From this it follows that “morality” is the set of customs of a society.

Since morality is a set of customs and values, It is part of concrete life . In the Greek world, morality was ethos. The word “ethos” means abode, and in ancient times the abode was the set of relationships between the physical environment and the people who inhabited it.

During the Middle Ages and for the indifferent translation of ethos (morality) and ethos (ethics) to moralis, both customs and character were called moral . Today it is thought that morality is what is done in a community according to the customs of a time. This means that morality is relative to the historical moment and its geographical determination and, unlike ethics, it can change.

Differences between ethics and morals

Ethics and morality often have a confusing origin. For the Greeks it was not the same ethos (ethics) that ethos (moral) . However, the fact that they used two different words does not mean that they could not exchange them in different cases and, many times, mix their use.

For example, the ethosmorality, was the relationship between a space and people. The ethosthe ethics, the criteria that gave character to that relationship . But, at the same time, the customs of these people were morals (ethos) that gave the ethical character (ethos) to the place.

These comings and goings of the use and disuse of terms are not only Greek. They were also studied in other stages and currently. The psychoanalysts Donald Woods Winnicot (1896-1971) and Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) studied these relationships. Both discovered that family relationships were considered ethical (they had principles and values) if they were based on “good” morals (harmonious and inclusive).

However, In the medieval world, which followed the Greek world, there was no distinction between ethics and morality . For the thinkers of the time, everything boiled down, indistinctly, to the morthat is: to character. That ethics and morality have been reduced to character has to do, possibly, with the fact that the distinction did not make sense in the light of theology. At that time, asking for good was nothing other than asking for God and that question already had its own discipline to study it.

With the passage of time and the arrival of secular modernity, the distinction between ethics and morality acquired renewed importance. . The sense of morality as the set of norms and customs by which a society is governed is a modern sense. The same happens with the idea of ​​ethics as the series of principles that regulate moral standards.

Some contemporary philosophers, however, maintain that the distinction between ethics and morality is artificial or stipulative. That it is stipulative means that every time the word “moral” or the word “ethics” is used, a new meaning is given. That is to say, the distinction is at the convenience of the person who makes it.

The truth is that, for philosophy, ethics is usually the discipline that studies morality and, in any case, morality is the specific field of human action.

References

• Bonilla, A. (2007) “Ethics: contemporary issues and problems”, Vertex. Argentine Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. XVIII, No. 75, 2007, pp. 362-369.
• Cullen, C. (1998) “The contemporary ethical debate”, Enoikos, year VI, No. 13, pp. 26-32.
• Griffin, J. (2001) “METAETHICS. Metaethics and normative ethics”; in Canto-Sperber, M. (ed.) (2001) Dictionary of Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Mexico, FCE, Vol. 1, pp. 1052-1058.
• Maliandi, R. (1993) Ethics, concepts and problems, chap. I and III.
• Roig, A. (2002) “Hermeneutical problems for a foundation of Ethics”, in Ethics of power and morality of protest. Responses to the moral crisis of our time, Mendoza, EDIUNC, pp. 131-136.
• Boff, L. (2003). Ethics and morals. The search for the fundamentals (5th ed.). Bilbao: Sal Terrae Editorial.
• Guariglia, O. (1996). Morality. Universalist ethics and moral subject. Criticism, 28(84).
• Curtain, A. (2000). Minimum ethics. Madrid: Tecnos.