Ethics and morals
Morals may be regarded as knowing what is right, doing what is right, and feeling what
is right: both morals and ethics share these concerns. The terms ethics and morals are
sometimes used interchangeably, although one can make distinctions (the word “ethics”
is from Greek, whereas the word “morals” is from Latin). More commonly, “morals”
refers to the standards held by the community, often in a form not explicitly articulated.
“Ethics”, on the other hand, better responds to the notion of moral philosophy – the
branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality – in reference to such
approaches as Aristotelean “Virtue ethics” – where the arguments, mutatis mutandis,
might just as well be defined as moral. In a different train of thoughts, “ethics” may be
specifically meant as concerning explicit codes of conduct as well as value systems.
Importantly, in this last meaning ethics has restricted application. If one is a lawyer the
legal code applies only to his or her professional colleagues – and not to other groups,