Ethics vs. Morals – What's The Difference?

Understanding morality's definition might help you decide what's right for you and others. Even though the term's meaning may vary from culture to culture, moral codes differ greatly. Charitable people are moral, whereas lawbreakers are immoral. However, immorality cannot exist without benevolence.

According to natural law, morality is a God-given guide of action. According to this view, all sensible people know what morality forbids and allows. They know that morality requires people to avoid harming others.

Religions employ stories to explain immorality. Stealing food to avoid starvation is not immoral. Several religions also promote immoral acts like murder.

There are communities where everyone behaves the same. However, in more advanced civilizations, people can choose from many codes. Some civilizations have competing moral codes, and its followers think others who don't follow them are immoral.

Some view morality as a code of conduct that any reasonable person would endorse under certain circumstances. John Stuart Mill's normative theory of morality states that morality is a set of rules that protects people. Sprigge defines morality as a collection of rules for praising and blaming.

According to Thomas Aquinas' Natural Law tradition, God created moral laws. This contrasts with natural law-based morality like Divine Command. In Natural Law, morality is rational because God is practical. [Cite] [Cite]

Bentham, Mill, and Skorupski believe morality is a true, objective code of conduct. Darwall, Wong, and Gert believe morality comes from an evolved ability to understand social consequences.

All of these thinkers believe that there is a moral code, although their definitions of morality differ. Some thinkers value fidelity and morality over nonviolence. Churchland and other theorists distinguish between what is and what should be. These philosophers disagree on how to answer the question of morality's true meaning.

Scanlon's morality is a system of principles that must be justified to others. Unlike Sprigge's, this theory emphasises morality's social context. Darwall's account emphasises morality's impersonal arguments.