Difference between ethic and morality

[Ima Freeman]

Right now I contemplate the meaning of ethic and morality.

Before, I tried to find a accurate definition of these words. To learn what they mean.

Searching online, I found conflicting definitions.

Ethics seems to be a branch of philosophy, but also in a more general sense the rules of conduct resulting from a worldview (e.g. religion)

Morality is most often defined as a set of rules and values, that a society inherits. 
But what about personal morality? What about the rules and values of a single person?

How do you define and separate these terms?



 

[Eternal Unity]

On 22.2.2023 at 1:16 PM, Ima Freeman said:

What about the rules and values of a single person?

You make your own rules. Nietzsche. Free will exist only for those who realized an experiencial God. The Übermensch. The Overhuman.

[Ima Freeman]

@Eternal Unity Thanks for your answer. It would take a lot of mental effort to really make your own original rules.

[Ulax]

On 22/02/2023 at 11:16 AM, Ima Freeman said:

Right now I contemplate the meaning of ethic and morality.

Before, I tried to find a accurate definition of these words. To learn what they mean.

Searching online, I found conflicting definitions.

Ethics seems to be a branch of philosophy, but also in a more general sense the rules of conduct resulting from a worldview (e.g. religion)

Morality is most often defined as a set of rules and values, that a society inherits. 
But what about personal morality? What about the rules and values of a single person?

How do you define and separate these terms?



 

@Ima Freeman Hey, here is my take. In my experience, what you'll find with these sorts of questions is the following.

Via google search you'll have some blogs or webpages which seem to speak with certainty about the difference between the two concepts. And sometimes speak with certainty about the different views on what the differences are.

You'll get further  confused because some of these different blogs/ webpages conflict with each other about what the different views even are.

Then if you look deeper you'll find this definitional issue is an entire sub-field of philosophy, which lots of different views. And then in wondering about which of these definitions is true, you get into definitional theories, i.e. what makes one definition more true than another, can one definition be more true than another.

I'd recommend browsing around wikipedia imo. And seeing if you can find an area of wikipedia that contains different articles on the meaning of 'ethic', 'morality', and maybe even the 'difference between ethic and morality'. Further, try and find an area of Wikipedia that has articles regarding different theories of 'definitions'.

I think understanding different theories of definitions is key because it helps you understand different theories around how you should decide what definition of a concept is better or not, and whether or not that is even possible? 

Also, its also perhaps worth keeping in mind what your purpose is with regards to defining these terms. Do you want to achieve an 'objective definition' of the terms? Such that you want to just discover what the objective meaning of the terms are. Or perhaps maybe you want to achieve a definition which you intend to use for some practical purpose. Or some other purpose. I think that will help guide where your research goes.

[Eternal Unity]

@Ima Freeman Yes, indeed. It takes a master. Many lifetimes to understand and many more to implement...

 

[Leo Gura]

There is a lot of overlap.

Ethics is usually rules of conduct for institutions and organizations whereas morality is more about your conduct as an individual.

[Ima Freeman]

On 24.2.2023 at 1:20 PM, Ulax said:

@Ima Freeman Hey, here is my take. In my experience, what you'll find with these sorts of questions is the following.

Via google search you'll have some blogs or webpages which seem to speak with certainty about the difference between the two concepts. And sometimes speak with certainty about the different views on what the differences are.

You'll get further  confused because some of these different blogs/ webpages conflict with each other about what the different views even are.

Then if you look deeper you'll find this definitional issue is an entire sub-field of philosophy, which lots of different views. And then in wondering about which of these definitions is true, you get into definitional theories, i.e. what makes one definition more true than another, can one definition be more true than another.

I'd recommend browsing around wikipedia imo. And seeing if you can find an area of wikipedia that contains different articles on the meaning of 'ethic', 'morality', and maybe even the 'difference between ethic and morality'. Further, try and find an area of Wikipedia that has articles regarding different theories of 'definitions'.

I think understanding different theories of definitions is key because it helps you understand different theories around how you should decide what definition of a concept is better or not, and whether or not that is even possible? 

Also, its also perhaps worth keeping in mind what your purpose is with regards to defining these terms. Do you want to achieve an 'objective definition' of the terms? Such that you want to just discover what the objective meaning of the terms are. Or perhaps maybe you want to achieve a definition which you intend to use for some practical purpose. Or some other purpose. I think that will help guide where your research goes.

Thanks for the advice.

After coming across these terms in literature I wanted to make sense of their meaning and their area of application.

[Ima Freeman]

@Leo Gura

Figured the same. It seems the words have the same root meaning, but over time got applied for slightly different.