What is the difference between an ethical person and a moral person?
By DW Davis
@DWDavis (25812)
Pikeville, North Carolina
September 7, 2015 12:56pm CST
I was in a Bible study at church a couple years ago and the Deacon asked the group if they knew the answer to this question. He then gave me a pointed look as he and I had actually discussed this very topic a few days earlier when I'd stopped by his office on another matter. I correctly took that look to mean that I was not to answer.
Many of the men, it was a men's Bible study, thought there was no difference between the two.
I was reminded of this particular question when I saw @Berniezeitler 's discussions about situation ethics.
So, what do you think the difference between an ethical person and moral person is?
6 people like this
5 responses
@GardenGerty (157563)
• United States
7 Sep 15
Ethical people believe in rules and in following them. Moral people have the rules ingrained into their very being.
6 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
7 Sep 15
See that is what I think too GG..people with morals do the right thing.
3 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
7 Sep 15
Just off the top of my head DW, an ethical person is one who subscribes to the theories of morality. A moral person puts those theories into action.
4 people like this
@GardenGerty (157563)
• United States
7 Sep 15
I do not think I can top this with any of my insights.
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
7 Sep 15
@GardenGerty Hi GG. I dont know if thats right tho, but it is just what I was thinking, like you know all those ethics committees, all they do is talk about it haha
@Shellyann36 (11385)
• United States
27 Sep 15
Morals are core values that could be from a religious upbringing and ethics are more about what happens when we are in dealings with other people be it in the neighborhood, the office, or in other public situations where there is more being exchanged than words.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
3 Oct 15
Most morals are based on religious teachings and most religious teachings are based on the rules humans came up with that allowed them to live relatively peacefully with each other as they began to settle in communities thousands of years ago.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
21 Sep 15
morals and ethics are usually used as interchangeable terms. You may be moral without thinking or knowing why; you know instinctively that crime such as theft is wrong or don't steal because the law or religion says so - ethics is a more systematic code and a thought out process of decision making on a course of action. You might face a dilemma that means having to think about a course of action, in which case the decision becomes ethical rather than just moral.
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