Ethics Vs. Morals

[NateBlack]

What is your understanding of what it means to be ethical? moral?

Which is more important? Is it possible to be moral and not ethical? Is it possible to be ethical and not moral?

 

[Spinrad]

eth·ic
n.

1.
1. A set of principles of right conduct.
2. A theory or a system of moral values: “An ethic of service is at war with a craving for gain” (Gregg Easterbrook).
2. ethics (used with a sing. verb) The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; moral philosophy.
3. ethics (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession: medical ethics.




mor·al
adj.

1. Of or concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human action and character: moral scrutiny; a moral quandary.
2. Teaching or exhibiting goodness or correctness of character and behavior: a moral lesson.
3. Conforming to standards of what is right or just in behavior; virtuous: a moral life.
4. Arising from conscience or the sense of right and wrong: a moral obligation.
5. Having psychological rather than physical or tangible effects: a moral victory; moral support.
6. Based on strong likelihood or firm conviction, rather than on the actual evidence: a moral certainty.


It appears one uses morals to define ethics.

 

[jayem]

In common usage, I think the terms are generally interchangeable.

One of my texts, Ethics, by Wm. Frankena, describes "morals" as relating to right and wrong, and "ethics" as the formal and sytematized study of how we determine that.

 

[NateBlack]

My pastor did a workshop on this... (I need to locate his sources)

He said that Ethics don't change and are static through different times and cultures. If something is ethical, it will always be ethical.

The he said that morals do change and usually reflect the values of specific groups, cultures and periods of history.

Was a slave running away from her master being ethical? How about moral?

I would say she was being ethical, but immoral. Pursuing freedom from oppression is ethical, but breaking the law and running away from someone who owned you was immoral.

 

[NateBlack]

So what do we, as Christians, do with the question of sex?

Is it bad? Is premarital sex ok? What about the rules for gay & lesbians? Are some sex acts bad? When is it "ok" to have sex?

I have recently been able to be a part a workshop led by my Pastor, Rev. Ken Martin of MCC Austin www.mccaustin.com, on this topic. The following are my notes and thoughts from that workshop. Pastor Ken's lesson was titled "Sexual Ethics." His quotes will be in bold.

What is the difference between Morals & Ethics?

Morals: reflect the rules of a group at specific times; these are subject to change. In the "Suani" people(not sure if I spelled it right), homosexuality is encouraged and expected among males. In the Ruana(again spelling) homosexuality is punishable by death. He talked about "orgasmic women" in Western culture and how only in recent years has a woman's ability to [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] been seen as natural and encouraged.

Ethics: If something is ethical it is always right. If it is unethical, it is always wrong. Ethics don't change.

Living an ethical life might cause you to go against the morals of society. Think about people that operated the Underground Railroad and helped slaves escape the South. It wasn't a moral thing to do because the "rules of the group" or the laws of the land allowed for slavery, but it was certainly an ethical thing to do.

The gospels are a conflict between ethics & morals... or more succinctly... between rules & relationships.
Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

Don't let your freedom be an excuse to be irresponsible.
Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

Specific sexual acts are neutral. Anal sex, oral sex, handjobs, kinky stuff... But, we are NOT free from submitting our actions to the standard of love.

What is Agape love? To wish the very best for another person and to be willing to sacrifice to make it happen.

The Heart of Christianity replaces all rules with love.
1 Cor. 6:12 "Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything.
2 Cor. 3:6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

COVENANT: Based on promises. Ask yourself if this behavior you're considering is faithful to the promises you have made that bind the important promises in your life?... to God... to yourself... to your partner... to your church... etc. ***You HAVE to have these agreements & promises, otherwise there will be assumptions made and when one party doesn't live up to the assumption, the other person will be hurt.

Ask yourself: "Is ____(fill in the blank)___ going to move me towards becoming who I am created to be? Is it loving? Is it caring? Is it building my soul?"

You must be easier on yourself... you are not finished yet... you are a work in progress. When you sin or "miss the mark" by not keeping one of your covenants or if you do something unethical... all you have to do is: Confess--to God and whoever is involved, Repent--turn around... stop doing what you were doing, Resolve--to keep your covenants in the future.

Some final thoughts:
You don't ever end a relationship with the same promises you began it with. Relationships are about compromise... or "co-promise" ... about committing to each other.

There are three key things to consider when evaluating sexual behavior:
1. Consent: Both people have to be legally, mentally & emotionally capable to give consent.
2. Mutual: You can't use another person. You must be serious about being responsible for your needs, desires & feelings AND those of the other person.
3. Private

 

[Eudaimonist]

What is your understanding of what it means to be ethical? moral?

In popular usage, the terms are identical. Being ethical and being moral are the same thing.

In more technical terms, ethics is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of morality. Morality is a specific system of judgments about right and wrong actions, i.e. a morality is a specific code of values.

Ethics is like taking a step back and asking such questions as: "Why should I accept this moral judgment?", "Why be moral at all?", "How do I justify this morality?", "How do I come up with moral values for new situations?"

These are philosophical questions that the branch of philosophy called ethics deals with.

Note: One presumably can be a moral person without being philosophical about morality, though whether or not this is true could be an interesting ethical issue.


eudaimonia,

M.

 

[Job_s_First_Son]

The Underground Railroad example struck me as odd. To judge someone's actions as moral or immoral based on the conventions or laws of the day seems way off base. I have to think more about it.

The oft-repeated slippery slope example would be "was a Nazi SS guard at a death camp committing moral acts?" In your example, if I'm not incorrect, he was moral because the group OKed it at the time. My answer would be I would judge him as immoral based by my personal moral standard. This is of course fodder for another thread.

To the OP, just looking over the replies depends on the definition but they look to be interchangeable if you want them to be (as per everyone else so far).

Finally, you could have finished your pasting your sermon (sneaky, sorry if i am wrong) after "The gospels are a conflict between ethics & morals... " section I think. Just a suggestion as long quotes often get skipped.

 

[NateBlack]

The Underground Railroad example struck me as odd. To judge someone's actions as moral or immoral based on the conventions or laws of the day seems way off base. I have to think more about it.

The oft-repeated slippery slope example would be "was a Nazi SS guard at a death camp committing moral acts?" In your example, if I'm not incorrect, he was moral because the group OKed it at the time. My answer would be I would judge him as immoral based by my personal moral standard. This is of course fodder for another thread.

To the OP, just looking over the replies depends on the definition but they look to be interchangeable if you want them to be (as per everyone else so far).

Finally, you could have finished your pasting your sermon (sneaky, sorry if i am wrong) after "The gospels are a conflict between ethics & morals... " section I think. Just a suggestion as long quotes often get skipped.

You've actually hit the nail on the head. Morality is defined by groups of people, governments, etc. It changes from group to group. It changes with time.

So... Is morality a good standard to weigh one's actions against?

I assert that the standard of ethics raises the bar much, much higher.