Ethics vs. Morality

I've often been asked what the difference is between ethics and morality. Many people use the terms interchangeably.

Technically, ethics is a subdiscipline of axiology (the study of value), which is a subdiscipline of philosophy (together with epistemology, the study of knowledge, and metaphysics, the study of reality or being). In light of this, I consider morality to be the understanding of right and wrong that is defined for us by parents, society, religion, etc. Often these moral values seem almost instinctual and are accompanied by strong emotion. Sometimes we don't even realize we have strong moral feelings until confronted with a scenrio that we react to emotionally. It is at this moment that ethics kicks in - at that moment when we stand back and ask ourselves why we have responded the way we have.


Why do we find, for example, incest or polygamy morally repugnant? Why is it wrong to have sexual relations with a close relative or to have multiple spouses? What are the values we bring to this nearly automatic response?


Ethics also come into play when we begin to question previously held moral values. Not long ago, there was a broad consensus that capital punishment for murderers was justified. Recently, this consensus has eroded, especially in light of findings that many on death row were innocent of the crimes of which they had been convicted. So now we find ourselves reflecting upon the ethics of capital punishment.

Much of the interest in ethics these days seems to be driven by a sense of many in society that basic moral decency has been eroded. The obvious example to point to is the erosion of morality in business that we have witnessed over many years. This erosion has resulted in the most severe recession since the Great Depression, so that ethics starts to seem less like an expensive luxury and more like an essential discipline to embrace. So in times when morality seems to be lax, ethics often kicks in as a way to reconsider and re-establish our moral principles.

Ethics, then, is a systematic reflection upon and inquiry into the moral values that we hold. Ethics is an important philosophical tool for providing rational support for our moral values. In education, an ethics course provides a valuable opportunity for students to reflect upon the moral principles they hold that seem so obviously right and to consider why (and whether) they are right.