What are moral principles and values which govern the actions of an individual?

Source of Principles

Ethics are external standards that are provided by institutions, groups, or culture to which an individual belongs. For example, lawyers, policemen, and doctors all have to follow an ethical code laid down by their profession, regardless of their own feelings or preferences. Ethics can also be considered a social system or a framework for acceptable behavior.

Morals are also influenced by culture or society, but they are personal principles created and upheld by individuals themselves.

Consistency and Flexibility

Ethics are very consistent within a certain context, but can vary greatly between contexts. For example, the ethics of the medical profession in the 21st century are generally consistent and do not change from hospital to hospital, but they are different from the ethics of the 21st century legal profession.

An individual’s moral code is usually unchanging and consistent across all contexts, but it is also possible for certain events to radically change an individual's personal beliefs and values.

Conflicts Between Ethics and Morals

What are moral principles and values which govern the actions of an individual?

One professional example of ethics conflicting with morals is the work of a defense attorney. A lawyer’s morals may tell her that murder is reprehensible and that murderers should be punished, but her ethics as a professional lawyer, require her to defend her client to the best of her abilities, even if she knows that the client is guilty.

Another example can be found in the medical field. In most parts of the world, a doctor may not euthanize a patient, even at the patient's request, as per ethical standards for health professionals. However, the same doctor may personally believe in a patient's right to die, as per the doctor's own morality.

Origins

Much of the confusion between these two words can be traced back to their origins. For example, the word "ethic" comes from Old French (etique), Late Latin (ethica), and Greek (ethos) and referred to customs or moral philosophies. "Morals" comes from Late Latin's moralis, which referred to appropriate behavior and manners in society. So, the two have very similar, if not synonymous, meanings originally.

Morality and ethics of the individual have been philosophically studied for well over a thousand years. The idea of ethics being principles that are set and applied to a group (not necessarily focused on the individual) is relatively new, though, primarily dating back to the 1600s. The distinction between ethics and morals is particularly important for philosophical ethicists.

Videos Explaining the Differences

The following video explains how ethics are objective, while morals are subjective.

References

  • The Definition of Morality - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Ethics Definition - Dictionary.com
  • Ethic Origins - Online Etymology Dictionary
  • Moral Origins - Wiktionary
  • Morals Definition - Dictionary.com

11.

A philosophical discipline which studies how, and what it means, to live well. Elaborating critically on the work of Plato, who declared the good to be the supreme idea in the world, Aristotle was the first to write a treatise on ethics, in which he argued that the acquisition of virtues is paramount for humans to act and think well. Today, ethics is present in practically all fields of knowledge, including the life sciences (cf. bioethics). Learn more in: Ethical Rationality in AI: On the Prospect of Becoming a Full Ethical Agent

30.

Refers to a moral standard used in determining what is right or wrong within a group, organization, and society. It has its roots in the Greek word, “ethikos,” meaning custom (Ibietan & Joshua, 2013). Dibie (2007) provided a similar understanding of ethics in that it is similar to morality. To Dibie (2007), it is a philosophical concept which is used in determining the proper course of action. To Ojokwu (2016), it also means adhering to a set of rules guiding the conduct of members of a profession. To Ojokwu (2016), the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) has set of rules which guides their actions, reactions, and response to events in the discharge of their duties. These rules are called ethics. Learn more in: An Assessment of Unethical Work Behavior Among Police Personnel in Nigeria

31.

A set of moral principles or values, built upon existing mores, and result from a society’s ideas and actions. They do not precede the society and the situation in which it finds itself; rather, they are a reaction to the situation, ever changing, and reflect the current state of affairs of the society. Ethics is based upon values grounded on some notions of and for the common good, or what is perceived as good and right (the truth) for individual and community action. Learn more in: Historical Perspective of Technoethics in Education

33.

Is simply put about right and wrong. But it is more than that. Deontic ethics is about duty-based actions taken according to principles of duty and rights; utilitarian ethics is on result-based action taken consistent with the consequence and utility doctrines. Judging an action being ethical may refer the gold rule, categorical imperative, virtue ethics, etc. Learn more in: Hexa-Dimension Metric, Ethical Matrix, and Cybersecurity

38.

A system of moral principles; namely, what people ought to do; this specifically focuses on of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Also known as: Ethical principles, ethical systems; similar to: moral principles; associated in the manuscript with: morals, design decisions. Notable appearances of this term can be found on: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7. Learn more in: Ethical Considerations for Learning Game, Simulation, and Virtual World Design and Development

64.

The study of values, of what is more or less important, of the “good,” of behavioral guidelines and norms. Ethics provides frameworks and tools for recognizing and assessing available options and for differentiating between more or less morally justified pathways in any given situation. Ethics is a choice. An individual or group has options available in any given situation while being morally responsible. Learn more in: The Ethics of Strategic Managerial Communication in the Global Context

67.

Refers to moral or correct behavior. When used in its plural form, it means a system of moral or correct conduct, moral principles. In this article, ethic is a countable noun, meaning moral and correct conduct and moral principles. Traditionally, organizations focused on X work ethic, which indicates employees with X work ethic must be controlled, coerced, and forced to work. As more and more organizations buy into humanism, which means employees have unlimited potential for work and learning, organizations begin to look further into Y work ethic, which is more desirable in terms of achieving surplus value in work. Learn more in: The Right Work Ethic for Human Resource Managers

75.

The science, or philosophy, or more modestly, the study of moral conduct. By moral conduct in turn is meant conduct regarded as right or wrong, or as what “ought” or “ought not” to be done; or as involving deliberation and choice between ends viewed as “good”. (Mathews et al 1921, p. 152 AU32: The in-text citation "Mathews et al 1921" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. ). Learn more in: Ethical Theories and Computer Ethics

79.

The area of philosophy known as ethics, or moral philosophy, “involves systematising, defending, and endorsing conceptions of good and bad action.”. Ethics, like aesthetics, is concerned with considerations of worth; together, these subjects make up the area of philosophy known as axiology. Good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime are all terms used in ethics to define ideas such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime. Learn more in: Open Access: A New Ecosystem of Research Publications

86.

Moral philosophy. The study of ethics constitutes a rescue of the very old academic tradition of economy which goes back at least to Aristotle that, justly affirmed that politics (including economics) legislates as to what we are to do and what we are to abstain from, and that the end of this science must include those of the others, so that this end must be good for man. In this order of ideas, the ethics has two central issues, namely: First, the question about human motivations and behaviors: “How should one live?” and; Second, the complex judgment of social achievement (the god for man, and the god for nature). The ethics, help us to overcome the next main difficulties of moral values and morality, namely: a) there is not a definitive and perfect set of moral values and an absolute and true guidance of morality; b) moral values and morality are circumscribed to cultural traditions and, moreover, they are dependent of the status quo (interest and power) of persons; c) there is not an universal agreement about the best moral values and about the better guidance of morality. Learn more in: Turbulent Peace, Power, and Ethics

96.

Very often ethics is recognized as a branch of philosophy. Ethics is often defined as a system so moral principles, which standard and concepts defined, systemized and recommend concepts of right or wrong behavior. Learn more in: Ethical Issues of Qualitative Research

109.

Ethics concerns itself with moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity. Simply put, ethics is a system of moral principles which affect how people make decisions and lead their lives. It is principally concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. Learn more in: Ethico-Phenomenological Appraisal of Religion and Development in Africa

What are moral principles and values that govern the action and decisions of an individual or group?

Ethics are the moral principles and values that govern the actions and decisions of an individualor group. They serve as guidelines on how to act rightly and justly when faced with moral dilemmas.

What are moral principles and values?

Moral principles are guidelines that people live by to make sure they are doing the right thing. These include things like honesty, fairness, and equality. Moral principles can be different for everyone because they depend on how a person was raised and what is important to them in life.

What are moral principles called?

the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group. synonyms: ethic, value orientation, value-system. types: Chartism.

Are the principles and values that govern conduct of an individual or group?

So, morals are the principles that guide individual conduct within society.