What's the difference between morality and ethics?
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Anonymous2010-07-26 6:57
Morality is setting aside self-interest when making decisions.
Ethics is making decisions that are mutually beneficial.
Equilaterally, morality and ethics are not compatible.
Morality specifically entails taking self-interest/self-gain out of the decision making process while ethics is about making sure both the other person AND you gain equally from the decision.
However, with morality as a primary motivation or intention, morality itself becomes the means to acquire an ethical decision. You gain, but that wasn't your primary intention, which of the whole was your visualized goal.
The way in which this works can be understood by its antithesis.
How many times have you heard the excuse "That wasn't my intention!"? The setting is that the intended reaction would be favorable, yet something unfavorable came of it. The reason isn't because it's backwards, opposite, or what not; the reason is simple...the perspective is askew.
To want a favorable reaction you must perform an unfavorable action. The reason for this has to do with ego-attachments, comfort-zones, and resisting change. The reason this works isn't because of morality, yet its methodology leads towards morality. This process deals specifically with understanding and using the ego towards your benefit. If you think "favorable" you are most likely going to think something favorable to yourself...considering that's where you are going to derive most forms of interest. When you begin this, it will feel wrong to you. Good. That means it's working right. You see, the purpose for morality isn't to do what's best for others, the purpose for morality is that you do right by others in order that you receive more of the same in return. This process becomes cyclic and grows at an ever-increasing rate in any populace.
Besides having to deal with yourself however, you must also deal with others...ergo their egos. The way to a person's soul is through their ego. If you suggest something vague or obscure it can be interpreted through both ego AND super-ego. One you may know by heart now is, "Just be yourself." You may be yourself out of your ego-wants, or you may also be yourself by choosing morality and setting aside self-interest. Ultimately, "just being yourself" means, "be the person you are by the choices you DO make." It means, you cannot be nor do any wrong. It keeps you from judging yourself, and of ego-repressed compulsions you won't judge others as well.
If you do your homework you'll trace back the virtues we all read and hear about and are told OUGHT to be what we SHOULD do back to the ego and the vicious (vice) situations that arise due to self-interest.
I hope this assists you in understanding a little bit more about morality and how the choosing of it leads towards an ethical society. It means taking a chance and creating a virtuous cycle outside of yourself to the inclusion of others that you don't know will work, but you do it anyway.
If you are ever in doubt, set aside self-interest and begin asking questions by turning what you think or believe is the case INTO questions to be asked. Step outside of your safety zone of knowledge by using your knowledge as the platform to step into the unknown. Whatever is unknown is not known by whom? If so, will the unknown feel familiar? Will the unknown feel safe? Will you want to persevere in something unsafe and unfamiliar? When you grasp that familiarity, knowledge, and safety are realms of the ego you will then have acquired the choice to set aside THAT self-interest and do the moral thing. It's not about what you know, it's about knowing you don't know anything...hence the purpose (which you'll discover for yourself afterward) to find out for yourself.
:/
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Anonymous2010-07-26 16:49
>>1
ethics is the name for morality for people who don't have a good capacity for morality (sociopaths, the powermad, the excessively self-rightious), and need to take a course in "ethics" which is supposed to make them behave in a more moral manner. That's why they invented "business ethics" and shit like that.
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Anonymous2010-07-26 16:53
>>3
In definitions you arent supposed to use the words you are defining :(
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Anonymous2010-07-26 17:04
>>4
I was describing what is ethics in terms of already knowing what is morality, genious, not trying to define the two separately.
>>5
ethics and morality are separate, genius, hence the two separate terms for each...you may wish to scrutinize the details of each before you say one is the same as the other. They are not.
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Anonymous2010-07-27 13:08
>>5
You may want to learn spelling correctly, genius.
>>8
no they aren't: the modern usage of the term ethics is bullshit, as I explained.
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Anonymous2010-07-29 5:20
>>13
You haven't explained anything.
There are morals and then there is moral philosophy of which is aptly named "ethics." Ethics goes beyond morality by studying it in order to decide which is beneficial and which is malevolent...it should however not be confused WITH morality. An individual making a moral decision may or may not be making an ethical one.
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Anonymous2010-07-29 5:36
>>13
Morality says that you should put your trust in another, do right by another even at the cost of your personal safety; ethics disagrees and says you should also benefit equally from the transaction as well as others involved.
Self-preservation is ethical but not moral because "self" it is selfish.
Altruism is moral but not ethical because it means putting yourself in harms way which is not beneficial to self.
Ethics and morality are two tools with which to better understand making decisions...to assert that both are the same in some manner and dismiss either as "bullshit" is a sure sign of a self-righteous indignant opinion that is clearly representative of the ignorance that supports the pre-existing necessity for ethics and morality.
>>15
no it doesn't. there is no one "morality" and there is no one "ethics" that say this or that. after your first sentence, follows stuff you made up.