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Ethics and Moral

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John C Posted: Sun, Jul 1 2012 7:50 PM

A libertarian told me that ethics comes early, after comes the morality. What is not ethic is immoral, but what is immoral can be ethic. For example: prostitution is immoral, but use the state to forbid this practice, is not ethic, therefore, forbid is not moral. Explain better...

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I think I get what you are saying, but I I am not fluent in broken English.

Morals are for you as a person.  Ethics are for society.

It is an ethical decision to ban prostitution, but a moral one to decide to be a John.

Murder isn't moral, but a right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence is ethical.  I'm sure the cymini sectores on here will "correct" me and provide more in depth definitions.

"The Fed does not make predictions. It makes forecasts..." - Mustang19
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Clayton replied on Sun, Jul 1 2012 9:57 PM

There are too many overlapping usages of these words to make a meaningful distinction between them. "Moral" tends to be used in a more religious or deontological sense and "ethical" tends to be used in a more academic or consequentialist sense but the usage is not consistent enough to actually draw a line.

We can absolutely distinguish between "right and wrong" as it pertains to individual welfare (pretty much synonymous with individualist consequentialism, that is, seeking one's own highest good) and "right and wrong" as it pertains to social norms. The former vary from individual and the latter vary from place to place and time to time but do not vary from individual to individual at a given place and time.

Confusion abounds on this subject because the powers that be benefit immensely from widespread confusion about morality (or ethics or whatever you want to call it).

Clayton -

http://voluntaryistreader.wordpress.com
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John C replied on Sun, Jul 1 2012 10:51 PM

My question was not good elaborated. A libertarian told me that "before the moral, comes the ethics. What is unethical is immoral. After the ethics comes the moral. Ethical things can be considered immoral, like prostitution, promiscuity, etc". I did not understand. Explain me.

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This is pretty hard to follow.

It may be best if you just typed your question out in your primary language and hope that someone can answer the question.

Anyway this is a decent enough superficial answer from wikipedia, that is taken from the Cambridge dictionary of philosophy:

 

 

Ethics (also known as moral philosophy) is that branch of philosophy which addresses questions about morality. The word 'ethics' is "commonly used interchangeably with 'morality' ... and sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition, group, or individual."[6] Likewise, certain types of ethical theories, especially deontological ethics, sometimes distinguish between 'ethics' and 'morals': "Although the morality of people and their ethics amounts to the same thing, there is a usage that restricts morality to systems such as that of Kant, based on notions such as duty, obligation, and principles of conduct, reserving ethics for the more Aristotelian approach to practical reasoning, based on the notion of a virtue, and generally avoiding the separation of 'moral' considerations from other practical considerations."[7

 

That stated, and to throw in my 2 cents: etymologically speaking they are two different roots and outlooks. one is Greek, one Latin.  A more consistant etymological / cultural (or to help illustrate - customary / ethos) line would be to compare the Hellenistic concept of Arete to the Hellenistic concept of Ethos.

 

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"As in a kaleidoscope, the constellation of forces operating in the system as a whole is ever changing." - Ludwig Lachmann

"When A Man Dies A World Goes Out of Existence"  - GLS Shackle

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