Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Morals and Ethics...

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Lets first visit the dictionary and see what it says about morals, ethics and the similarity and difference between the two...

Morals: concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character

Ethics: a set of moral principles, esp. ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct

< You can be an ethical person without necessarily being a moral one, since ethical implies conformity with a code of fair and honest behavior, particularly in business or in a profession (: an ethical legislator who didn't believe in cutting deals), while moral refers to generally accepted standards of goodness and rightness in character and conduct—especially sexual conduct (: the moral values she'd learned from her mother).
In the same way, you can be honorable without necessarily being virtuous, since honorable suggests dealing with others in a decent and ethical manner, while virtuous implies the possession of moral excellence in character (: many honorable businesspeople fail to live a virtuous private life). >

So far for the dictionary.
It does bring up an interesting perspective though, as it says that while obeying the law is moral, there may be an even higher ethical standard we can follow, which might be different than what is written in the letter of the law.
For instance, when a law is bend to a use it was never intended for. The law is still followed and therefore what happens may be morally right, yet its intent is lost, which can make the outcome ethically wrong.

Looking around me in the world today, it seems to me that the gap between morals and ethics is growing wider. It seems that the “generally accepted standards of goodness and rightness in character and conduct” are slowly sliding to a lower level as it becomes acceptable to tell the little white lie, the lie by omission ~ as it becomes an accepted practice to manipulate people into the direction you want them to go; and when ‘politics’ are expected to be prevalent in pretty much any meeting with others.
We may view ourselves as honorable people. This implies that we are fair and honest toward others and not in the least to ourselves ~ independent of our role in the situation at hand. The honorable thing to do when you could have done better, is to say so ~ even if you are just telling yourself. Having recognized that there is room for improvement, chances are the next time you will do better! And when you were wrong, especially when someone else has suffered damages because of it ~ the honorable thing to do is to confess and pay the price...

Yet, it seems the moral thing to do is to see how you can get away with it; preferably legally.

And the spiritual perspective?
I would say it in three words: Karma is perfect.
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