Skip navigation.

ethics - What does it mean?

Definition of 'ethics'

English

(wikipedia)

Noun

(-)
  • (philosophy) The study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct.
  • Morality.
  • The standards that govern the conduct of a person, especially a member of a profession.
  • Usage notes

    * Although the terms ethics'' and ''morality'' may sometimes be used interchangeably, philosophical ethicists often distinguish them, using ''ethics'' to refer to theories and conceptual studies relating to good and evil and right and wrong, and using ''morality'' and its related terms to refer to actual, real-world beliefs and practices concerning proper conduct. In this vein, the American philosopher , ed., ''The Philosophy of Brand Blanshard , Library of Living Philosophers, ISBN 0875483496, "Autobiography", p. 85. * In particular, in general usage ethical'' is used to describe standards of behavior between individuals, while ''moral'' or ''immoral can describe any behavior. You can call lying unethical or immoral, for example, because it involves the behavior of one person and how it affects another, but violating dietary prohibitions in a holy text would be described as immoral.

    Synonyms

    * moral philosophy

    Derived terms

    * applied ethics * bioethics * business ethics * comparative ethics * descriptive ethics * environmental ethics (rel-mid) * ethicist * medical ethics * metaethics * normative ethics * situational ethics (rel-bottom)

    See also

    * aretaics

    References

    Anagrams

    *

    Similar to 'ethics'

    ethos, eddies, eyots, etuis, etwees, eyets, eddos, eidos, eddoes