Ethics and moral These are two concepts that we often use as if they were interchangeable, but in reality they have distinct meanings. Both concern the way we evaluate what is right or wrong, and influence our daily decisions. The difference lies in the point of view: the ethics concerns theTheoretical analysis of principleswhile morality refers to practical rules and shared in a specific company. In this article we understand better the nuances of these two concepts and because it is important to understand the difference in the historical context in which we are experiencing.
Origin of the word ethics: what it is and what it means
When we talk about ethicswe enter the context of philosophy, reflecting on the human being: ethics deals with what makes human actions “good”, right, worthy, and does it by wondering about criteria that can guide personal and collective choices.
Since ancient Greece, where the term ethos He indicated an individual’s character, habits and lifestyle, and asked a fundamental question: What does it mean to act “Well“? What are the principles that distinguish good from evil, the right from the unjust? Over the centuries, philosophers like Aristotlewith its ethics of the virtues founded onbalance and the pursuit of happiness (eudaimonia), Kant with the idea that morality resides in reason and in free will, Nietzsche with his criticism of traditional moral valuesAnd Rawls with his theory of justice as equitythey tried to answer these questions, offering visions even very distant from each other, but never came to a common vision on the matter.
It therefore appears that theethics is not an immutable set of rules valid for everyone and foreverbut a dynamic comparison field, continuous research, capable of evolving together with societies and challenges they face. In a world marked by very rapid technological changes, environmental crisis and global cultural transformations, theethics decline In increasingly specific and applied forms: let’s think aboutenvironmental ethicswhich reflects on our relationship with nature and other living species; at the bioethicswhich deals with the dilemmas related to medicine, genetics and in order to life; or again atethics of artificial intelligencewhich forces us to reflect on how much to delegate to machines and on what principles to program them.
Ethics, in all these joints, does not always tell us which way to take, but it does us stop reflecting e to choose with greater awareness.
Origin of the moral word, the compass of costumes
The term moral derives from the Latin mos, moriswhich means “costume”, “habit”, and therefore recalls everything that a community considers appropriate and in accordance with their shared values. Moral is a complex universe that It embraces religious beliefs, implicit rules, family codes, oral traditions and internalized laws who often operate unconsciously, and it is the voice that accompanies us when we have to decide, that he praises or reproaches us, that makes us feel in peace or guilty.
Moral, which is transmitted to human beings through theeducationtheexperiencetheimitation and the cultural contexthe left traces of himself everywhere: in the sacred and religious texts, in the laws, in the fairy tales for children, in popular proverbs, in the said handed down of generation in generation, in films, songs and even in advertising.
To put it in allegorical terms, it is the Costume compass and the spirit: helps us to orient ourselves in the complexity of social life, defines us as members of a community and allows us to enter into relationship with others through a common language of shared values. But it can also transform or be questionedespecially in periods of historical change in which traditional certainties are confronted with new sensitivity and new requests for rights.
Ethics and moral, two sides of the same medal between theory and practicality
Often used as synonyms, the concepts of ethics and morals share common roots and purposes: both ask themselves how we should behave and why; both deal with human virtues, distinguishing between what is good and what is badand find application in public and private contexts.
However, some shades distinguish them: theethics it is more theoretical and philosophicaland tries to build valid models of behavior in principle; there moralInstead, it is more concrete and linked to costume: varies in times, places and cultures. In other words, Ethics reason and morality actsbut in daily reality, the two intertwine so strictly that separating them completely is almost impossible: are the two sides of the same question that has always accompanied us: “How can we live correctly?”
In a rapidly change world, in which artificial intelligence and new technologies increasingly affect our lives, ethical and moral principles become essential tools for orient individual and collective choicesensuring that progress does not translate into inequalities or injustices.
