• Business
  • Finance
  • Banking
  • Education
  • General
  • Law
  • Science
  • IT
  • English

Key Differences

Know the Differences & Comparisons

Difference Between Morals and Ethics

Morals Vs EthicsWe greatly encounter moral and ethical issues, in our day to day life. Perhaps, these two defines a personality, attitude, and behavior of a person. The word Morals is derived from a Greek word “Mos” which means custom. On the other hand, if we talk about Ethics, it is also derived from a Greek word “Ethikos” which means character. Put simply, morals are the customs established by group of individuals whereas ethics defines the character of an individual.

While morals are concerned with principles of right and wrong, ethics are related to right and wrong conduct of an individual in a particular sitution. Many use the two terms as synonyms, but there are slight and subtle differences between morals and ethis, which are described in the article below.

Content: Morals Vs Ethics

  1. Comparison Chart
  2. Definition
  3. Key Differences
  4. Video
  5. Examples
  6. Conclusion

Comparison Chart

Basis for ComparisonMoralsEthics
MeaningMorals are the beliefs of the individual or group as to what is right or wrong.Ethics are the guiding principles which help the individual or group to decide what is good or bad.
What is it?General principles set by groupResponse to a specific situation
Root wordMos which means customEthikos which means character
Governed BySocial and cultural normsIndividual or Legal and Professional norms
Deals withPrinciples of right and wrongRight and wrong conduct
Applicability in BusinessNoYes
ConsistencyMorals may differ from society to society and culture to culture.Ethics are generally uniform.
ExpressionMorals are expressed in the form of general rules and statements.Ethics are abstract.
Freedom to think and chooseNoYes

Definition of Morals

Morals are the social, cultural and religious beliefs or values of an individual or group which tells us what is right or wrong. They are the rules and standards made by the society or culture which is to be followed by us while deciding what is right. Some moral principles are:

  • Do not cheat
  • Be loyal
  • Be patient
  • Always tell the truth
  • Be generous

Morals refer to the beliefs what is not objectively right, but what is considered right for any situation, so it can be said that what is morally correct may not be objectively correct.

Definition of Ethics

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the principles of conduct of an individual or group. It works as a guiding principle as to decide what is good or bad. They are the standards which govern the life of a person. Ethics is also known as moral philosophy. Some ethical principles are:

  • Truthfulness
  • Honesty
  • Loyalty
  • Respect
  • Fairness
  • Integrity

Key Differences Between Morals and Ethics

The major differences between Morals and Ethics are as under:

  1. Morals deal with what is ‘right or wrong’. Ethics deals with what is ‘good or evil’.
  2. Morals are general guidelines framed by the society E.g. We should speak truth. Conversely, ethics are a response to a particular situation, E.g. Is it ethical to state the truth in a particular situation?
  3. The term morals is derived from a Greek word ‘mos’ which refers to custom and the customs are determined by group of individuals or some authority. On the other hand, ethics is originated from Greek word ‘ethikos’ which refers to character and character is an attribute.
  4. Morals are dictated by society, culture or religion while Ethics are chosen by the person himself which governs his life.
  5. Morals  are concerned with principles of right and wrong. On the contrary, ethics stresses on right and wrong conduct.
  6. As morals are framed and designed by the group, there is no option to think and choose; the individual can either accept or reject. Conversely, the people are free to think and choose the principles of his life in ethics.
  7. Morals may vary from society to society and culture to culture. As opposed to Ethics, which remains same regardless of any culture, religion or society.
  8. Morals do not have any applicability to business, whereas Ethics is widely applicable in the business known as business ethics.
  9. Morals are expressed in the form of statements, but Ethics are not expressed in the form of statements.

Video: Morals Vs Ethics

Examples

  • If the son of a big politician has committed a crime and he uses his powers to free his son from legal consequences. Then this act is immoral because the politician is trying to save a culprit.
  • A very close friend or relative of an interviewer comes for an interview and without asking a single question, he selects him. This act is unethical because the selection process must be transparent and unbiased.
  • A grocer sells adulterated products to his customers to earn more profit. This act is neither moral nor ethical because he is cheating his customers and profession at the same time.

Conclusion

Every single individual has some principles which help him throughout his life to cope up with any adverse situation; they are known as ethics. On the other hand, Morals are not the hard and fast rules or very rigid, but they are the rules which a majority of people considered as right. That is why the people widely accept them. This is all for differentiating Morals from Ethics.

You Might Also Like:

ethics vs valuesDifference Between Ethics and Values law vs ethicsDifference Between Law and Ethics code of ethics vs code of conductDifference Between Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct moral vs moraleDifference Between Moral and Morale personality vs characterDifference Between Personality and Character society vs cultureDifference Between Culture and Society

Comments

  1. Aivee Akther says

    April 7, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    wow,,,,perfect

    Reply
  2. mobi ktk says

    August 28, 2016 at 5:18 pm

    easyly understandable

    Reply
  3. NKWETI Roland TICHA says

    March 4, 2017 at 9:33 pm

    thanks for your clarification.

    Reply
    • Surbhi S says

      March 6, 2017 at 9:47 am

      We really appreciate your views, thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  4. Bhakti says

    July 7, 2017 at 9:12 am

    Thanks for ur help…

    Reply
  5. Ekart Mwankenja says

    July 14, 2017 at 4:40 am

    Thanks

    Reply
  6. Khagendra Thapa says

    August 7, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    Hello:

    Thanks for these clear and very comprehensive explanations. These are the best explanations I found. I really appreciate it.

    Dr. K. Thapa

    Reply
  7. Nathan Laia says

    April 23, 2018 at 8:02 am

    Thanks a lot. This article is very understandable and very helpful. I do appreciate your work

    Reply
  8. Marvin Ekwenugo says

    April 30, 2018 at 4:51 pm

    Thoroughly differentiated. Clarity came off easily.

    Reply
    • Surbhi S says

      May 11, 2018 at 3:28 pm

      Thank you all we really value your views, it means a lot to us and motivates us to do even better in future. Keep reading 🙂

      Reply
  9. Silky says

    May 16, 2018 at 2:38 am

    Ty …ur answer is good

    Reply
  10. sneha yadav says

    September 8, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    wow ….great explanation…through examples it is more clear.

    Reply
  11. ebram says

    November 9, 2018 at 12:01 pm

    Thanks for your simple explanations. That’s good

    Reply
  12. mk says

    December 11, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    keep it up! medium acts like a good teacher!

    Reply
  13. Seán Easton says

    January 19, 2019 at 1:32 pm

    A very helpful and practical presentation of the concepts.

    Reply
  14. Nim says

    March 31, 2019 at 12:11 pm

    Clearly explained with very good examples. Thank you for sharing this much of an excellent explanation. well done! Keep it up!

    Reply
  15. Praja says

    April 12, 2019 at 11:24 am

    Thanks for the great explanation.

    Reply
  16. Kelly Kapelembi says

    May 2, 2019 at 11:31 am

    Wow, so easy to understand. Excellent piece of writing with good and practical examples.

    Reply
  17. saurav says

    July 19, 2019 at 4:04 pm

    good work and and easily understandable

    Reply
  18. DR.KATYETYE says

    August 22, 2019 at 9:21 pm

    simple but rigid information
    well done!!!!!

    Reply
  19. Simisola Omotoso says

    June 16, 2020 at 5:51 am

    This pretty much cleared the two concepts for me. Thank you!

    Reply
  20. Nouman aslam says

    December 7, 2020 at 2:07 pm

    great job, well define, easily understandable, thank you very much!

    Reply
  21. JAMES LIIMAN JABONG says

    February 8, 2021 at 8:34 pm

    wow! so comprehensible, I must say that it really helps me to draw a clear line of dichotomy between the two concepts. God bless you for sharing your knowledge on that.

    Reply
  22. Linda says

    March 6, 2021 at 9:07 pm

    Thank you for a very helpful and informative article.

    Reply
    • Boitumelo Morokeng says

      October 14, 2021 at 12:56 pm

      Thank you for a very helpful article it helped me on my assignment. Thanks again

      Reply
  23. Chi says

    October 23, 2021 at 12:53 pm

    Thank you so much.

    Reply
  24. Charles says

    August 10, 2022 at 6:35 am

    I enjoyed reading this article. Thank you for sharing this valuable information with us. Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading more of your posts

    Reply
  25. Thomas says

    August 10, 2022 at 6:41 am

    thanka a lot.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top 5 Differences

  • Difference Between PERT and CPM
  • Difference Between Micro and Macro Economics
  • Difference Between Developed Countries and Developing Countries
  • Difference Between Management and Administration
  • Difference Between Qualitative and Quantitative Research



New Additions

  • Difference Between Deforestation, Reforestation and Afforestation
  • Difference Between Race and Ethnicity
  • Difference Between Customer Service and Customer Experience
  • Difference Between Human Capital and Human Development
  • Difference Between Systems Approach and Contingency Approach
  • Difference Between Industrial Relations and Employee Relations
  • Difference Between Introduction and Executive Summary
  • Difference Between Programmed and Non-programmed Decisions
  • Difference Between Depreciation and Devaluation of Currency
  • Difference Between Consumer Market and Business Market

Categories

  • Banking
  • Business
  • Education
  • English
  • Finance
  • General
  • IT
  • Law
  • Science
fb-follow youtube follow

Copyright © 2025 · Key Differences · Contact Us · About Us · Privacy