INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS

Since men have lived in community, the

moral regulation of conduct has been necessary for the
collective well-being. Although the different moral systems
they established on arbitrary points of conduct, they evolved
sometimes in an irrational way, based on the violation of the
religious or behavioral taboos that were first habits and
then custom, or likewise of laws imposed by leaders
to prevent imbalances within the tribe.

The term moral also tells us how we should

to behave in a way that acting in a certain manner
form and according to a certain moral code we will give
a certain personality or way of being in our life.
According to our customs and behaviors, we shape
our life and we acquire our own and particular way of
being. That character or way of being is acquired through a
series of habits and customs.

In the past, it was believed that the two terms

they were equivalent but today it is considered that morality designates a
code of prescriptions or prohibitions accepted by a
social group or established by a moralist. The word ethics is
a more technical expression within Philosophy and gives rise to
a system of philosophical principles that are the foundation of a
prescriptive code.
ETHICS AND MORALITY

These two terms come from one from Greek and the other from
Latin, but they have the same original meaning.
 Ethics: (from Greek, ethika, deethos, 'behavior',
'custom'), principles or guidelines of human behavior, to
moral, improperly called (from Latin, mores)
'custom') and by extension, the study of those principles to
sometimes called moral philosophy. Ethics, as a branch of
philosophy is considered a normative science because
It deals with the norms of human conduct.

Sometimes the chosen principles have no

specified its ultimate value, in the belief that such
determination is impossible. That ethical philosophy equates the
satisfaction in life with prudence, pleasure or power, but it
first of all deduce from the belief in the ethical doctrine of the
Human natural realization as the ultimate good.

Those who seek power may not accept the rules.

ethics marked by custom and, on the other hand, conform
other norms and abide by other criteria that help them
achieve victory. They may try to convince others to
what is moral in the accepted sense of the term, for
mask their desires to gain power and have the
habitual reward of morality.

Moral. It studies customs within society and the

culture and explains why norms are followed.

Values. The way a person is appreciated,

thing or situation and are hierarchical. They are part of the
objects, actions, and attitudes that the human being pursues for
consider them valuable. Within this category are: The
health, wealth, power, love, virtue, beauty,
intelligence, culture, etc. In short, everything that in a
moment, we desire or appreciate.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETHICS AND MORAL

Ethics is the philosophical and scientific study of morality.

It is theoretical while morality is practical. The two are
they refer to norms of behavior. An important point
within ethics, it is the conscience, which we can define as
in the following way: "it is to see reality in an objective way,"
explain, make sense of, and justify what I like and what I don't.
Many times we refer to conscience as the 'Jiminy Cricket.'
what tells us what is good and what is bad, but in this case not
we know what is good and what is bad, because for a person
an act can be good for one and not for another, and that is why in the
definition is based on what I like or do not like.

With the term moral we usually refer to what has

what to see with a set of rules related to behavior or
behavior of men and what they prescribe and codify
this behavior, thus we talk about a moral code.
Moral also means the determined behavior of a
individual or of an entire society in relation to a certain
code. The term moral refers to behavior in which
consists of our life. This behavior is made up of
habits, acts, and customs.

Ethics is based on reason and depends on philosophy.

Morality is supported by customs, and it is formed by a
set of normative elements that society accepts
as valid. Morality has as its main element the
Religion insofar as ethics has as its only authority the
judgment of reason and wants us to reaffirm beliefs. To
at the same time studies theories about good and evil, the
moral and values, and has an end that is 'the good life' and this
it tells us that everyone chooses how to live. The good life is not
more than being satisfied with oneself and with what
we have, is to be happy and complete.

Ethical and Moral Suggestions for Conducting Research

Any research or experimentation carried out between

Human beings must be done according to three ethical principles.
basic principles, namely, respect for people, in the pursuit of good
and justice. It is generally agreed that these
principles, which in theory have equal moral strength, are those that
they guide the thorough preparation of the protocols to carry out
carry out scientific studies. Under various circumstances, they can
express oneself differently and also evaluate oneself in form
different from a moral point of view, and its application can
give rise to different decisions or courses of action. The guidelines
presents are oriented towards the application of those principles in
the research work of human beings.

Respect for people incorporates at least two

fundamental ethical considerations,

The respect for autonomy, which demands that those who have the
ability to carefully consider the pros and cons of
Their decisions should be treated with due respect for their
capacity for self-determination, and
The protection of individuals with diminished autonomy,
that requires those who are dependent or vulnerable
receive protection against damage or abuse.

The pursuit of good refers to the ethical obligation to

achieve the maximum benefits and minimize the harm
and the mistake. This principle gives rise to rules that
they stipulate that the risks of the research are reasonable
against the expected benefits, that the design of the
the research is accurate and that the researchers are
competent to carry out the research and to safeguard
the well-being of the people who participate in it. The
the search for good also means condemning every act in which
deliberately inflict harm on people; this aspect
the search for good is sometimes expressed as a principle
different, harm (not causing damage).

This search for good comes hand in hand with justice.

for example in a company that manufactures protectors
for the skin against the sun, this seeks protection and a
minimum damage but if on this occasion it is discovered that this
protector over time causes cancer here one makes a
irreversible damage and it could be the case that the company still
knowing about this damage continues to sell their product this is
immoral but their ethics allow them to continue selling, this is
possibly cause of sanction and conviction due to the damage that
is being caused to people.

Justice refers to the ethical obligation to treat each

person according to what is morally right and
appropriate, to give each person what is due to them. It
they must establish special provisions for the protection of
the rights and well-being of vulnerable individuals.

For example, in a will by law, the legal wife receives

50% of the inheritance corresponds to it and the remaining 50% is divided among
the other beneficiaries, both for ethical and moral reasons the judge
must deliver this to the widow, because it is her rights and it is
for their well-being and so they can lead a dignified life and
this is about morality, living a dignified life and being satisfied
with oneself.
 The ethics in research speaks to us about complying with
our work leaving our values a little aside and
customs in a few words our morality, because it can
in the case that some product or some service that
we have to harm humanity but because it is
our work and our duty as professionals is to fulfill it
and to do it with the greatest possible precision we must forget
for a moment our beliefs and education. But it
They can give cases where our morality can outweigh our...
professional ethics to do our work or research.
As is usually the case with euthanasia, our ethics
professionally it would be to give a dignified death, but our morality
it would not allow us to kill someone if they are still alive.

A clear example is that one time at a hospital

two people arrived, a police officer and a criminal, the police officer
I found him stable but somewhat bruised while the
the delinquent was injured and in critical condition, which
what the doctor did was save the police officer's life, his job was not
ethical although it should have been since a doctor must save the
the life of the one who needs it the most and let himself be guided by his morals already
what he thought about how he was going to save the life of a good-for-nothing.

Ethics and morality for research are given

primarily in the field of medicine, because it
needs to discern our moral principles and the principles
ethical. The creation of ethical standards that regulate the
clinical research is fundamental to addressing the serious
problem of helplessness in which we find ourselves
population in this area. Furthermore, they can provide to the
researchers and institutions an ethical guidance and a
ordering of technical requirements that allows them to comply
cabalmente with his interest in helping society through the
advancement of science.

However, the ethical regulation of research

scientific research in human beings also implies a commitment to
the authorities responsible for the welfare of the population,
to give legal body to these provisions that -otherwise-
they will only exist as "ethical recommendations." They cannot be
to give moral recommendations because each person
we are different and everyone has their beliefs defined
moral principles.

For research in general, I believe that it should be

take the same considerations as if it were for the
clinical research, because to do a good one
investigation needs to have respect, otherwise, we will not get there
nowhere, security must be ensured, give truthfulness to everything
what we propose and this falls within the respect for the
persons, an ethical principle will not always agree with
the morale due to the difference between the professional and the human
that is why a series of errors occur in the research,
because by following the moral we forget a little of what
It is to do good research.

In conclusion of all the above, it can be stated that:

Ethics studies human actions, it is related to the

profession and with the "it must be like this" and has a justification of
why it is done that way and from here depend the
professional decisions we make.

Morality studies the customs of society or

culture; these are personal and not justifiable because they are
They do it from each person's point of view and at the same time the
we can classify as immoral everything that is the opposite of it
moral, which is the opposite of moral, and amoral which is not
it is more than the annulment of morality or the non-application of the
moral or being neutral in some cases. An example of amoral.
it is art.

I. WHAT IS ETHICS

ORIGIN. The oldest meaning of ethics (of origin

Greek) resided in the concept of the dwelling or place where
inhabits; then referred to man or peoples it was applied in the
sense of their country, with the definition gaining special prestige
used by Heidegger: "it is the thinking that affirms the dwelling of
"man", that is, its original reference, built from within
from the intimate complicity of the soul. In other words, it is no longer
it was about an outer place, but about the place that man carries
himself. 'The^ethoses is the firm ground, the foundation of the
praxis, the root from which all human acts spring.

The word 'ethos', however, has a much broader meaning.

broader than that given to the word ethics. The ethical
understand the disposition of man in life, his character,
custom and morality. We could translate it as "the way or
"way of life" in the deep sense of its meaning.

Ethospor, for its part, means character, but not in the

sense of disposition but in the sense 'in the manner acquired by
habit." Ethos derives from éthos which means character
is achieved through habit and not by nature. These habits
are born "from the repetition of the same acts", in other words, the
Habits are the intrinsic principle of acts.

In the conceptual field of ethics, we have a circle

correlated between ethos - habits - actions. In fact, if
ethos is the character acquired by habit, and habit is born
by repetition of the same acts, through the
habit 'source of actions' as it will be the character, obtained (or
that we come to possess -hexis) through the repetition of identical acts
converted from habit, that which we coin in the soul.

Throughout his life, man performs acts.

repetition of acts generates 'acts and habits' and determines
also the 'attitudes'. In this way, man, living,
is making itself. Character as personality is a work.
of man, it is his moral task, it is how he will 'turn out'
moral character for his entire life...

We can approach the conceptualization of the

the word "moral" (originating from Latin) as the acquisition of
"Way of Being achieved through appropriation", or by levels of
appropriation, where feelings are found,
customs and character.

The moral character or personality, as a result of

actions that one by one man has chosen, is what man
has done for himself or for others. "The man in this
context is created and at the same time is made by others, both
positively as well as negatively.

Ethics (I repeat: of Greek origin) as very well stated

Vidal is the "reality and knowledge that is related to the
responsible behavior where the concept comes into play
of the good or the evil of man.

Ethics flourishes from our values that we

they dictate whether something is right or wrong (correct or incorrect) in an act
human. It becomes more relevant when the act affects a
third.
 Morality (of Latin origin) means the same as ethics
custom
(character/mood), leaving behind their first approach in
that the term mostly referred to "custom."

Ethics is usually employed regarding

philosophical and rational type approaches as such.
The term moral, for its part, is used more in
religious considerations. In the face of the justification of
the behavioral norms we use ethics as
concept. Morality, on the other hand, refers to 'concrete codes of
behavior

Ethics is not a set of rules, nor treaties, nor

laws that we must necessarily obey and comply with, otherwise that
ethics is a harmonious orientation that will help us live the
life. Throughout our existence, we obtain
teachings and lessons about past experiences, these
teachings will influence us in the vision and actions that
In the face of everyday events and death, let us have, it will go to us
help adopt a strategy in the face of death will help us
to suffer happily through life. Our actions in life
they will be influenced by ethics. Ethics thus would be the
study and reflection on past experiences that mark us, thus
ethics itself establishes a conduct to follow in the face of events
that occur daily.

GENERIC HISTORICAL PRINCIPLE

In the beginning, ethics appears subordinated to politics.

(individual ethics and social ethics). Indeed, the Greek man of
the era felt the polis as immediately joined in the
nature. In Aristotle, ethics is part of science
from politics because individual life can only be fulfilled
within the polis (interpreting: what it actually intended
to say that what supports it is the particular good is the common good) and
determined by her; even elevates the polis to the quality of
divine. In Aristotelian doctrine, the goal of ethics and of
politics are identical: Happiness, which as "good
"Self-sufficient" is not one more good among others, nor a component.
of some state of affairs. Happiness is the supreme
justification of man's life.

Plato established that it was the polis and not the individual that
subject of morality, that is to say -he proposed- virtue cannot be
reached by man but the State must guide it
towards moral ends (not through dialectics but by
persuasion.

Kant's ethics is of a radical individualism, for

it does not presume transpersonal demands but seeks the
duty of personal perfection. "It can never be a duty for me
fulfilling the perfection of others." Kant replaces the morality of
well and of happiness through a morality of pure duty and of the
individual consciousness.

For Hegel, subjective spirit, once free from its

linking to natural life is done as an objective spirit
in three moments: Law, since freedom is realized towards
outside; morality, that is, good is realized in the world; and the
ethics, which occurs in three moments: Family,
Society and State, the latter according to him, the subject
supreme of ethics, although he probably intended
to say that the State "is" a subject of ethics, a State of justice,
Ethical state.
 In summary, at the origin, ethics is found
subordinate to politics, both individual and social,
but social ethics is above individual ethics since the
individual ethics opens up to social ethics because it
determine.

THE MATERIAL OBJECT OF ETHICS

The material object of ethics is human acts.

(from the standpoint of the good), free and deliberate, due to
what determines character (the way of being acquired by habit
and therefore determinants of our lives). For such
I refer to acts of man and human acts, but not to the
first cousins, since being caused by natural causes they are
foreign to ethics.

Saint Thomas distinguishes the acts of will regarding the

end - that tend to the end as such - and those concerning the means
those who are by decision of the media, or of advice or
deliberation, complacency or delight or by reason or will.
These acts, however, will be valid when the will
proceed reflectively.

THE HORIZON OF VALUE

Value is defined as that which is desirable,

kind, worthy of approval, admirable or useful for a purpose
determined. The ethics of value has a neo-Kantian root (the
duty as an end in itself) and phenomenological (considering the
moral experience as emotional and material intuition of the
values). As a concept, value always relates to the
a person in terms of what constitutes a good for her in what
refers to the individual person as such and to society
social value or what relates to the person to others
people) since moral value gives the adjective of goodness or
evil. The ethical value, that is to say what relates to the
person in relation to herself, in accordance with being
human, the straight reason, the authentic realization or with the end
the last of the person will depend on what their supreme value is
consider it as a reference within an ethical thought, and
therefore, due to its relativity, ethical thought is
divergent and at times absolute.

Morality belongs to the order of human action.

(praxis) relates to activity as it is produced
by man since human action (according to value
moral) defines man himself. Moral value coincides with the.
determination of what the supreme value is within the order
moral and therefore "from it the objective universe is organized
of morality, for example, legal systems, happiness
as the achievement of the goal, inner harmony, altruism or the
social utility; or what constitutes Christian moral value
like charity, the imitation and following of Christ or the
realization of the kingdom of God.

THEMATICIZATION OF ETHICS

We can talk about the formal object referred to moral good,

that is to say the acts, habits, and ethos regarding good or bad.
The good is what all men desire. Everything that
we do (Aristotle) we do it from a project with views
to an end, that is to say the best in each case, although said end
it should not be done until the end of the process. The ends just like
The media initially start as projects while they are being carried out.
The project is conceived within a reality or about it.
When projecting, one thinks about what is going to be done taking into account...
possible to reality (or to the possible). This is taking shape.
as it is concretizing each 'means' step by step.

For example, if life is a 'permanent task',

we can project what we are going to do. But the execution of
a simple action, even having foreseen all the elements
necessary to execute it, even to the point of imagining its
implementation exactly as we would have conceived,
when then we are faced with a 'chance that does not
we come to understand when we find that reality
it presents its resistances (or facilities) always in greater or
lesser degree of imponderables. It would be utopian to expect to make a
whole life exactly according to an established plan. The
the life project we desire is nothing more than a draft that
through one by one of the acts, it is taking shape, gaining
form and the resistances will determine us as we overcome them or
to bend ourselves by opting for less demanding paths or of the
on the contrary, we became disheartened, remaining defeated in the loss.

Aristotle distinguishes ends and means through his

Classification of goods: those that are always sought after due to
others, goods that are sought for themselves and never for the sake of
others and certain goods that, even when sought, are also
Good. All goods except one can be taken.
as means and ends. Aristotle constructs the ethical system in
I return to the idea of the ultimate end. Human life in terms of
behavior is conceived as a pyramid of ends and
means. The goods that are never sought for themselves but
always found at the base by others, above these
they find, those who could seek themselves
dependent on others, on top of them, those who seek for themselves
the same ones and on top of them there is a good and only one, that
it is never taken as a means, but on the contrary it is the one
for which we have sought all the previous ones. This end would be
at the origin of all our activity guiding it and
directing it. It is the ultimate end and as such the absolute good or
supreme for which all other goods would only be useful
to achieve this last one, which is precisely: happiness.
And since all morality consists of appropriation where the good
morality is a source of appropriate possibilities, said happiness
It would be the ultimate appropriation of our better possibility.

This finalistic conception of estimating the entire life in

exclusive function of the end entails the idea of reducing value of
the acts regarding their relationship of closeness or distance to the end
Happiness is always a possibility already.
appropriate and therefore man is bound to it. There is
multiple and totally diverse possibilities of being happy. These
possibilities are the goods (that is possibilities
For Kant, the ethics of happiness is not acceptable.
because happiness is natural to man and therefore is not
a duty, if not the opposite, is a natural inclination (what is
does it for love, it is beyond duty.

Kant not only rejects the idea of happiness but also in

general the idea of the good and replace the ethics of the good with the
duty ethics. It establishes that 'it is not the concept of the good that...
what determines the moral law and makes it possible, if not to the
on the contrary, it is the moral law that determines the concept of the
good and makes it possible." In his view, good consists of what
what must be done, where moral law is what determines the
concept of good and makes it possible.

Meaning of the word ethics. Surely more than

we have once heard about ethics, judgment, and values
morals, and although the three terms have different
meanings, in some way we can find a relationship
among them. Ethics is undoubtedly what defines great
part of a person's personality, and in it
involve values. But how does man establish that
scale of values that form your ethics? simply through
of judgment and discernment; since we were little, our parents
they are responsible for shaping us as individuals,
to teach us what is 'right' or 'wrong', and from there
we grow by applying our judgment with respect to attitudes and
actions. But to start talking about ethics, it is necessary that
let's technically define what it is; we understand it as
principles and guidelines of human behavior to which,
on occasions, it is referred to as moral.
 Characteristics of ethics. The definition of ethics the
it shows this as a branch of philosophy, it is considered
a normative science as it deals with the norms of the
human behavior distinguishing itself from formal sciences
and empirical. The social empirical sciences clash in
some points with the interests of ethics because both
they study social behavior; the former aim to determine
the relationship between particular ethical principles and conduct
social. Philosophers have tried to study the behavior of the
individuals meticulously and came to the conclusion that
there are good behaviors as well as bad ones; to carry this out
The study was based on two principles, the first involves a
final value and the second is a value used to achieve a
end.

The definition of ethics establishes that there are

four main models of behavior: happiness or
pleasure, duty, virtue and perfection; authority
invoked for good behavior is the will of a deity
or the dominion of reason. When the will of a god is the
authority, it is then where one must obey the
divine commandments and biblical texts; if the model of the
authority is reason, moral behavior will result from
rational thought.

History of ethics

The definition of ethics states that to understand what

the values that currently govern the world, it is necessary to review the
historical events that gave birth to this principle;
since men have lived in community, moral regulation
behavior has been necessary to achieve well-being
collective. Many moral systems evolved in a manner
irrational, although, in any case, they were established on
arbitrary conduct guidelines; they began to be violated the
religious taboos as well as the laws imposed by the leaders
to prevent imbalances.

An example of unsystematized ethics is given by the

classical Egyptian civilization, whose maxims were imposed by
secular leaders like Ptahhotep; in classical China, the
norms imposed by Confucius were accepted as
a moral code. The schools of ethics, for the most part,
they emerged in Greece with the help of Socrates; four of them
were created by immediate disciples: the Cyrenaics,
cynics, Megarians, and the Platonists. The cynics claimed
that the essence of virtue was self-control and that this
the concept could be instilled; they despised pleasure and
they judged all pride as a vice.

The Cyrenaics, for their part, were hedonists and believed that
there was no greater good than pleasure and that this was only
measurable in degree and duration; the Megarians said that
although it could well be called wisdom, God is only one, and that
The Good was the secret of the Universe that can only be revealed.
through a logical study. As we see the definition of
ethics already had some problems with schools
classics, which were the most influential in history; to
this happened to the Christian who introduced the idea that a
person was independent of God and could never reach the
goodness through will or intelligence, but rather
only with the help of God. The first ethical idea
Christianity prevails to this day 'Do unto others what...
you want the other to do for you,” that is, the mandate of love
towards others.

Difference between Ethics and Morality

 It differs in that ethics is the philosophical study and
scientific of morality and is theoretical while morality is
practice. Ethics is about reason and depends on philosophy
and instead, morality is the behavior in which it consists
our life. Etymologically, 'ethics' and 'morality' have the
same meaning. "moral" comes from the Latin "mos" which means
habit or custom; and 'ethics' from the Greek 'ethos' which means
the same.

However, nowadays they have come to mean

different things refer to areas or levels
different. Morality has to do with the practical or level of the
action. Ethics with the theoretical or reflective level.

Morals are the set of principles, criteria, norms and

values that guide our behavior. Morality us
makes us act in a certain way and allows us to know
what we should do in a concrete situation. It's like a
a kind of compass that guides us, tells us which is the way to
to follow, directs our actions in a certain direction. The
The compass shows us the way. In life, we must try not to
lose one's way.

Ethics is the theoretical reflection on morality. Ethics is the

in charge of discussing and substantively reflecting on this
set of principles or norms that constitute our morality.

As a conclusion: morality and ethics raise questions

different. Morality has to do with the practical level of the action and
try to answer the question what should I do?; ethics with
the theoretical level of reflection and tries to answer questions
of the type what is morality? How is reflection applied to the
daily life?
 Let's start doing ethics by answering the first one.
What is morality? To define it, we will define: actions
morals, moral norms, moral values, and moral dilemma.

Difference between ethics and morality

The use of the word ethics and the word moral is subject to
various conventions and that each author, era or
philosophical currents use them in various ways. But for
being able to distinguish will require naming the characteristics of
each of these words as well as their similarities and
differences.
1. Characteristics of morality. Morality is the real fact.
what we find in all societies is a set of
rules to know that are passed down from generation to generation,
they evolve over time and have strong differences
regarding the norms of another society and another time
historical, these rules are used to guide behavior of
the members of that society.
2. Characteristics of ethics. It is the real fact that occurs.
in the mindset of some people, it is a set of
rules to know, principles and reasons that a subject has carried out
and established as a guideline for their own conduct.
3. Similarities and differences between ethics and morality. The
the points of convergence are the following: In both
cases concern norms, perceptions, it must be. Morality is
a set of rules that a society is responsible for
transmitted from generation to generation and ethics is a
set of rules that an individual has clarified and adopted in
his own mentality.
Now the points in which they differ are the following:
Morality has a social basis, it is a set of norms.
established within a society and as such, exercises a
very powerful influence on the behavior of each of its
members. In contrast, ethics arises as such in the
the interiority of a person, as a result of their own
reflection and their own choice. A second difference is that
Morality is a set of norms that act on behavior.
from the outside or from the unconscious. In contrast, ethics
influences the behavior of a person but from within themselves
awareness and will. A third difference is character
axiological aspect of ethics. In moral norms, the aspect prevails.
prescriptive, legal, mandatory, tax, coercive and
punitive. That is to say, in moral norms, the pressure of
value captured and appreciated internally as such. The
the foundation of the ethical norm is value, not imposed value
from the outside, but rather the one discovered internally in the
reflection of a subject. From the above we can say there exist
three levels of distinction.
The first level is in morality: in the norms whose
origin is external and has an imposing action on the
subject's mentality.
2. The second is conceptual ethics, which is the set of
of norms that have an internal origin in the mentality of a
subject, they may or may not coincide with the received morality, but their
its greatest characteristic is its internal, personal, autonomous character
and fundamental.
The third is the one of axiological ethics which is a
set of rules originating from a person as a result of their
reflection on values.

Ethics and morality, from the etymology

The word ethics comes from the Greek ethos and meant,
primarily, stay, place where one inhabits.
Later, Aristotle refined this meaning and, based on it,
it meant way of being, character. Thus, ethics was like a
a kind of second home or nature; a second
acquired nature, not inherited as is nature
biological. From this conception it follows that a person
You can shape, forge, or build your way of being or ethos.

How is this ethos acquired or shaped, in this way?

to be? The man builds it through the creation of
habits, habits that are achieved through the repetition of acts.
The character of a person would be shaped by a
set of habits; and, as if it were a circle or a wheel,
ethos or character, made up of habits, leads us in
to carry out certain acts, acts that come from
our way of being acquired.

We build our way of being orêthos.

The word moral translates the Latin expression moralis, which derived
demos (in plural) meant custom. With the
moral word, the Romans embraced the Greek meaning of
ethos: thecustoms are also achieved from a
repetition of acts. Despite this deep kinship, the
moralist word came to apply to specific norms that
they must govern the actions.

Thus, from the etymology, there is little difference between

Ethics and morality: both refer to a reality.
similar. But today, despite being often used in a way
indistinct as if they were synonyms, it is recognized that they have
divergent meanings.

Ethics and morality, today: two different levels

As ancient as humanity itself is the interest in

regular, through norms or codes, the concrete actions
of humans; in all communities, in all
towns, societies or cultures find prescriptions and
prohibitions that define your morals.

In every community, even in the crew of a

pirate ship, there are mandatory actions and prohibited actions,
laudable actions and reprehensible actions. A pirate has to
show values in combat and justice in the distribution of loot;
if he doesn't do it this way, he's not a 'good' pirate. When a man
belongs to a larger community, the scope of its
obligations and prohibitions become greater; there is always
a code to which one must conform under penalty of dishonor
public. Bertrand Russell Human Society: Ethics and Politics

Now, alongside the birth of philosophy appeared

another kind of interest, the right to reflect on the rules or
existing codes, comparing them or looking for their
foundation. These two differentiated levels of interest or of
human activity constitutes what we know today,
respectively, pormoralyética. Let's see.

Moral: norms that regulate our actions

Ethics is a set of judgments related to good and

the bad, destined to direct the behavior of humans. These
Judgments are expressed in norms of behavior that,
acquired by each individual, regulate their actions, their practice
daily. Now, neither the norms nor moral codes do
they proclaim as the traffic code, nor each person
assume or automatically incorporate the set of
prescriptions and prohibitions of their society, nor each society
or culture formulates the same judgments about good and evil.
It is for all these reasons that morality is often a set of
questions and answers about what we should do
we want to live a human life, that is to say, a life not with
impositions but with freedom and responsibility.

Ethics, on the other hand, is a reflection on morality.

Ethics, as the philosophy of morality, is found at a level
different: one wonders why we consider some valid and
no other behaviors; compare the moral patterns that
different people or societies seeking their
foundation and legitimation; investigate what it is specifically
moral behavior; enunciate general principles or
universal inspiring of all behavior; theories that
establish and justify that for which it is worth it
to live.

Ethics: Why these norms?

Moral guidelines for everyday life, ethics is a

study or reflection on what originates and justifies these guidelines.
But the two, although distinguishable, are complementary.
Similarly, theory and practice interact.
ethical principles regulate moral behavior but this
behavior affects by altering the same principles. A
the conflicts of moral norms that arise
when we have to make decisions they are the engine that drives us
it encourages a reflection of an ethical level. That is why
Aranguren, recognizing the connection between theory and practice,
call it ethical thought and to morality, lived morality.

We are at a moral level. We are at an ethical level

when when
I fulfill a promise made. We reason that the pacts
yesterday even though today I give myself they
must always comply, of
opposite, instead of
bill of what the agreements between friends,
compliance me create
we would have what to do
problems.
legal contracts.
I wonder about what she has.
I voluntarily help with a greater moral value, the intention
classmate who inspires an act or the
I risk hurting his pride. results that with him are
they obtain.
I decide whether I have to be or not. I reflect on values,
sincere with a colleague asking me if the value of
class that seems to want to be authenticity is preferable the
my friend. value of friendship.
I am aware of the maxim or
I refuse to steal the calculator
Golden rule: "Do not do to others...
from a classmate
the rest that you don't want
knowing that no one sees me.
they do to you.