The Difference Between Ethical And Moral?

I'm not going to cite specifics, but consider some of the actions that led to the current economic problems.In business, I would consider legality and ethical to be largely but certainly not absolutely equivalent. But many of the recent high finance actions, while legal and thus at least sort of ethical, were certainly acts of gross greed and disregard of the larger implications, and thus were immoral acts.MooseEdited by Minnemooseus, : Fix an "an" into an "and". Need to proofread more carefully when I preview. Upon further preview, also changed "lead" to "led" in first sentence

I think there are situations where an act can be both highly unethical and also highly moral.The first example I will call the Robin Hood syndrome - Steal from the rich to give to the poor. A manager steals from a filthy rich client and gives the theft to poor and maybe even starving people.The second example - Client confidentiality issues. A psychologist or priest hears a confession from a man, that he is a serial rapist. The psychologist or priest tips off the police about this man.Both cases, IMO, highly unethical but highly moral.MooseAdded by edit, concerning the second example: I do not think the tip off should be the basis for an arrest and prosecution. The tipper should not be a formal witness for the prosecution, and I suspect that a such derived confession would be rejected by the court. It could, however, be useful in leading to further investigation that could result in an arrest and prosecution.Edited by Minnemooseus, : See above.

Psychologist vs. psychiatrist - Yes, I knew which is the medical doctor and I did mean to use psychiatrist. The brain said psychiatrist and the fingers typed psychologist. D'oh. I would call it moral considerations overriding professional ethics. Maybe that's a definition for "higher code of ethics".I cited a serial rapist as being an extreme criminal offender. Certainly, a very minor criminal offense doesn't justify overriding professional ethics. Where the minor/serious enough dividing line falls is a gray area.MooseEdited by Minnemooseus, : Was it a typo or was it a misspelling? I'm calling it a typo.