The Difference Between Ethical And Moral?

I don't think that that's how the words are used (which is what they mean).If your friend said to a hundred people "John Smith is ethical but not moral" would even one of them know what he meant?Now if he said "John Smith is immoral but not amoral" then this would actually describe the position of the man who "would know adultery is wrong, but would go ahead and cheat on his wife anyway"."Ethical" doesn't cut it. For example Collin's dictionary defines it as "in accordance with principles of conduct that are considered correct". How would that cover adultery?

I have tended to use the two terms interchangeably. (In fact I was doing so just yesterday.)The only real difference is that "morality" has slightly more of a religious connotation. But only slightly, there's not much in it.To demonstrate this, here's some hit numbers from Google:"Catholic morality": 45,800
"Catholic ethics": 20,900
"Humanist morality": 8,300
"Humanist ethics": 11,500The distinction, then, is not absolute.One thing seems certain: when Catholics or humanists write about Catholic ethics or humanist ethics respectively, they are not using the word "ethics" to mean "those principles which we acknowledge in principle but ignore in practice".

True, but that's a matter of connotation.If I told you that he was a "very ethical person" you would not take that merely as a tribute to the integrity of his data, would you? You'd take that to include not committing adultery.But you are right, in those circumstances "unethical" is more likely to suggest a professional lapse, because the codes of conduct specific to a profession are almost always called ethics and not morals.Professional ethics: 1,550,000 Google hits.
Professional morality: 19,300 Google hits.
Professional morals: 7,910 Google hits.That's a big ratio.---We may note again that, pace Tram law's friend, a professional code of ethics does not consist of those moral strictures that that profession ignores.Edited by Dr Adequate, : No reason given.

I think the psychiatrist is actually supposed to do that.(I also think that you probably mean "psychiatrist". A psychiatrist is a doctor who treats patients with mental health problems; a psychologist is a scientist who studies or applies psychology --- though admittedly this application can sometimes be intended as therapeutic in nature.) Contrary to professional ethics. But if the people in question said in their defense that they were "acting according to a higher code of ethics", then you would understand exactly what they meant, wouldn't you?

Then what would "denotation" mean?

On the off-chance that you're not joking ...Denotation refers to the meaning of the word in the sense of the criterion for using it accurately; connotation refers to the penumbra of implied meanings of the word.For example, if it is accurate to call someone a German, it is equally accurate to call him a Kraut, since the two words denote exactly the same set of people. However, the latter word connotes hostility, which the former does not.