Ethics, Morals, Values

Definitions from Dictionaries:

Ethics

1. a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.

2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.

3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.

4. that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

5. A set of principles of right conduct.

6. A theory or a system of moral values

7. The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; moral philosophy.

8. The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession: medical ethics.

9. motivation based on ideas of right and wrong [syn: ethical motive]

10. the philosophical study of moral values and rules

11. The science of human duty; the body of rules of duty drawn from this science; a particular system of principles and rules concerting duty, whether true or false; rules of practice in respect to a single class of human actions; as, political or social ethics; medical ethics.

1602, "the science of morals," pl. of M.E. ethik "study of morals" (1387), from O.Fr. ethique, from L.L. ethica, from Gk. ethike philosophia "moral philosophy," fem. of ethikos "ethical," from ethos "moral character," related to ethos "custom" (see ethos). The word also traces to Ta Ethika, title of Aristotle's work. Ethic "a person's moral principles," attested from 1651.

Morals

1. of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical: moral attitudes.

2. expressing or conveying truths or counsel as to right conduct, as a speaker or a literary work; moralizing: a moral novel.

3. founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities, enactment, or custom: moral obligations.

4. capable of conforming to the rules of right conduct: a moral being.

5. conforming to the rules of right conduct (opposed to immoral ): a moral man.

6. virtuous in sexual matters; chaste.

7. of, pertaining to, or acting on the mind, feelings, will, or character: moral support.

8. resting upon convincing grounds of probability; virtual: a moral certainty.

9. the moral teaching or practical lesson contained in a fable, tale, experience, etc.

10. the embodiment or type of something.

11. morals, principles or habits with respect to right or wrong conduct.

Values

1. Sociology. the ideals, customs, institutions, etc., of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard. These values may be positive, as cleanliness, freedom, or education, or negative, as cruelty, crime, or blasphemy.

2. Ethics. any object or quality desirable as a means or as an end in itself.

3. beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment