What Is Morality and Ethics? If Based On Truth, It's A Measure Of Integrity!

Both are diluted by fear of speaking up for truth and by the lure of cash. Lots of cash!

As we planned out this page, we wondered about the title of the subject line. What is morality and ethics? Should it be written in the singular manner as if morality and ethics are nearly the same? Or are they two separate notions?

While we debated the singular or plural aspect, there was no debate on the theme of this page. We've written about core values and stated openly that our content needs to follow those three core values. This page is all about always being accountable, being courageously compassionate, and simplifying leadership development.

"About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after." Ernest Hemingway

What Is Morality and Ethics?

It's generally accepted in academic and philosophical circles that morality and ethics are very similar and often interchangeable. We're going to challenge that thinking a little bit.

Morality is usually described as personal, as in individual beliefs in what is right or wrong. Ethics is thought to be a set of guidelines for organizations. Think of the American Medical Association and the Hippocratic Oath. But since both come from humans, both carry the weight of personal beliefs.

We don't dispute any of that in theory. But true morality, if it is grounded in what is right or wrong, needs to have a truth baseline. Without that baseline, neither morality, nor ethics have any foundational strength. If we had a truth baseline in every hot-button issue in our nation, we could solve many of those problems. That truth baseline immediately exposes the lies and out-of-context statements designed to take thoughts off what is factual.

There are plenty of very long, very abstract explanations of what is morality and ethics. Our goal in simplifying leadership development takes us to a more direct answer.

Morality is a personal thing. It uses the tried and true method of knowing what is right and what is wrong. That method is called a gut feeling. Maybe you might call it conscience. Our gut feeling, our conscience tells us when we do something that is morally wrong. This is where that baseline truth comes into play.

Philosophers will state that environment and national norms can decide morality and ethics. There is history to support this contention. In every case, the truth baseline was negotiated away in favor of convenience or profit.

The eugenics movement was embraced in America as a way to "cure society's ills." The Supreme Court backed that platform. Forced sterilization became legal. Just because something is legal, doesn't make it morally acceptable at any level. Finally enough people had that feeling deep down, that gut instinct that told them government supported forced sterilization was not right.

Slavery was ethically accepted around the world for centuries. In many minds, it served the greater good. It was legal. Just because something is legal doesn't make it right. As with eugenics, as with any other accepted practice, if it harms innocent humans, it is not right. That is a baseline truth. Morality and ethics can be negotiated away, but truth is always truth. Finally enough people had that feeling deep down, that gut instinct that told them government supported slavery was not right.

"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare."  Mark Twain

"Morality As A Guise"

Here is an interesting theory.

"In a virtually-unnoticed, fascinating twist, Friedrich Nietzsche turns the guise of the good thesis on its head. Indeed, on his account, it would be more appropriate to talk of the good of the guise: we do not desire things because we think of them as good, but, on the contrary, perceive things to be good precisely because we desire them...Nietzsche’s insight into human nature is that things acquire their perceived worth in proportion to how much we covet and strive after them." Constantine Sandis from "The Philosophers' Magazine"

It goes a long way in explaining why we see a shifting line of accountability. If morality is more about what we want, than about what is fundamentally right or wrong, then the whole concept of ethics and morality is worthless.

We wrote about the power of words and how words can help or harm. Words are also powerful in watering down morals and by extension, ethics. Placing nouns or pronouns in front of the word "rights" and then repeating those words over and over has led us down a path not at all different than the thought process that accepted eugenics and slavery.

Gut feelings of what is right or wrong get pushed aside by a fear of speaking out about things that are wrong or by ignoring that gut feeling because of what we can get for ourselves. Basic morality such as protecting innocent humans from harm is abandoned in favor convenience and most of all, cash. Cash drives nearly every human emotion that requires ignoring our moral compass.

Morality and ethics are the second and third values that are lost when personal accountability goes away. Truth is the first casualty. Truth is left behind by the lure of cash or the fear of being alone in calling out injustice. This gradually weakens morality, which finally erodes the ethics of organizations and nations. Individual morality always drives organizational ethics.

Deep down we know. Our gut feeling tells us that wrong is wrong all the time. Our future leaders need to know that morality is personal, based on what is right. Even if it doesn't pay as well or doesn't provide easy gratification.

We have history on our side. The facts are there for us. The will to follow our gut feeling is also a personal thing. It takes guts to lead. It takes guts to go against the trend and speak the truth.

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