Morality

Morality is a way that social animals—including humans—judge actions, character, and the way people organize themselves in groups. It typically involves a set of standards or rules for behavior, but what those standards are can differ widely depending on the person, society, social class, public opinion, religion, culture, custom, or tradition. These judgments often focus on ideas like right and wrong, virtue and vice, honesty and cruelty, honor and disgrace, filial piety, community harmony, purity, reciprocity, shame, a person’s inner beliefs, and what is proper or improper in relationships between oneself and others. Morality includes evaluating both the people involved and their actions, labeling behavior as moral or immoral.

Descriptive and normative ethics

Research across different species and cultures shows that moral feelings appear in every human society and are part of what all cultures share. Some studies suggest that behaviors tied to morality—such as honesty, helpfulness, tolerance, loyalty, responsibility, social justice, equality, family and national security, stability of social order, and gratitude—are universal values. This means these behaviors might be seen as virtues by every society. The ethical stance that supports this idea is called moral universalism.

On the other hand, moral relativism argues against universal moral principles, claiming that no single morality applies to everyone. Immorality is breaking moral rules. Nihilism actively rejects or opposes the very idea of morality.

Etymology

Amorality can mean being unaware of, indifferent to, or disbelieving in any particular set of moral standards. The English word "morality" comes from the Latin noun mōs (genitive mōris), which means "manner, character, proper behavior," especially in its plural form mōrēs. This passed into Late Latin as mōrālitās ("manner, character"), then into Old French as moralité. It entered Middle English around 1375, first appearing in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, as moralite, meaning "moral qualities" or "virtuous conduct." By the mid-15th century, it had taken on the broader sense of "a system of ethical duties." The Latin root mōs has an uncertain origin, but it may come from a Proto-Indo-European root meh₁- ("to intend" or "to measure"), which also gave English the word "mood" and Ancient Greek μαίομαι (maíomai, "to strive").