Morality
A system of standards for evaluating actions and character.
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.
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. Amorality can mean being unaware of, indifferent to, or disbelieving in any particular set of moral standards.
**Etymology**
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"). The Latin adjective *mōrālis* ("pe
- field
- Philosophy, ethics, anthropology
- known_for
- Central concept in evaluating right and wrong, virtue and vice, and social norms
- etymology
- From Latin mōs (genitive mōris), meaning 'manner, character, proper behavior'
- related_concepts
- Immorality, amorality, nihilism, moral universalism, moral relativism
Lore & Background
Morality involves evaluative judgments about agents and actions, including assessments of rightness or wrongness, virtues or vices, honesty or cruelty, honor or disgrace, filial piety, community harmony, purity, reciprocity, shame, and propriety. Cross-species and cross-cultural research suggests that attention to moral sentiments exists in all human societies and that moral sentiments are part of cultural universals. Some studies indicate that behaviors related to morality, such as honesty, helpfulness, tolerance, loyalty, responsibility, social justice, equality, family and national security, stability of social order, and gratitude, are part of universal values.
Reader's Guide
Morality is a foundational concept in philosophy, ethics, and anthropology, addressing how individuals and communities distinguish right from wrong. The source article notes that morality can be understood descriptively—as personal or cultural values observed in a society—or normatively, as whatever is actually right or wrong independent of particular cultures. Philosophical theories on morality are broadly divided into moral realism, which holds that there are true moral statements reporting objective moral facts, and moral anti-realism, which holds that moral statements either fail or do not attempt to report such facts. The article also discusses the distinction between tribal morality, which is prescriptive and imposes collective norms, and territorial morality, which is proscriptive and defines a person's territory not to be interfered with. Practical reason is necessary for moral agency, but both rationality and emotion are acknowledged as significant in determining the morality of a decision. The entry preserves the article's recognition of disputes, such as between moral universalism and moral relativism, and between realism and anti-realism.
Did You Know?
- The English word 'morality' derives from the Latin noun mōs, meaning 'manner, character, proper behavior'.
- The Latin adjective mōrālis was coined by Cicero as a translation of the Greek term ēthiko.
- Immorality is the violation of morality; nihilism actively opposes or rejects morality as a concept.
- Some philosophers argue that moral acceptability is determined entirely by cultural acceptance, while others contend that universal moral truths exist independently of any culture's beliefs.
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