Morality (from the Latin moralities "manner, character, proper behavior") is a sense of behavioral conduct that differentiates intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good (or right) and bad (or wrong). A moral code is a system of morality (for example, according to a particular philosophy, religion, culture, etc.) and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code. Immorality is the active opposition to morality, while amorality is a passive indiferrence toward morality. Morality has three principal meanings.

In its "descriptive" sense, morality refers to personal or cultural values, codes of conduct or social mores that distinguish between right and wrong in the human society. Describing morality in this way is not making a claim about what is objectively right or wrong, but only referring to what is considered right or wrong by people. For the most part right and wrong acts are classified as such because they are thought to cause benefit or harm, but it is possible that many moral beliefs are based on prejudice, ignorance or even hatred. This sense of term is also addressed by descriptive ethics.

In its "normative" sense, morality refers directly to what is right and wrong, regardless of what specific individuals think. It could be defined as the conduct of the ideal "moral" person in a certain situation. This usage of the term is characterized by "definitive" statements such as "That act is immoral" rather than descriptive ones such as "Many believe that act is immoral." It is often challenged by a moral skepticism, in which the unchanging existence of a rigid, universal, objective moral "truth" is rejected, and supported by moral realism, in which the existence of this "truth" is accepted. The normative usage of the term "morality" is also addressed by normative ethics.

In its "ethics" sense, morality encompasses the above two meanings and others within a systematic philosophical study of the moral domain. Ethics seeks to address questions such as how a moral outcome can be achieved in a specific situation (applied ethics), how moral values should be determined (normative ethics), what morals people actually abide by (descriptive ethics), what the fundamental nature of ethics or morality is, including whether it has any objective justification (meta-ethics), and how moral capacity or moral agency develops and what its nature is (moral psychology).

A key issue is the meaning of the terms "moral" or "immoral". Moral anti-realism would hold that morality is derived from any one of the norms prevalent in society (cultural relativism), merely the speakers' sentiments (emotivism), or an unsupported belief that there are objective moral facts (moral nihilism). Like the cultural relativist, the moral relativist holds that there is no correct definition of right behavior, and that morality can only be judged with respect to particular situations within the standards of particular belief systems and socio-historical contexts. This position often cites empirical evidence from anthropology of sharply contrasting views of "good" as supporting its claims. Poles apart are the views of moral realism, which hold that there are true moral statements that report objective moral facts. For example, while moral universalists might concede that forces of social conformity significantly shape individuals' "moral" decisions, they deny that those cultural norms and customs define morally right behavior. This may be the philosphical view propounded by supporters of the science of morality (ethical naturalists), however not all moral realists accept that position (e.g. ethical non-naturalists). Positions which claim that morality is derived from reasoning about implied imperatives (universal prescriptivism), the edicts of a god (divine command theory), or the hypothetical decrees of a perfectly rational being (ideal observer theory), are considered anti-realist in one ("robust") sense, but are considered realist in the sense synonymous with moral universalism.

A disambiguation in the usage of the word 'morality' can be made. In teleological ethics the word 'moral' is used as a synonym for ethical. In deontological ethics the word 'moral' is used in a more narrow sense: that act of which one can at the same time will that it becomes a universal law. A remarkable consequence of this is that teleological ethics is immoral from a deontological viewpoint.

• Engaged Buddhism@ (38)
• Vegetarianism@ (6)
• Vinaya (1)

See also:

• Society: Philosophy: Ethics: Applied: Vegetarianism and Veganism (5)
• Society: Religion and Spirituality: Buddhism: Lineages: Zen: Criticism (3)
• Society: Religion and Spirituality: Buddhism: Psychology (21)
• Society: Religion and Spirituality: Morality (15)

• Questions and Answers on Buddhist Moral Issues
  web.singnet.com.sg
  Topics include: good and evil, marriage, divorce, birth control and abortion, suicide, war, military service, mercy killing, killing for self protection, stealing from the rich to feed the poor, extramarital sex, white lies, intoxicants.
• Buddhist Morality
  ship.edu
  The basic concepts of Buddhist morality.
• Sila
  accesstoinsight.org
  Sila (virtue, moral conduct) is the cornerstone upon which the entire Noble Eightfold Path is built. The practice of sila is defined by the middle three factors of the Eightfold Path: Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood.