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<blockquote data-quote="aramis erak" data-source="post: 6405479" data-attributes="member: 6779310">In English, especially in formal academic settings, they are not quite&nbsp; synonyms. Gygax was, despite his lack of formal post-secondary degree, very much &quot;Ivory Tower Academic&quot; in his expressions of concepts. His use is not too far from how several professors, including my Philosophy profs, taught the distinction.Ethics generally refers to required behaviors as set by some outside force. What is allowed or not. Morals generally refers to internally held beliefs of what is right. What is Right or Wrong, usually without regard to whether it's allowed or not, especially when contrasted with Ethics.Some of the most ethical people I know are utterly amoral - their morality is to totally dissimilar to that of most people as to be understood as evil. On the other hand, their fear of the consequences of violation of their profession's code of ethics keeps them in line, and they function in society quite well, even earning respect - until they get to a position where they can speak their mind. Likewise, one of the nicest, kindest guys I've ever met was totally opposed to even the concept of laws, and supported themselves by what they saw as harmless agriculturalism... mind you, their crop was totally illegal.The division into &quot;Laws, Contracts and Oaths: &quot; - Yes/WhenUseful/No (lawful/Neutral/Chaotic)and &quot;Do Unto Others&quot; - &quot;As you want them to do to you&quot;/&quot;nice as long as it's not inconvenient&quot;/&quot;Before they can do to you&quot;...The Chaotic Good Guy is going to ignore his oath if he thinks it's to general benefit; the LE guy will keep it, grudgingly and legalistically, in an attempt to screw you over... It's a very good guide to behavior types.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="aramis erak, post: 6405479, member: 6779310"] In English, especially in formal academic settings, they are not quite synonyms. Gygax was, despite his lack of formal post-secondary degree, very much "Ivory Tower Academic" in his expressions of concepts. His use is not too far from how several professors, including my Philosophy profs, taught the distinction. Ethics generally refers to required behaviors as set by some outside force. What is allowed or not. Morals generally refers to internally held beliefs of what is right. What is Right or Wrong, usually without regard to whether it's allowed or not, especially when contrasted with Ethics. Some of the most ethical people I know are utterly amoral - their morality is to totally dissimilar to that of most people as to be understood as evil. On the other hand, their fear of the consequences of violation of their profession's code of ethics keeps them in line, and they function in society quite well, even earning respect - until they get to a position where they can speak their mind. Likewise, one of the nicest, kindest guys I've ever met was totally opposed to even the concept of laws, and supported themselves by what they saw as harmless agriculturalism... mind you, their crop was totally illegal. The division into "Laws, Contracts and Oaths: " - Yes/WhenUseful/No (lawful/Neutral/Chaotic) and "Do Unto Others" - "As you want them to do to you"/"nice as long as it's not inconvenient"/"Before they can do to you"... The Chaotic Good Guy is going to ignore his oath if he thinks it's to general benefit; the LE guy will keep it, grudgingly and legalistically, in an attempt to screw you over... It's a very good guide to behavior types. [/QUOTE]

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