Moral Standards vs. Non-Moral Standards

 

Morality may refer to the standards that a person or a group has about what is right and wrong, or good and evil.

 

Accordingly, moral standards are those concerned with or relating to human behavior, especially the distinction between good and bad (or right and wrong) behavior.

 

Moral standards involve the rules people have about the kinds of actions they believe are morally right and wrong, as well as the values they place on the kinds of objects they believe are morally good and morally bad. Some ethicists equate moral standards with moral values and moral principles.

 

Non-moral standards refer to rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical considerations. Either these standards are not necessarily linked to morality or by nature lack ethical sense. Basic examples of non-moral standards include rules of etiquette, fashion standards, rules in games, and various house rules.

 

Technically, religious rules, some traditions, and legal statutes (i.e. laws and ordinances) are non-moral principles, though they can be ethically relevant depending on some factors and contexts.

 

The following six (6) characteristics of moral standards further differentiate them from non-moral standards:

 

Moral standards deal with matters which can seriously impact, that is, injure or benefit human beings.

 

It is not the case with many non-moral standards. For instance, following or violating some basketball rules may matter in basketball games but does not necessarily affect one’s life or wellbeing.

 

Moral standards have overriding character or hegemonic authority. If a moral standard states that a person has the moral obligation to do something, then he/she is supposed to do that even if it conflicts with other non-moral standards, and even with self-interest.

 

Moral standards are not the only rules or principles in society, but they take precedence over other considerations, including aesthetic, prudential, and even legal ones.

 

A person may be aesthetically justified in leaving behind his family in order to devote his life to painting, but morally, all things considered, he/she probably was not justified.

 

It may be prudent to lie to save one’s dignity, but it probably is morally wrong to do so. When a particular law becomes seriously immoral, it may be people’s moral duty to exercise civil disobedience.

 

There is a general moral duty to obey the law, but there may come a time when the injustice of an evil law is unbearable and thus calls for illegal but moral noncooperation (such as the antebellum laws calling for citizens to return slaves to their owners) ... continue reading.

 

For other characteristics of moral standards that differentiate them from non-moral standards, read: Moral Standards and Non Moral Standards

 

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