Ethical Theory and Medical Ethics

Abstract

Abstract In both popular and professional language, the terms moral and ethical are used in several senses. Public officials are sometimes guilty of “unethical” behavior, while people who violate a law dealing with sexual activity are arrested on “morals” charges. College courses on ethics are often taught by moral philosophers. Although moral is sometimes used as a word of praise, as in “She is a very moral person,” on other occasions it has a wider and more neutral meaning, as in “Euthanasia is a moral issue.”