My response to an ethics question in my online Buddhism class

Hi all,

Are ethics and morals the same thing? I didn't do any great research, I just googled it and came up real quick with, "morals define personal character, while ethics stress a social system in which those morals are applied" from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-differ...-and-morals.htm. Apparently this is a commonly asked question judging from the search results on Google.

I like how Melanie mentioned the spider-web example regarding intoxicants. This is interesting because as humans, I would say that most people don't think spiders have the capacity for thought that overrides instincts. That's one of the ways we justify killing them. That being said, caffeine would affect spiders differently than it would affect humans. In spiders, it interfers with instincts. In humans, it definitely interferes with our instincts, that is why we become more impulsive when we drink caffeine (studys have correlated higher infidelity rates with high caffeine consumption). However, from from own personal experience, it allows us to "go the extra distance" in our careers and personal lives as far as productivity and creativity is concerned. I go for extended periods of time without drinking caffeine and then start drinking caffeine again for extended periods of time. What I notice is that when I drink caffeine, I do much better work in my career, at school, and in my home. By better I mean that I am not vegging out on the couch in front of the TV, or sitting at work unable to think, or at school, tired and unable to comprehend. I would go so far as to say that caffeine has made Corporate America what it is today. So, then you have to ask yourself, is Corporate America a good thing? To the Corporate American it is. To the world, it is probably not. So, I guess that is the difference between "morals" and "ethics". Caffeine is "moral" to some people, but it is not "ethical" from a global standpoint. (And I guarantee you I would not have thought through and arrived at that conclusion if I was not drinking coffee right now!) = )

So many things affect ethics, or do they? I could say that I feel that factors such as socio-economic status, technology, and religion affect ethics, but do they? Is there a core set of ethics that are not altered by any of those factors? Is it only the morals that are altered by those factors? Let's look at finance - America established the Sarbanes-Oxley act in response to the tide of corporate corruption identified during the turn of the century. But did the establishment of finance necessitate the establishment of a set of financial ethics? I would say "no". The core ethics were already there, but the morality of people (or lack thereof) made it necessary to set some behavioral guidelines. What about socio-economic factors? My observation is that people who are poor in America have a completely different set of morals than those who are rich. For example, people who are poor generally "stick together" out of necessity and become more territorial over people and a set territory than those who are rich. However, those who are poor generally are less territorial over their personal belongings. They would be more inclined to "give another person the shirt off their back", so to say. So, what are the underlying ethics here? Are there any that are consistent beyond socio-economic boundaries? How has new technology affected ethics? There are people who are cyber-bullying. Bullying is wrong no matter how it is done (IMO), but for some reason, people find it much easier to cyber-bully that to traditional-bully.

I was thinking about the precepts of not killing, not stealing, and not abusing sex. I kill gnats at work all day long. I think about it every time I kill one. I probably shouldn't kill them, but then they fly in my face and get in my food and drinks. Should I wear a mask? Should we eliminate anything in the office they might be attracted to? I think that would be ideal, but I am alone in my thought. Or am I? In an office of 120 people, there is probably at least one other person that thinks we should eliminate the things they are attracted to from the office, but what makes our beliefs greater than those of the rest of the people in the office? In my mind, I absolutely do not want pesticides sprayed in the office. There are other people who have never thought about those things and ask other people to spray them with the same harmful chemicals, like Lysol, when someone in the next cubicle falls ill and they don't want to catch the illness. So, then they are not only endangering themselves and those in the office with breathing problems, they are also killing bacteria. Do bacteria think? Do they want to live? Now on to stealing....I stole one donut from a potluck at the end of the day, when most of the people who brought food in for the potluck had gone home. After I stole one donut, I thought about my husband. He probably wanted a donut, and I doubted anyone was going to eat the last donut, since they were dry from sitting out all day, but my warped sense of morality got the best of me and I asked one of the potluck participants if she thought anyone would mind if I took the last donut. Of course, I never told her that I stole the second-to-last donut. And what about sex? I am married, but sex is such a multifaceted issue (as all the precepts are!). Do I consent to having sex if I am not in the right frame of mind? If I do not, am I not hurting my husband's feelings? Is there a way to not have sex in the wrong frame of mind and not hurt his feelings? What about fantasizing during sex. Is this not normal? Is it wrong? Is it harmful? Is sex outside of marriage absolutely wrong, or can two people harmlessly and thoughtfully consent to having sex with other people outside of their marriage? Does it then hurt the outsiders? What if the outsiders harmlessly and thoughtfully consent? How would you ever know that the other people completely and mindfully have thought out all the aspects of the situation and know themselves well enough to fully consent?

This was a really interesting topic! I know that normally when I hear the word "ethics", I groan. I don't usually want to put forth that much thoughtful effort. But, I suppose that is what the point of practicing Buddhism and meditation is all about. I would love to sit here all day and drink coffee and type and think more, but I have so much to do today! Thank you for the opportunity to think about and express all of this!