“Ethics” versus “morals”

Question

What's the difference between ethics and morals?

More specifically, what differentiates (if any):

• a moral code vs. a code of ethics
• ethically versus morally (e.g. "Morally, I can't (justify it), but ethically, I can.")

Answer 1

As the New Oxford American Dictionary puts it:

You can be an ethical person without necessarily being a moral one, since ethical implies conformity with a code of fair and honest behavior, particularly in business or in a profession (an ethical legislator who didn't believe in cutting deals), while moral refers to generally accepted standards of goodness and rightness in character and conduct—especially sexual conduct (the moral values she'd learned from her mother).

Answer 2

Morals refer to an individual's beliefs about right & wrong, while ethics relate to those of a group. The example I'm most used to seeing is that while a lawyer likely regards murder as morally wrong, he's still ethically bound to do his best to defend the accused murderer. The morals are his own feelings, the ethics are from the professional group he belongs to.

Answer 3

In the philosophical sense, as I understand it, morals are the standards by which an individual or group determines what is and what is not correct or proper behavior and how one decides how to act, and ethics is the study of moral problems to determine how one should act, not how one does or thinks one should act.

Paraphrased from here.

Answer 4

A moral code is what one holds for oneself and at a high esteem, whereas the code of ethics is what is enforced upon a group for its general goodness.

The fact, one doesn't kill anyone can be his moral code whereas the non-compete agreements, that blocks an employee from working for a competition for a reasonable period of time, can a part of company's work ethic.