See Also: ethic(1)(dictionary)
ethic(2)(dictionary)
ethic(dictionary)
Protestant ethic(encyclopedia)
work ethic(dictionary)

ethic(2) (iou)



ethic noun. LME.
[In branch I from Old & mod. French ethique, Latin ethice, Greek (he) ethike (sc. tekhne art, science); in branch II from Old French ethiques, medieval Latin ethica pl. from Greek (ta) ethika; fem. sing. and neut. pl of Greek ethikos, formed as ETHOS: see -IC, -ICS.]
I. sing.
= sense 4 below. Now rare or obsolete. LME.
A set of moral principles, esp. those of a specified religion, school of thought, etc. L19.
Protestant ethic: see PROTESTANT adjective. social ethic: see SOCIAL adjective.
P. Medawar It is part of the puritan ethic that any activity so pleasurable must be harmful.
II. In pl.
A treatise on ethics (sense 4 below), spec. the one written by Aristotle. LME.
Usu. treated as sing. The science of morals; the branch of knowledge that deals with the principles of human duty or the logic of moral discourse; the whole field of moral science. L16.
SITUATION ethics.
The moral principles or system of a particular leader or school of thought; the moral principles by which any particular person is guided; the rules of conduct recognized in a particular profession or area of human life. M17.
R. W. Dale The ethics of dining. G. B. Shaw The ethics of vivisectionists.