Immoral vs. Unethical

Main Difference

The main difference between Immoral and Unethical is that the Immoral is a philosophical concept and Unethical is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.

• Immoral

  Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to groups or corporate bodies, beliefs, religions, and works of art.

• Unethical

  Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. The term ethics derives from Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ethikos), from ἦθος (ethos), meaning ‘habit, custom’. The branch of philosophy axiology comprises the sub-branches of ethics and aesthetics, each concerned with values.

  Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime. As a field of intellectual enquiry, moral philosophy also is related to the fields of moral psychology, descriptive ethics, and value theory.

  Three major areas of study within ethics recognized today are:

  Meta-ethics, concerning the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions, and how their truth values (if any) can be determined

  Normative ethics, concerning the practical means of determining a moral course of action

  Applied ethics, concerning what a person is obligated (or permitted) to do in a specific situation or a particular domain of action