Morality (from Latinmoralitas 'manner, character, proper behavior') is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong).[1] Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of conduct from a particular philosophy, religion or culture, or it can derive from a standard that a person believes should be universal.[2] Morality may also be specifically synonymous with "goodness", "appropriateness" or "rightness".
Immorality is the active opposition to morality (i.e. opposition to that which is good or right), while amorality is variously defined as an unawareness of, indifference toward, or disbelief in any particular set of moral standards and/or principles.[5][6][7]
^Stanford University (2011). "The Definition of Morality". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
^Antony Flew, ed. (1979). "golden rule". A Dictionary of Philosophy. London: Pan Books in association with The MacMillan Press. p. 134. ISBN978-0333262047. The maxim 'Treat others how you wish to be treated'. Various expressions of this fundamental moral rule are to be found in tenets of most religions and creeds through the ages, testifying to its universal applicability.
^Walter Terence Stace argued that the Golden Rule is much more than simply an ethical code. He posits that it "express[es] the essence of a universal morality." The rationale for this distinction occupies much of his book The Concept of Morals (1937). Stace, Walter T. (1937). The Concept of Morals. New York: The MacMillan Company; reprinted by Peter Smith Publisher Inc, January 1990. p. 136. ISBN978-0-8446-2990-2.
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Johnstone, Megan-Jane (2008). Bioethics: A Nursing Perspective. Vol. 3. Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 102–03. ISBN978-0-7295-3873-2. PMID2129925. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
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Superson, Anita (2009). The Moral Skeptic. Oxford University Press. pp. 127–59. ISBN978-0-19-537662-3.
^"Amorality". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2010-06-18. "having no moral standards, restraints, or principles; unaware of or indifferent to questions of right or wrong"