Bernal, Allian Mae J.

BPA1-1

1. Ethicist vs. Moralist

Before answering the question, I will first establish the meaning of ethics and moral. According
to the dictionary, ethics are the moral principles that serve as the basis of a person before
conducting an action. Therefore, ethicist are those whose opinions on moral principles are trusted
and sometimes mimicked. On the other hand, moral is the standard of what is good and bad in
the society. Hence moralist are those who promote morality. Grannan (2020) said that moral is
distinguished by incorporating personal beliefs and ethics is deemed as the standard of what is
good and bad.

Reference: Grannan, C. (n.d.). What's the Difference Between Morality and Ethics? Retrieved
from https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-morality-and-ethics

2. Should happiness be considered as the basis of morality?

I personally do not think that happiness should be considered as the basis of morality because
first, happiness is subjective. Each person defines happiness in different perspectives and there is
a wide array of how happiness is felt by an individual. Just because a certain incident makes a
person happy, does not mean that it is morally right. For example: If a person gets delighted by
killing animals, then his concept of happiness is satisfied but what he has done is deemed
morally wrong. So I personally think that happiness should not be the basis of morality because
one person's joy could be another man's misery.