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It is necessary at the outset to distinguish between morality and ethics, terms not seldom employed synonymously. Morality is antecedent to ethics: it denotes those concrete activities of which ethics is the science. It may be defined as human conduct in so far as it is freely subordinated to the ideal of what is right and fitting.

It is necessary at the outset to distinguish between morality and ethics, terms not seldom employed synonymously. Morality is antecedent to ethics: it denotes those concrete activities of which ethics is the science. It may be defined as human conduct in so far as it is freely subordinated to the ideal of what is right and fitting.  

This ideal governing our free actions is common to the human race. Though there is wide divergence as to theories of ethics [[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05556a.htm]] , there is a fundamental agreement among men regarding the general lines of conduct desirable in public and private life. L. T. Hobhouse has well said:  

This ideal governing our free actions is common to the human race. Though there is wide divergence as to theories of ethics [[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05556a.htm]] , there is a fundamental agreement among men regarding the general lines of conduct desirable in public and private life. L. T. Hobhouse has well said:  

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Thomas E. Brewton wrote in ''Moral Models from Mainstream Media'' <blockquote>

Thomas E. Brewton wrote in ''Moral Models from Mainstream Media'' <blockquote>

"Many secular writers and scholars say a clear and decent moral philosophy may be and has been developed without recourse to mysticism, as religion is.  There is no way to prove, objectively, that any religion is truer than any other.  On the other hand, basing a moral philosophy on duty, loyalty, and “women and children first” can produce, and has produced, a set of principles for living a just and proper life that does not require a belief in a deity or other prop outside of recognition of human fellowship.

"Many secular writers and scholars say a clear and decent moral philosophy may be and has been developed without recourse to mysticism, as religion is.  There is no way to prove, objectively, that any religion is truer than any other.  On the other hand, basing a moral philosophy on duty, loyalty, and “women and children first” can produce, and has produced, a set of principles for living a just and proper life that does not require a belief in a deity or other prop outside of recognition of human fellowship.