ethicaladj.n.
/ˈɛθᵻkl/, U.S. /ˈɛθəkəl/ A. adj.
1.
a. Of or relating to moral principles, esp. as forming a system, or the branch of knowledge or study dealing with these.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > [adjective]
moralc1387
ethicc1443
ethical?1573
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > moral philosophy > [adjective]
moralc1387
ethicc1443
ethical?1573
ethological1727
ethologic1814
meta-ethical1949
?1573 L. Lloyd Pilgrimage of Princes f. 122v Certen ethical Arithmologies drawne out of deuine and prophane auctorities.
1588 J. Harvey Discoursiue Probl. conc. Prophesies 92 Plato and Aristotle in the Summitie of their Ethicall..and Metaphysicall Idees, haue displaied some such philosophicall quiddities.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 66 It remaineth to discourse of the Politike, Ethicall, and oeconomicke vertues and properties of them [sc. bees].
1652 J. Evelyn State of France Pref. Let. sig. B3 This Ethicall and Morall part of Travel..embellisheth a Gentleman.
1741 in A. Grant Univ. Edinb. (1884) I. 273 Professor of Pneumatical and Ethical Philosophy.
1791 Analyt. Rev. Apr. 426 Ethical conclusions, drawn from the primary and secondary principles of morals, will always be accompanied with a clear and strong conviction.
1830 J. Mackintosh Diss. Progress Ethical Philos. 41 The ethical principles of Hobbes are completely interwoven with his political system.
1851 H. L. Mansel Prolegomena Logica Pref. p. vii The value of every ethical system must ultimately be tested on psychological grounds.
1876 E. R. Lankester tr. E. Haeckel Hist. Creation I. ii. 36 Moral, or ethical materialism, is something quite distinct from scientific materialism.
1936 A. J. Ayer Lang., Truth & Logic vi. 168 There cannot be such a thing as ethical science, if by ethical science one means the elaboration of a ‘true’ system of morals.
2003 S. J. Segal & L. Mastroianni Hormone Use Menopause & Male Andropause 48 From a medical point of view, the principal ethical issue is that of informed consent.
b. Of an author or work: taking moral questions or ethics as a subject.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > [adjective] > dealing with morals
moralc1390
ethical1581
ethic1589
sober1844
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > moral philosophy > [adjective] > of an author or work
ethical1581
ethic1589
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius ii. f. 188 Osor. beyng a very naturall Philosopher, and very Ethicall seemeth to haue sucked this geare rather from Aristotle, then out of Christes Testament.
1665 R. Boyle Disc. ii. ii, in Occas. Refl. sig. C1v From Ethical or Theological Composures, to take out Lessons that may improve the Mind.
1694 R. Blome tr. A. Le Grand Entire Body Philos. i. x. ix. 359 Vertue is commonly divided into 4 Species, Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice, which Ethical Writers call Cardinal.
1773 J. Brand (title) Conscience: an ethical essay.
1782 J. Warton Ess. on Pope (new ed.) II. xiv. 479 He [sc. Pope] is the great Poet of Reason, the First of Ethical authors in verse.
a1845 R. H. Barham Brothers of Birchington in Ingoldsby Legends (1847) 3rd Ser. 257 A metaphor..taken out of an ethical work by the Stagyrite.
1870 J. Ruskin Lect. Art (1875) i. 7 Ethical and imaginative literature.
1901 J. J. M. de Groot Relig. Syst. China IV. ii. i. i. 39 The unknown ethical author who propounded the following theory about the regulation of the passions by means of those l i .
1959 O. A. Johnson Rightness & Goodness v. ii. 115 The phrase ‘the sense of duty’ is an expression in common usage not only in moral discourse but in ethical writing as well.
1992 S. During Foucault & Lit. vii. 182 The most obvious constraint on self-formation is economic... Thus it is no surprise that the most self-consciously ethical texts of our time have been written by aristocrats.
c. That conforms to moral principles or ethics; morally right; honourable; virtuous; decent; spec. conforming to the ethics of a profession, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > criticism > [adjective] > in accordance with morals
moral1835
ethical1836
moralistic1845
1836 J. W. Semple tr. I. Kant Metaphysic of Ethics 198 Equity..does not in any wise address itself to the ethical duty [Ger. ethische Pflicht] of another.
a1871 G. Grote Fragm. Ethical Subj. (1876) vi. 228 The flute which he considers as not ethical, but orgiastical—calculated to excite violent and momentary emotions. The flute obtained a footing in Greece after the Persian invasion.
a1925 H. T. Lane Talks to Parents & Teachers (1928) iv. 104 The age of eleven has been called the criminal age, and it is certainly the least ethical.
1930 Publishers' Weekly 12 July 182/2 How ethical is the publisher who, after selling his books to the bookseller, canvasses the retailer's own customers for direct business?
1972 J. G. Simon et al. (title) The ethical investor: universities and corporate responsibility.
1990 L. H. Tribe Abortion iii. 27 The contemporary citizen seeking an ethical solution..must..navigate like Ulysses between the Scylla of infanticide and the Charybdis of women's bondage.
2011 Independent 15 Dec. 10/1 Ethical products, such as Fairtrade chocolate, solar panels and eco-friendly cars, have proved to be recession-busters.
d. Finance (originally U.S.). That does not offend against the moral principles of the investor. Frequently in ethical investment.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > investment > other types of investing or investment
perpetual1833
fundholding1835
capital investment1842
floating1888
flotation1889
carried interest1908
ethical investment1915
National Savings1919
locking up1924
ploughing-back1924
foreign portfolio investment1951
inward investment1962
round-tripping1973
short-termism1986
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [adjective] > invested > type of investment
perpetual1719
fundeda1770
floating1793
ethical1915
ploughed-back1930
divestiture1961
mezzanine1976
short-termist1987
1915 C. L. White Churches at Work v. 125 The church ought to insist on an ethical investment of its own endowment funds.
1980 National Jrnl. (U.S.) 22 Nov. 1997/2 Pension Funds and Ethical Investment, commissioned by California's Consumer Services Agency.
1982 N. W. Chamberlain Social Strategy & Corporate Struct. ii. 22 The philosophy of ethical investing seems more attuned to massaging the conscience of the investor through taking stands than to affecting the corporation's vision of its objectives.
1987 Times 21 Sept. 27/1 Tony Moore..manages Credit Suisse Buckmaster and Moore's ethical unit trust.
2012 J. G. Carrier in J. G. Carrier & P. G. Luetchford Ethical Consumption Introd. 27 The Securities and Exchange Commission..charged Pax World, one of the leading American companies running ethical mutual funds (unit trusts), with violating its advertised ethical investment standards.
2. Of, relating to, or characterized by ‘ethos’ as opposed to ‘pathos’ in rhetoric or aesthetics: see ethos n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > aesthetics > [adjective] > relating to ethos or pathos in aesthetics
ethicala1626
ethic1760
a1626 L. Andrewes 96 Serm. (1629) 250 The Holy Ghost..still chooseth to expresse it [sc. Repentance], under some terme of passion (as sorrow, feare, anger, and the like) rather then the other way: Rather in Patheticall then in Ethical termes.
1788 Crit. Rev. Nov. 375 Where the composition respects the sense, it is necessary, in lord Monboddo's opinion, to distinguish the ethical style, where the ηθος, character or manner predominates.
1930 A. Tate in C. H. Grattan Critique of Humanism 139 You get nowhere by saying that the ethical imagination is above the reason, the pathetic imagination below.
2000 Isis 91 487 Many eighteenth-century rhetoricians in Europe abandoned the study of invention, which included techniques for the discovery of ethical, emotional, and logical proofs (ethos, pathos, and logos) that would persuade a particular audience.
3. Of a medicine or drug: intended chiefly for prescription by doctors and either not sold or not advertised to the general public; not a patent or proprietary remedy.
ΚΠ
1869 Proc. Brit. Pharmaceut. Conf. 1866 57 He found that a proprietary article, which had been frequently named in that meeting, was spoken of as undistinguishable in an ethical sense from Holloway's pills.]
1898 Memphis Lancet 1 313 The Walker people put Phytolin on the market a few years ago as an anti-fat and anti-rheumatic, and while it was an ethical preparation, it seems to have died out therapeutically.
1935 Lancet 24 Aug. 463/2 Ethical Pharmaceuticals Association (E.P.A.). A number of firms representing manufacturers of ethical pharmaceutical preparations—i.e., preparations not advertised to the public—have formed themselves into an association.
1952 H. M. Merker & A. R. Whale in R. E. Kirk & D. F. Othmer Encycl. Chem. Technol. X. 229 The term ethical generally refers to a drug which is dispensed on the prescription of a physician and administered under his direction.
1981 Pharmacy in Hist. 23 114 Unscrupulous manufacturers rushed to introduce one product after another claiming ethical standing by virtue of being prepared solely for the medical profession but bearing coined, catchy, yet uninstructive names and possessing dubious therapeutic credentials.
2005 Times (Nexis) 20 Dec. 47 Astrazeneca and GlaxoSmithKline joined a worldwide rally in ethical drugs makers after Friday's US court decision to uphold two of Pfizer's patents.
B. n.
A medicine or drug intended chiefly for prescription by doctors and either not sold or not advertised to the general public (see sense A. 3). Usually in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > [noun] > a medicine or medicament > prescribed medicine > available only on doctor's prescription
ethical1960
1960 Changing Times Aug. 26/1 Drugs that are not advertised to the public but that can nevertheless be bought without a prescription are known as o-t-c (over-the-counter) ethicals.
1962 Which? Jan. 21/2 Many ethicals are well known to the general public.
1968 D. E. Allen Brit. Tastes v. 114 Sales of medicines only to be obtained on prescriptions (‘ethicals’) are reported to be unduly low here.
2005 A. Reeves in S. B. Kayne Pharmacy Business Managem. iii. 60 Ethicals are dispensed by community pharmacies, dispensing doctors and hospital pharmacies.
Compounds
ethical dative n. [after post-classical Latin dativus ethicus (see ethic dative n. at ethic n. and adj. Compounds)] Grammar = ethic dative n. at ethic n. and adj. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > case > [noun] > dative > ethic dative
ethic dative1837
ethical dative1849
1849 L. Schmitz tr. K. G. Zumpt Gram. Lat. Lang. (ed. 3) 212 This kind of dative, which occurs still more frequently in Greek, is called the Ethical Dative [L. dativus ethicus].
1886 Athenæum 7 Aug. 169/3 We cannot go with him in defending the MS. ‘tibi’..as an ethical dative.
1907 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 28 150 The prepositional object of a verb may be either a direct object or an ethical dative.
2003 M. von Albrecht Cicero's Style 60 Another hallmark of emotional speech is an abundant use of the ethical dative.
ethical dilemma n. a situation in which a person must choose between two courses of action of (apparent) equal moral importance, so that the choice necessarily entails the transgression of an important moral principle.
ΚΠ
1845 Foreign Q. Rev. Apr. 32/1 We are..disposed to regard the drama as the exposition of character, called into action by an ethical dilemma.
1910 tr. B. von Suttner Mem. II. lvi. 223 If ever assistance, consolation, support were required..in an ethical dilemma, all one had to do was to produce the check book.
1955 Pacific Stars & Stripes (Tokyo) 13 Jan. 11/3 The movie..devotes a good deal of its running time to the defense of the ‘good cop’ and the ethical dilemmas he faces during a day on the beat.
2001 G. G. Ford Ethical Reasoning in Mental Health Professions 37 The ethical dilemma..is the client's right to confidentiality versus the counselor's obligation to protect the welfare of the third party.
ethical relativism n. the theory that there are no universal or objective ethical standards, that each culture develops the ethical standards that it finds acceptable, and that these cannot be judged by the ethical standards of another culture.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > moral philosophy > [noun] > other theories or principles
Christian Science1875
heterogony of ends1887
ethical relativism1889
amoralism1895
nomism1905
formalism1931
virtue ethics1942
1889 Mind 14 605 The author..gives in the first part of his doctoral thesis an effective presentation of the ethical ‘relativism’ of Montaigne.
1912 Philos. Rev. 21 268 The present standpoint permits the most extreme ethical relativism to be reconciled with a general principle closely connected with Kant's categorical imperative.
1937 T. Parsons Struct. Social Action xi. 447 He [sc. Durkheim] was forced to define normality with reference to the social type alone, thus ending in a complete ethical relativism.
1968 Internat. Encycl. Soc. Sci. V. 158 The ‘reductionist’ form of ethical relativism, which presents the ethical beliefs of a people as functionally dependent on their other beliefs and practices.
1991 Times Educ. Suppl. 8 Feb. 23/1 A certain political agenda which educationists favour (like multiculturalism or ethical relativism).
2006 A. C. Inkpen & K. Ramaswamy Global Strategy ix. 209 Ethical relativism holds that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.?1573