Being ethical is the application of what is deemed to be moral. It means knowing the difference between right and wrong and doing the right thing. The height of being ethical is doing the right thing even if no one knows and will never know, what you have done.
Morals relate to the standards of good or bad behaviour, fairness, honesty etc that each person believes in rather than laws.
Being sensible is acting on good judgement and practical ideas or understanding i.e. it is the use and application of intelligence.
Morals and ethics have changed over the centuries, so what was moral and ethical in the 18th century is today considered immoral and unethical. In the eighteenth century the enslavement of people from Africa was considered by the Caucasian Europeans and Americans as morally and ethically acceptable because it was considered at the time that the African people were an inferior race and less intelligent than their Caucasian counterparts.
At the time not everyone held the view that the African people were inferior and less intelligent, not least the African people themselves. As the African people had no influence, it depended on the more enlightened and educated caucasian people to fight on behalf of the rights of the enslaved African people. This is a classic case where morals are not in sync with what is sensible. There is often a considerable time lag between what is ethical or moral and what is sensible because some people do not have the intellectual capability to understand what is sensible. They rely on others telling them the right way to behave socially. The people deciding on morals or ethics are usually appointed for the function of deciding what is right or wrong, such as religious bodies or ethical committees.
Even though slavery was abolished in 1838, darker skinned people are still considered inferior by some people today. There is even a hierarchy within races where lighter skinned people are considered of greater value than darker skinned people. It might be morally acceptable within the group but if you look at it clinically, it is clearly stupid. This is a classic case where morals are at odds with what is sensible.
Abortion in the United States is a perennial issue because there is a conflict in views between the religious, where what is right and wrong is decreed by “God” or what certain people have interpreted what “God” has decreed, and the more cognisant who want to have the freedom to choose.
The religious take the view that life is life at any age and is sacred so a foetus should be protected against anyone trying to end its life whatever the reason. This is an easy idea to implement. It is black and white. There is no indecision in the implementation of this idea. It does not require thinking about. No intelligence is used in the decision making about what the outcome should be of an unwanted pregnancy.
The more cognisant will look at the circumstances of the pregnancy and the implications of going to term or aborting. This process is not just about life, it is about the quality of life of all concerned. A life that has no value is not really a life but a living hell. The cognisant will look at what sort of life both the foetus and the mother will end up having. This is not black and white. It requires thought and an understanding of the implications of any decision that is made.
The difficulty here is that some people may not have the intellectual capability to understand the implications of the decision. Some people believe it is better for those people who do not have the intellectual capability, to have someone else make the decision for them, this is where religious faith comes in and the decision is made by “God”.
The more cognisant will see those who do not have the intellectual capability should still have the right to make the decision. It is therefore sensible to help the less intellectually capable understand the implications so that they will be happy with the decision they make even long after the decision is made.
Take a thirteen year old girl who has been raped and falls pregnant. Pregnancy is potentially a tough time for any woman, emotionally, psychologically, intellectually and physically. A thirteen year old girl is already going through a tough time transitioning from a child to an adult. Throw in a pregnancy and that increases the toughness exponentially. Add a rape to the mixture and that makes matters even worse. Even with all these ingredients the decision doesn’t have to be black and white. It all depends on the support the thirteen year old will receive and how she feels about the situation.
If the girl lives within a toxic family environment and was raped by her abusive father, she will not receive the emotional, psychological, intellectual and physical support she needs for her own wellbeing let alone that of the baby. Victims of abuse tend to blame themselves. They feel it is their fault when the reverse is the case. This feeling of shame and guilt by the young girl will be overwhelming meaning that there will be less energy to provide for the needs of the new baby. Even a young girl who, under normal circumstances, would be a near perfect mother, whilst giving everything to the baby, would neglect herself and therefore in the long term the baby would lose out. The quality of life for the baby and the young mother would be very poor and should the baby end up having children, those children would be likely to have a poor quality of life because of the emotional, psychological, intellectual and physical trauma experienced by the their parent and grandmother. In this case an abortion might be the best option for all concerned.
If the girl has been raped by a stranger and lives in a well adjusted and supportive family that accepts the situation, awful though it is, they will support their child in making the best decision. This scenario is very different. If the thirteen year old girl is well counselled so that she accepts the rape was not her fault, that men are not all bad, that although the baby might have the genetic makeup from the father, it won’t have the emotional, psychological and intellectual trauma the father was experiencing at the time of the rape. The baby will have a “clean slate” and with the appropriate support is likely to go on to have a successful life with offspring who have successful lives. The young girl might see the baby as more part of her than the rapist and therefore the thought of a termination would be abhorrent to her. In this case continuing with the pregnancy might be the best option.
These two examples are extremes and most situations will fall between the two. But whatever the circumstances, an assessment can be made as to the best likely outcome for both the baby and the young mother. If the thirteen year old and her parents do not have the intellectual capability to make the assessment, it makes sense for society, for the benefit of society, to offer support (not direction) to the family to help them make the best decision for the young girl and her potential offspring.
Once a decision has been made and if the outcome does not turn out as expected, it will not have been the wrong decision because it is impossible to make the right decision about the future. It is only possible to make the best decision given the information available at that time. In this case all consciences should be clear.
Morals and ethics tend to have a fixed standpoint and those that support morals and ethics will find arguments that support that standpoint. Morals and ethics do not require thinking about they just require adhering to and therefore require less effort and are passive.
What is sensible has a moveable standpoint, depending on the circumstances and the information available. It requires thinking about and collating the evidence so that the best decision can be made and therefore requires more effort and is active.
If you want most members of society to comply with what a certain sector of society deems best and for most people in society not to access their cognitive capability, then morals and ethics are best.
If you want the best outcome for each person within society and to maximise everyones intelligence then being sensible is the best option.