One way to hold it: a question that isn't about whether something works or is legal, but about whether it is right. The word points at the whole area where people ask "是非" — and then, in its second use, at answers that come out on the right side.
From the word’s history
From Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos), "character, the settled nature a person has" — not a rulebook but what someone habitually is. So the word starts from character rather than from law.
來自古希臘文 ἦθος（êthos）「性格、一個人習慣成自然的樣子」——注意它原本不是「規條」而是「品性」。這個出身解釋了為什麼 ethical 到現在仍然跟 legal 分得很開：legal 看的是白紙黑字的規定，ethical 問的是「一個什麼樣的人會這樣做」。
Wiktionary ("ethical" ← ethic + -al ← Late Latin ethicus ← Ancient Greek ἠθικός ← ἦθος "character, moral nature")
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
ethicaladj/ˈɛθɪkəl/
- 1
human-sciencesphilosophysciencesOf or relating to the study of ethics.
- The philosopher Kant is particularly known for his ethical writings.
- 2
Of or relating to the accepted principles of right and wrong, especially those of some organization or profession.
- All employees must familiarize themselves with our ethical guidelines.
- An angry dispute between an animal welfare charity and its former employee will be the first case in Britain to decide whether ethical veganism is a “philosophical belief” that should be afforded the same protections as religion.
- 3
Morally approvable; good.
- We are trying to decide what the most ethical course of action would be.
- 4
Only dispensed on the prescription of a physician.
- In most jurisdictions, morphine is classified as an ethical drug.
ethicalnoun/ˈɛθɪkəl/
- 1
An ethical drug, one only dispensed on the prescription of a physician.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。