As the English moral philosopher Bernard Williams writes, attempting to explain moral philosophy: "What makes an inquiry a philosophical one is reflective generality and a style of argument that claims to be rationally persuasive." Williams describes the content of this area of inquiry as addressing the very broad question, "how one should live". It can refer to philosophical ethics or moral philosophy-a project that attempts to use reason to answer various kinds of ethical questions. The word ethics in English refers to several things. and sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition, group or individual." Paul and Elder state that most people confuse ethics with behaving in accordance with social conventions, religious beliefs, the law, and do not treat ethics as a stand-alone concept. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy states that the word "ethics" is "commonly used interchangeably with ' morality' . Richard William Paul and Linda Elder define ethics as "a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behavior helps or harms sentient creatures".
Rushworth Kidder states that "standard definitions of ethics have typically included such phrases as 'the science of the ideal human character' or 'the science of moral duty' ". This word was transferred into Latin as ethica and then into French as éthique, from which it was transferred into English. The English word ethics is derived from the Ancient Greek word ēthikós ( ἠθικός), meaning "relating to one's character", which itself comes from the root word êthos ( ἦθος) meaning "character, moral nature".
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".