I am by no means an expert in this subject, but let me give it try. First, we have to be clear on what we mean by ‘ethics’ and ‘manner’. After some Googling (Google-scholaring for that matters) I came up with a conclusion: the word ‘ethics’ is used to define a set of standard on what is right or wrong – a set of moral standard. A branch of philosophy called, strangely, ‘ethics’ scrutinizes these ethical standards. While the word ‘manners’ can be understood as socially acceptable ways of behaving oneself. Simply put, ‘manners’ are on being polite (did I say anything about being ‘socially acceptable’?).
In many ways, ‘manners’ conform to ‘ethics’. For example, one student ethics that I can think of is students ought to be honest in doing their exams. Hence, the expected ‘manner’ from a student is to work on the exams on their own. No cheating! But now let’s consider this. Suppose that one department in the school, say it’s Public Health department, is known for its super duper hard exam. Suppose everybody agrees that the only way to pass the exam is to cheat, which makes cheating ‘socially acceptable’ (amongst the student, that is). Does it make cheating right? No, it is still wrong!
That being said, what is acceptable doesn’t necessarily conform to what is right or wrong. Like I said before, both ethics and manners are equally important. But whenever the two collide, we ought to strive on being ethical. One last thing, we should always be aware that what is acceptable to us might not be acceptable to others. Although what is right or wrong remains the same, what is acceptable changes with time and place. Thus, remember that what is acceptable to us and our friends here aren’t always acceptable to our parents or teachers or other members of society there. When morality is not in question, we also ought to strive for being socially acceptable in every occasion in our life.
