2 Answers

  1. A noble unethical act is an oxymoron. (Well, or “noble immoral” – judging by the text of the question, you, like me, use “morality” and “ethics” as synonyms).

    Noble – by definition, based on good intentions towards someone else. That is, it includes a positive moral orientation.

    Therefore, the solution is possible either in the sense of “ethical from one point of view/ in one context, and at the same time unethical from another point of view/ in another context”. Or introduce very narrow, specific definitions of the words “noble” and “ethical”, which will remove the contradiction (for example, they say that noble is about a spiritual impulse, and ethical is about the moral rules that are normative for this time/social stratum).

  2. For example, the behavior of Sonya Marmeladova from Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. She went on a life of debauchery to earn pennies and help her sisters. That is, her actions are immoral for a society whose nobility is much less than Sonya's.

Leave a Reply