What are ethics; what are morals? Are they the same thing or is it possible to distinguish between them? There is a great deal of confusion surrounding this issue. Let us attempt an explanation. In everyday language, and even amongst the educated, ethics and morals are synonymous with one another. We say "here is an ethical problem" or "here is a moral problem". In doing so, we are making a judgement regarding the value of a social or personal practice, about whether it is good, bad or questionable. But going deeper into the question, we find that ethics and morals are not synonymous. Ethics represent an aspect of philosophy. Consider the basic concept, principles and values that guide people and societies. An individual is ethical when they are guided by principles and convictions. Therefore, we say that a person has character and a good nature. Morals form part of real life. They are about what people actually practice through customs, habits and accepted values. An individual is moral when s/he acts in conformity with established customs and values which could, eventually, be ethically questionable. An individual could be moral (following customs) but not necessarily ethical (obeying principles). Although useful, these definitions are abstract as they do not show the processes through which ethics and morals have actually emerged. This is where the Greeks can help. They started from one fundamental aspect, which is still valid now: that of the home understood existentially as the entirety of relationships between the physical environment and people. They called the home "ethos" (in Greek with a long e). In order for the home to be a home, it is necessary to organise the physical space (bedrooms, sitting room, kitchen) and the human space (relationships among the inhabitants and with their neighbours), following certain criteria, values and principles in order that everyone could live harmoniously and feel content. This gave character to the house and to the people. The Greeks also called this "ethos". We would talk about ethics and peoples' ethical natures. In addition, the inhabitants adopt customs in the home, ways of organising meals, meetings, types of relationship, strained and competitive or harmonious and cooperative. The Greeks also called this "ethos" (with a short e). We talk about morals and the moral standing of a person. These customs (morals) form the character (ethics) of individuals. Winnicot, building on Freud, studied the importance of family relationships in establishing peoples' characters. People will be ethical (they will have principles and values) if there is a good moral (harmonious and inclusive relationships) basis in the household. People of the Middle Ages did not have the same subtlety of distinction as the Greeks. They used the word moral (from mos/mores) for both customs as well as character. They distinguished between ethical morals (the philosophy of morals) which studies the principles and the attitudes that illuminated the practices, and practical morals which analyses the acts and the light of the attitudes and studies the application of these principles in everyday life. What are ethics and morals nowadays? They are capitalist. The ethics of capitalism are defined as: that which allows the greatest gain with the lowest investment and in the shortest amount of time possible. Its concrete morals say: employ as few people as possible, pay lower wages and tax and exploit nature as much as possible. Let us imagine how our homes and society (ethos) would be if they adopted such customs (morals/ethos) and produced characters (ethos/morals) this contentious. Would life still be humane and positive? This is the reason for the current serious crisis. (Translation by ALAI)