amoral

Amoral is an adjective that describes something lacking any sense of morality, or operating outside the framework of moral evaluation. It can refer to actions, systems, or beings that do not consider right or wrong, or to contexts in which moral judgments are not applied. This use is distinct from immoral, which denotes behavior that is judged to be wrong or contrary to moral norms. In common usage, amoral can describe indifference to moral questions or an absence of moral guidance rather than overt wrongdoing.

The term derives from the prefix a- meaning without, attached to moral; it entered English via French amoral, reflecting the Latin root moralis.

In philosophy and ethics, amoral is used to characterize actors or phenomena that do not engage in moral reasoning, such as certain nonhuman animals or hypothetical artificial agents that lack the capacity for ethical deliberation. The concept is debated; some theorists argue that agents can be amoral by nature, while others maintain that all intentional beings are at least moral agents in some sense. Amoral descriptions are typically descriptive rather than prescriptive.

In practice, many discussions distinguish amoral from moral and immoral usage. For example, a tool or algorithm may be described as amoral if it operates without moral intent, whereas policies or actions judged to violate norms may be described as immoral. The label can carry normative connotations in everyday speech, implying indifference or deficiency in moral sensibility.

See also: morality, immoral, amoralism, moral agency, ethics.