The idea that there is some significant, load-bearing distinction in meaning between "ethical" and "moral" is something I've encountered a few times in my life.

The idea that there is some significant, load-bearing distinction in meaning between "ethical" and "moral" is something I've encountered a few times in my life. In every case it has struck me as similar to, say, "split infinitives are ungrammatical": some people who pride themselves on being pedants like to drop it into any conversation where it might be relevant, believing it to be both important and true, when it is in fact neither.