Full Idea
The moral individual becomes an ethical individual when he recognises that his own voice need not always utter the last word on a given matter, but should be understood as participating in ongoing social and political practices.
Gist of Idea
Moral individuals become ethical when they see the social aspect of a matter
Source
report of Georg W.F.Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right [1821]) by Stephen Houlgate - An Introduction to Hegel 08 'Freedom'
Book Reference
Houlgate,Stephen: 'An Introduction to Hegel' [Blackwell 2005], p.197
A Reaction
This is a key idea in Hegel, and is seen (by Charles Taylor etc) as the foundations of modern communitarianism.
Related Idea
Idea 21788 The moral will is self-determining, but the ethical will is met in society [Houlgate]