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Moral certainty   /mˈɔrəl sˈərtənti/   Listen
adjective
Moral  adj.  
1.
Relating to duty or obligation; pertaining to those intentions and actions of which right and wrong, virtue and vice, are predicated, or to the rules by which such intentions and actions ought to be directed; relating to the practice, manners, or conduct of men as social beings in relation to each other, as respects right and wrong, so far as they are properly subject to rules. "Keep at the least within the compass of moral actions, which have in them vice or virtue." "Mankind is broken loose from moral bands." "She had wandered without rule or guidance in a moral wilderness."
2.
Conformed to accepted rules of right; acting in conformity with such rules; virtuous; just; as, a moral man. Used sometimes in distinction from religious; as, a moral rather than a religious life. "The wiser and more moral part of mankind."
3.
Capable of right and wrong action or of being governed by a sense of right; subject to the law of duty. "A moral agent is a being capable of those actions that have a moral quality, and which can properly be denominated good or evil in a moral sense."
4.
Acting upon or through one's moral nature or sense of right, or suited to act in such a manner; as, a moral arguments; moral considerations. Sometimes opposed to material and physical; as, moral pressure or support.
5.
Supported by reason or probability; practically sufficient; opposed to legal or demonstrable; as, a moral evidence; a moral certainty.
6.
Serving to teach or convey a moral; as, a moral lesson; moral tales.
Moral agent, a being who is capable of acting with reference to right and wrong.
Moral certainty, a very high degree or probability, although not demonstrable as a certainty; a probability of so high a degree that it can be confidently acted upon in the affairs of life; as, there is a moral certainty of his guilt.
Moral insanity, insanity, so called, of the moral system; badness alleged to be irresponsible.
Moral philosophy, the science of duty; the science which treats of the nature and condition of man as a moral being, of the duties which result from his moral relations, and the reasons on which they are founded.
Moral play, an allegorical play; a morality. (Obs.)
Moral sense, the power of moral judgment and feeling; the capacity to perceive what is right or wrong in moral conduct, and to approve or disapprove, independently of education or the knowledge of any positive rule or law.
Moral theology, theology applied to morals; practical theology; casuistry.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Moral certainty" Quotes from Famous Books



... was Germany's saber that it was rattling in the face of Europe. Obviously Austria could not have proceeded to extreme measures, which it was recognized from the first would antagonize Russia, unless it had the support of Germany, and there is a probability, amounting to a moral certainty, that it would not have committed itself and Germany to the possibility of a European war without first ...
— The Evidence in the Case • James M. Beck

... disposal. At this time of the day I could, of course, have trusted both, but they were very human bodies of a sort to rejoice the business side of the heart of Joe Braggs, and it was best not to give them the chance of blabbing later in the day when, for a moral certainty, they would both be market fresh. Besides, it was unfair to thrust myself on the kindness of anyone. I had more than once wondered what had happened to poor ...
— The Yeoman Adventurer • George W. Gough

... with the Gunpowder Plot from its very beginning is a moral certainty, notwithstanding his earnest efforts to show the contrary. He not only made assertions which he afterwards allowed to be false; but he set up at different times two lines of defence which were inconsistent. ...
— It Might Have Been - The Story of the Gunpowder Plot • Emily Sarah Holt

... of attaches and employes of the cordon and quarantine systems in the different countries on the Continent. We could produce no mean authority to show, that a long succession of negative proofs must be received as amounting to a moral certainty; and what greater proof can we have of non-contagion in any disease, than we have in the fact regarding epidemic cholera, as well as yellow fever, that attendants on the sick are not more liable than others to be attacked? Regard should, of course, always be paid, in taking this point ...
— Letters on the Cholera Morbus. • James Gillkrest

... away, but almost in the direction I was going. Hoping that these objects might be living creatures, I hurried on for a time, then sat down and after having watched them for a time I found that they changed positions and that satisfied me to a moral certainty that they were living creatures, but what I could not tell. They might be horses, cattle, elk, deer, antelope or buffalo; but no matter what, I must hurry on and try ...
— Death Valley in '49 • William Lewis Manly

... Cold, White Face, then he would be Sorry. Upon Second Thought, this didn't seem to be a Moral Certainty, so she Weakened and had the Girl take the Poison and Hide it. She said she would Live—Live to ...
— More Fables • George Ade



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