I feel like people who say this have only taken one moral philosophy class and then think they get to gate-keep the general concept of morality. > "Moral" is a

I feel like people who say this have only taken one moral philosophy class and then think they get to gate-keep the general concept of morality. > "Moral" is a subtly toxic word because it has some vague equivalence with being nice Words have different meanings. Morality isn't a homogeneous thing and differs among people. It's entirely possible to have a moral philosophy that allows you to be nice _to the world_. This is exactly the Kantian outlook: "will[ing] that [actions] should become a universal law". Using your example: Getting the sailor in trouble wouldn't be alright. You would be treating him as a means to an end. That is, you're treating him as a mean to your own salvation, rather than his. So the "moral" thing wouldn't be to simply snitch, because you would get stitches. You should help to ensure that 1) He feels guilt[0] and 2) His family doesn't endure unnecessary pain[1]. [0]: Anything else would be treating him as a means to an end, e.g rehabilitation (the alleged good of the criminal) or deterrence (alleged good to society). [1]: Anything else would be treating them as a means to an end (his punishment).