Conscientious vs Principled

I'm looking for a word that describes a person who takes doing right by other seriously.

I like principled but for me it can connote an adherence to a doctrine and the person I am thinking of follows their own sense of right and wrong. I can also associate stubbornness and close-mindedness with principled people and this is not what I wish to imply.

I also like conscientious, but this word can also imply attention to detail.

The word I'm looking for describes a person that cares about doing right because of the impact it has on people, not service to some moral code.


Correct me if I'm wrong, but this person may be described as being altruistic or possessing traits of altruism. This term has only one meaning, isn't associated with one's morality, and refers to somebody who “cares about doing right because of the impact it has on people.” Per Merriam-Webster:

feelings and behavior that show a desire to help other people and a lack of selfishness


You could say that they are honorable.

When used in conjunction with a title this tends to mean someone who is prestigious or highly placed (e.g. the Honorable Judge Stevens, but when used to describe a person's character, it means that they act rightly, and are fair and ethical in their dealings with others. This also appears in conjunction with professions, as a way to suggest that doing the job is helpful to society and other people, not just a way to make money, as in "He wanted an honorable profession, so he became an oncologist. "


A virtue ethicist, would simply call them ethical.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may, initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach which emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that which emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism).

This (might?) get around the close-mindedness of 'principled' (deontology) and the moral code of conscientious right-doing (consequentialism).

Have a sniff around the Greek word Eudaimonia also...

Plato:

The good composed of all goods; an ability which suffices for living well; perfection in respect of virtue; resources sufficient for a living creature.