The purpose of this paper is to define, from a philosophical point of view, two concepts that ususally appear as alternative when the problems of a violent society are in discussion: civil society and civic ethics. The author"s main thesis is that ethics of a civil society must be guided by universalization criteria, inscribing himself in a tradition that goes from German Idealism to contemporary German Philosophy. From this outlook, denying ethics universalization means to deny the ethics of a civil society. In order to develop this thesis, the author goes through Kohlberg and Piaget's evolutive psychology theories and Apel's discourse ethics and confronta them with the ones Foucault and Lyotard set forth. Finally, he points out how important the relationship between religion and the ethics of the civil society is.