Ethics, Morals, and Laws

Ethics, Morals, and Laws Essay

Leiloni Schulz

Grand Canyon University: EDU 465

July 26th,, 2017
Different people around the globe have certain guiding principles that direct how those people live their lives.  These guidelines are based on ethics, morals, and laws. Sometimes, the lines between these three principal sets can become blurred.  There are many a time that people can no longer tell the difference between morals and ethics, or between ethics and laws. Even when researching the differences the definitions found online are almost the same, or refer to each other.  There are similarities, and differences between ethics, morals, and laws, as well as advantages and disadvantages to having the lines between ethics, morals, and laws being blurred.

When looking up the definitions of ethics, morals, and laws, Dictionary.com shows very similar explanations of each individual ideal.  According to dictionary.com, ethics are: “a system of moral principles. . .the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.. . moral principles, as of an individual” (ethic, n.d.).  This definition actually uses the term “moral principles,” making it even more difficult to draw the line between ethics, and morals. Morals are the principles or rules of conduct which distinguishes between right, and wrong, possibly including sexual behaviors and beliefs as well (morals, n.d.).  The main difference seen here is that ethics seem to be a more systematic, and organized group of morals that may be agreed upon within a certain business type of setting.    The definition of what a law is includes, “the principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether in the form of legislation or of custom and policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision” (law, n.d.).

Finding the difference between ethics, and morals is a more difficult one.  Most definitions have them mentioned as almost the same thing. Ethics, and laws also begin to be very similar when laws are passed in order to try and make stronger ethics.   The founder and president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics states that, “Ethics is concerned with moral obligations … based on moral duties and virtues … Laws establish standards of behavior that may or may not correlate with individual conscience. Laws coerce from the outside, ethics control from the inside” (Kerns, 2011).  Sometimes laws based on ethics are made in order to create strong ethics, and yet these ethics may be created based on moral values. The difference is where the principle originates, who created it, and how it is enforced. Morals tend to be personal or spiritual in nature, where as ethics may be more of a business or organization creation, and the laws are created and enforced by society or the community.

The advantages of having such a blurry distinction between morals, ethics, and laws is that each separate principle can be used in order to influence the other.  The disadvantages include people who possibly may not be able to distinguish between something that they may choose to do or not to do, something that they shouldn’t do or not do, and then something that they really shouldn’t do or not do in order not to be prosecuted against.  People may not know when a behavior is something that will just affect their moral character, or when it may get them locked up in jail.

Whether a principle or behavior is labeled as ethics, morals, or laws is not truly what is important in life.  What is truly important is that people know the difference between behaviors, and attitudes that can get them into trouble versus those which are a personal decision.  There are some similarities, and differences between ethics, morals, and laws, as well as advantages and disadvantages to having the lines between ethics, morals, and laws being blurred.  It is not the blurry lines that are important, but what each principle means for each person as well as those who are around them in society.

References

ethics. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved July 28, 2017 from Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/ethics

KERNS, P. (2011). DO ETHICS LAWS WORK?. State Legislatures, 37(7), 43.

law. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved July 28, 2017 from Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/law

morals. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved July 28, 2017 from Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/morals