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Differences Between Law And Ethics

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Now that the definition and characteristics of law and ethics were identified, this other half of the paper will look into their similarities and differences and what causes the blurring or mixing of the two concepts. We will also determine whether law is shaped by ethics or vice versa and what are the consequences when laws violate ethical issues.

Ethics and law are both concerned with what is right and wrong. George Annas, in his Relationship of Law and Ethics, distinguished the two by calling ethics as “the morality of aspiration” because it tells people what to do and to embody the ideals they strive to achieve while he called law as “the morality of duty” because it provides boundaries of actions. He also emphasized that ethical codes are usually generalities while laws are more specific. Other observable differences are: laws are enforced to people while ethics comes from the virtues of people, violation of laws results to punishment while violation of moral principles results not in punishment but rather guilt.

Is there a dividing point between law and ethics? The diving points, as I see it, are the essential features of each. By looking and checking at their characteristics, one can distinguish what counts as ethics and what counts as law. Although there are times when this distinctions becomes blurred. This happens when a person experiences an ethical dilemma. In the case of abortion, it may be possible that law will allow abortion in extreme medical cases but

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