Ethics is the moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an

activity. Morals are concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the
goodness or badness of human character. Law is the system of rules that a particular country or
community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and may enforce by the
imposition of penalties.

If you are ethical you can abide by the law. If you are Moral you can be ethical. Also, if you are
moral you can abide by the law. But you can never be all three together.

Morality governs private, personal interactions. Ethics governs professional interactions. Law
governs society as a whole, often dealing with interactions between total strangers.

Some people talk about their personal ethics, others talk about a set of morals, and everyone
in a society is governed by the same set of laws. If the law conflicts with our personal values or
a moral system, we have to act – but to do so we need to be able to tell the difference between
them.
Ethics and morals relate to “right” and “wrong” conduct. While they are sometimes used
interchangeably, they are different: ethics refer to rules provided by an external source, e.g.,
codes of conduct in workplaces or principles in religions. Morals refer to an individual's own
principles regarding right and wrong.
Morals and Law differ because the law demands an absolute subjection to its rules and
commands. Law has enforcing authority derived from the state. It is heteronymous (being
imposed upon men upon the outer life of men). Law regulates men’s relations with others and
with society.

A promissory note is in force for three years. It is the debtor’s duty to repay the loan. It is the
legal duty. The creditor can enforce legal action against the debtor within three years from the
date of execution of a promissory note before the court of law. The legal duty involves a
corresponding right. The state provides organized machinery for the enforcement of the law.
Legal disputes admit to the principle of alteration by legislation. Legal disputes can only be
settled by an appropriate court of law. Law is narrower than morality. It extends to a great
number of such acts. The law applies to all the citizens whether they want or not. Law cannot be
changed into morals.

Morality demands that men should act from a sense of ethical duty. Morality has no such
enforcing authority from the state. It is autonomous (coming from the inner life of men). It
governs the inner life of men. If the promissory note is time-barred, then the legal duty of the
debtor turns into moral duty. Of course, moral duty is not enforceable before the court of law. It
is also accompanied by a corresponding right. But right is not enforceable before the court of
law. There is no such organization for the enforcement of morals. Moral rules do not admit even
in principle admit of change by legislation. Moral disputes can be solved by the mediation of
caste elders, village elders, etc. Morality applies to every human act.
Morality also applies to all persons. But it depends from person to person, from religion to
religion, society to society. It is his/her pleasure to follow or not. But morals sometimes can be
converted into law. Example: a donation to a charity institution is a moral principle. The income-
tax recognized and exempts a certain percentage of income-tax towards donation from the total
income.

Ethics and Law - Ethics are rules of conduct. Laws are rules developed by governments in
order to provide balance in society and protection to its citizens. Ethics comes from people’s
awareness of what is right and wrong. Laws are enforced by governments to their people. Ethics
are moral codes that every person must conform to. Laws are codifications of ethics meant to
regulate society. Ethics does not carry any punishment to anyone who violates it. The law will
punish anyone who happens to violate it. Ethics comes from within a person’s moral values.
Laws are made with ethics as a guiding principle.

It is clear that one cannot be Ethical, Moral, and follow the law. In today's society following the
law affects the morality of people. Being ethical makes you look like you are against someone or
something. What do you do? It is not to please anyone but make sure you are ok with what you
will follow. Choose wisely because only two go side by side.
Ethics
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that aims to answer the basic question, “What should I do?”
It’s a process of reflection in which people’s decisions are shaped by their values, principles,
and purpose rather than unthinking habits, social conventions, or self-interest.

Our values, principles, and purpose are what give us a sense of what’s good, right, and
meaningful in our lives. They serve as a reference point for all the possible courses of
action we could choose. On this definition, an ethical decision is one made based on
reflection about the things we think are important and that is consistent with those beliefs.

While each person is able to reflect and discover their own sense of what’s good, right, and
meaningful, the course of human history has seen different groups unify around different
sets of values, purposes and principles. Christians, consequentialists, Buddhists, Stoics and
the rest all provide different answers to that question, “What should I do?” Each of these
answers is a ‘morality’.

Morality
Many people find morality extremely useful. Not everyone has the time and training to
reflect on the kind of life they want to live, considering all the different combinations of
values, principles, and purposes. It’s helpful for them to have a coherent, consistent account
that has been refined through history and can be applied in their day to day lives.

Many people also inherit their morality from their family, community or culture – it’s rare for
somebody to ‘shop around’ for the morality that most closely fits their personal beliefs.
Usually the process is unconscious. There’s a challenge here: if we inherit a ready-made
answer to the question of how we should live, it’s possible to apply it to our lives without
ever assessing whether the answer is satisfactory or not.

We might live our whole lives under a moral system which, if we’d had the chance to think
about, we would have rejected in part or in full.

Law
The law is different. It’s not a morality in the strict sense of the word because, at least in
democratic nations, it tries to create a private space where individuals can live according to
their own ethical beliefs or morality. Instead, the law tries to create a basic, enforceable
standard of behaviour necessary in order for a community to succeed and in which all
people are treated equally.
Because of this, the law is narrower in focus than ethics or morality. There are some
matters the law will be agnostic on but which ethics and morality have a lot to say. For
example, the law will be useless to you if you’re trying to decide whether to tell your
competitor their new client has a reputation for not paying their invoices, but our ideas
about what’s good and right will still guide our judgement here.

There is a temptation to see the law and ethics as the same – so long as we’re fulfilling our
legal obligations we can consider ourselves ‘ethical’. This is mistaken on two fronts. First,
the law outlines a basic standard of behaviour necessary for our social institutions to keep
functioning. For example, it protects basic consumer rights. However, in certain situations
the right thing to in solving a dispute with a customer might require us to go beyond our
legal obligations.

Secondly, there may be times when obeying the law would require us to act against our
ethics or morality. A doctor might be obligated to perform a procedure they believe is
unethical or a public servant might believe it’s their duty to leak classified information to the
press. Some philosophers have argued that a person’s conscience is more binding on them
than any law, which suggests to the letter of the law won’t be an adequate substitute for
ethical reflection.

Ethical vs Moral
Ang pagkakaiba sa pagitan ng etikal at moral ay lubos na nakalilito para sa ilang mga
tao. Sa unang sulyap, ang dalawang konsepto ay maaaring lumitaw din na
magkasingkahulugan. Sa pangkalahatan, itinuturing ng karamihan sa mga tao ang
moral at etika bilang kahulugan ng tama at mali. Ito ay lamang ng isang napaka-simple
at pangkalahatang kahulugan, na hindi nakakakuha ng mga pagkakaiba sa indibidwal.
Una nating maunawaan ang mga etika bilang mga code ng pag-uugali na naaprubahan
at isinagawa ng mga indibidwal sa isang lipunan. Ang mga moral, sa kabilang banda, ay
maaaring matingnan bilang indibidwal na kahulugan ng tama at mali. Ang pagkakaiba
na ito sa pagitan ng dalawang stem mula sa etika na magkasamang pinagkasunduan
samantalang ang mga moral ay naiiba sa isang indibidwal sa iba.

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Ano ang Ethical?

Una na nating maunawaan kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng Ethical. Ang etika o pagiging
etikal ay tumutukoy sa pagsunod sa mga code ng pag-uugali na tinanggap ng lipunan.
Sa bawat lipunan, ang mga indibidwal ay inaasahan na kumilos sa isang partikular na
paraan. Dinidikta ng etika ang mga code ng pag-uugali para sa mga indibidwal. Habang
lumalaki ang isang bata, nasanay ang bata sa mga etikal na kahilingan ng lipunan sa
pamamagitan ng proseso ng pagsasapanlipunan. Minsan ang pormal at di-pormal na
edukasyon ng isang bata ay mahalaga din sa pagbibigay ng kamalayan sa etika sa
bata. Gayunpaman, ang etika ay hindi unibersal. Ang isang pattern ng pag-uugali na
itinuturing na tama at inaprubahan ng isang lipunan ay maaaring hindi aprubahan ng isa
pa. Kumuha tayo ng isang halimbawa sa pag-unawa sa hindi pangkaraniwang bagay na
ito.

Ang pagpapalaglag ay isang paksa na itinuturing na bawal na mga ilang dekada na ang
nakalilipas. May mga relihiyon sa buong mundo na itinuturing ito na isang kasalanan
laban sa sangkatauhan kahit ngayon. Gayunpaman, upang mabigyan ng kakayahan
ang mga magulang na limitahan ang kanilang pamilya at din upang makontrol ang
dumaraming populasyon na naglalagay ng presyon sa mga mapagkukunan, ang pag-
aborsyon ay na-legalize sa maraming mga bansa. Kung ang sinuman sa isang bansa
na may legal na pagpapalaglag ay nagpasiyang pumunta para sa isang pagpapalaglag,
naaprubahan ito sa paningin ng batas at maaaring maging etikal sa mga mata ng
lipunan. Gayunpaman, sa ilang mga bansa, ang pagpapalaglag ay itinuturing na isang
krimen, sapagkat nakikibahagi ito sa pagpatay sa ibang tao. Sa mga nasabing bansa,
ang pagpapalaglag ay hindi lamang unethical kundi isang krimen din. Binibigyang diin
nito ang konteksto ay gumaganap ng isang mahalagang papel kapag nagsasalita ng
etika.
Ano ang Moral?

Ngayon bigyang-pansin natin ang ibig sabihin ng mga moral. Tumutukoy ito sa
indibidwal na kahulugan ng kung ano ang tama at mali. Ang moralidad ay na-internalize
ng isang indibidwal sa pamamagitan ng kanyang pagpapalaki. Ang pamilya, relihiyon at
maging ang lipunan na malaki ay may malaking papel sa bagay na ito. Alamin natin ang
parehong halimbawa ng isang pagpapalaglag. Kahit na ang isang bansa ay nag-
legalize sa pagpapalaglag doon marahil ang mga tao na itinuturing na imoral na
pumatay ng isang fetus dahil sa palagay nila ay napakahalaga sa pagpatay. Dito na
nagiging malinaw ang pagkakaiba sa pagitan ng moral at etika. Ang etikal ay itinuturing
ng isang lipunan na mabuti o naaprubahan samantalang ang moral ay isang pansariling
sistema ng paniniwala na nasa mas malalim na antas.

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Ngayon bigyang-pansin natin ang isa pang paksa na nagtatampok ng pagkakaiba sa
pagitan ng etika at moral. Maraming mga bansa kung saan sa wakas ay tinanggap ng
mga lipunan na mayroong mga tao na may sekswal na hilig patungo sa parehong
kasarian, at gumawa pa sila ng mga probisyon sa epekto na ang mga taong ito ay hindi
napigilan. Nangangahulugan ito na ang mga lipunan ay sa wakas ay nagbunga at
itinuturing na etikal at ligal na makisali sa homosekswalidad. Gayunpaman, maraming
mga tao sa mga lipunang ito na, vociferous laban sa mga pag-uugali na sa palagay nila
ay imoral na magpakasawa sa homosexuality, at kinamumuhian nila ito. Ipinapahiwatig
nito na habang ang etikal ay tumutukoy sa pangkalahatang pananaw sa lipunan, ang
moral ay tumutukoy sa indibidwal na pagtingin.

Ano ang Pagkakaiba sa pagitan ng Ethical at Moral?

 Katulad ng tunog ng moral at etikal ngunit magkakaiba sila. Ang etikal ay ang mga code
ng pag-uugali na idinidikta ng lipunan. Gayunpaman, maaari pa rin silang maging imoral
para sa mga tao sa mas malalim na antas kung saan nakatira ang kanyang personal na
sistema ng paniniwala. Ang mga personal na sistema ng paniniwala ay tinukoy bilang
mga moral. Ang mga ito ay naiiba mula sa isang indibidwal hanggang sa isa pa.