Legal Versus Ethical Case

Legal versus Ethical

There will always be situations, which society question if something is legal or if it is morally acceptable. As a society there are many times, people are faced with this dilemma, questioning, which decision is right. To determine what course we should take we need to ask ourselves these three pertinent questions:

1. “Are our responsibilities limited to what the law requires of us?” (O’Connor, 2007, p. 1)

2. “If we are legally allowed to do something, does that mean we ought to?” (O’Connor, 2007, p. 1)

3. “If there is no relevant law to speak of with respect to a “What should I do?” problem we are facing, does that mean that anything goes?” (O’Connor, 2007, p. 1)

The answers to these questions should be no! Think about life, and take a look at our lives and the things we did or did not do. Imagine that during our lives we only did the things that made us happy and satisfied. When looking at the question, “What should I do?” he or she sees that they only did the things that helped them with no care of how it might affect others. This would be a sad way to have lived your life.

What if he or she never did anything wrong, never broke a law, how could you think that you lived a good life thinking only of yourself but not of others. As human beings, and to be part of society we have to go beyond what society laws ask of us. It is “Not what I can away with legally?” but “What does ethics ask or require of me?” (O’Connor, 2007, p. 1) When we make comparisons between law and ethics, we can see the differences. Laws will change over time. They are motivated by political interests or economic situations. They are never in the interests of people. When looking at ethics these are standards that surpass time and place. They do not bend to the impulses of the political world. In fact, as a spectator,