Basic definitions
Dictionary.com defines "Law" as:
The principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people...recognized and enforced by judicial decision. |
In other words laws are explicit rules about behavior that are punishable with some kind of consequence. For example, "don't drive over 55 MPH on this road or you will get a ticket and have to pay a fine."
It defines "Ethics" as:
Values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. |
In other words ethics are general guidelines for behavior that don't specify an action or a punishment. For example, "speeding is bad because someone can get hurt and it shows a lack of concern for other people on the road."
What are the differences between these definitions? Can you think of examples that would fall under each category? Are there examples that could fall into both categories?
Let's look at some examples.