legal but morally wrong examples

The public scrutiny that cigarette and fast-food companies come under proves that these lines of business can be risky, albeit highly profitable. Moral relativism encompasses views and arguments that people in various cultures have held over several thousand years. It is important to recognize that not all moral things are legal, but it is also important to recognize that not all immoral things are illegal. Is that supposed to be an example of my point, or a counter-example? You might think it’s obvious, but it’s not, as evidenced by the fact that a former student recently told me that his Finance professor explicitly told him that if something is legal, it’s ethical…full stop. A good example of this is oil and gas waste water injection and earthquakes. A moral wrong is something that is objectionable according to a code of morals, often a religious code, but sometimes just a private sense of right and wrong. Example: Client confidentiality Not a completely reliable guide to one’s moral … On the contrary, there are sometimes actions that I would consider to be preferable from an ethical sense, but not actually legal. Ethics in Product Price, Placement & Promotion in Marketing, Privacy Notice/Your California Privacy Rights. In fact, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has already implemented regulation on injection wells. And regardless, I don’t know of any usage of “ethical” according to which I would be wrong to say that lying is unethical. No, ethics isn’t just about the majority. ( Log Out /  The morality of capital punishment is debatable. They are just selfish, even if they are the majority. Crimes are only one type of wrong. On what basis could new laws ever be passed? No need for a rehash of stories of police brutality gone unpunished. We are fortunate in such cases, for then we do not have to choose between law and morality. Chris, with all due respect, I think you underestimate the cases “…of unscrupulous legislators passing laws simply to benefit themselves or their friends.” This is the norm not the exception. You can’t be arrested for cheating, but that doesn’t mean it’s morally okay. 3.2. The ethical decisions would be centered on future oil and gas demand, environmental responsibility, corporate citizenship and reliance on foreign oil. Think about this for a moment: would you really want all ethical obligations turned into laws? Theft has been considered unethical in virtually every society since the dawn of civilization, for example, while certain forestry practices are perpetually debated. Would you consider that immoral? Of course, the student — my student — knew better, and related the story to me while rolling his eyes. The majority can be selfish. For example, verbally abusing your children by telling them that they are worthless is perfectly legal, but will likely cause emotional harm that they may never get over. A practice may be considered morally legitimate, but … What a great article. The same applies to businesses that serve to keep poor people in poverty by marketing $200 shoes to youth in low-income market segments, for example, or by selling high-calorie, low-nutrition foods at a higher price-per-volume in smaller packages in impoverished neighborhoods. But if the aforementioned Finance professor were right, there would be no possibility of finding a moral rationale for any new law. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. This would make a great visual. 353. Still other tactics can take advantage of people in need by luring them into predatory services, such as high-cost loans with daily interest compounding. 04.It can be illegal not to fulfill a contract, but it might be ethical for any number of logical reasons. escape social or legal punishment, and then continue breaking the law. These are legion. All rights reserved. We need you now as Trump is using it is legal as his rational for not separating himself as President from himself as businessman. In at least one traditional usage, they are interchangeable. Hydraulic fracturing in oil drilling operations is an example from the early 21st century. Some things to consider, is the methodology in correlating waste water injection or disposal to earthquakes is building a model and methodology to understand the why, how and to what extent waste water injection has on induced seismicity or earthquakes. Building a model based on data rather than seeing a trend and making assumptions seems to be the better approach. … This overnight shutdown would cause massive unemployment, blackouts, outrageous fuel prices, and general chaos a multitude greater than the oil embargo of the 70’s. ===== Things that are illegal but are thought to be moral (for many)! Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Particular human laws must be in accord with, and in some way based upon, the moral law, or natural law, which is man’s participation, through right reason, in the eternal law of God. This chapter is about people committing crimes—engaging in behavior that violates the criminal law—and how society responds to these criminal behaviors. Some illegal acts are morally permissible. Operationally, oil and gas operators would be forced to shut down almost overnight unless they find a way to recycle produced water, which has been proven to work. I can assure you that oil and gas operators are as interested in this data as the general public and academics, if not more interested. To answer a question such as this, you have to take in to consideration which country and which religion are you judging by. If it wasn't legal it wouldn't happen so much. People can also violate civil law or commit a moral wrong and not be guilty of any crime whatsoever. If your business causes direct environmental impacts, the best ethical policy is to always go beyond the letter of the law, as much as you can, to respect the ethics of those who live in the areas in which you operate. Although businesses operate within a wide range of regulations aimed at enforcing ethical standards, the subjective nature of ethics means that even perfectly legal business practices can come under scrutiny as unethical … Of course, it could be that the aforementioned Finance professor wasn’t making a general claim about the relationship between ethics and law at all, but was instead making a more subtle point about ethical standards in competitive domains. Business Ethics Highlights Posted by 3 years ago. This paper will delineate whether Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide are morally right or ethically wrong. First, we can proceed by enumerating a few counter-examples: So, if you want to hold that what is legal is also ethical, you’ve got to bite an awful lot of bullets, and accept as ethical a lot of behaviours that you very likely don’t want to accept. Palmer believed he was conducting a legal hunt. There are passages in ancient Greek writers, for example, which seem to suggest that the good person is the one who will do what is lawful. « The Business Ethics Blog, Rexall’s Dubious Homeopathic Offerings | The Business Ethics Blog, American Apparel’s New Code of Ethics: A Good Start | The Business Ethics Blog, http://www.citehr.com/407111-right-information-tool-against-corrupt-india.html, Enron’s Fastow: “Within the Rules” Doesn’t Mean “Ethical” | Business Ethics Highlights, Cecil the Lion shows how reputational risk has gone global | The Business Ethics Blog, Why I’ll Never Work on First-Person Shooters Again | TRIFORCE STUDIO, Fake Doctor’s Note Usage – My Ethical and Legal Tactics – wingovcon.com, TGIF: April 14, 2017 – On Being United…Against Ambiguous Contract Terms – Rules of the Game, "Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior", 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics. not moral and legal-abortion. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Primary question: What makes actions right or wrong? This would clearly be illegal – would it also be unethical? It kills innocent people every year. Best wishes for 2012 to all of you. Morality refers to a group's cultural and religious beliefs, which determine what is right and what is wrong. 05.It is illegal to lease a car or an apartment in your name for someone else who otherwise would not qualify but it is an ethical thing to do if it is going to help them succeed in life.. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning, taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is charged in excess of the maximum rate that is allowed by law. Is it ethical to shut down the main industry driving the economy in say Oklahoma based on assumption rather than verifiable data? The income-tax recognized and exempts a certain percentage of income-tax towards donation from the total income. A culture of impunity is created when people in power break the law, And by being thick headed, and saying that if it’s legal it is ethical then no new information can be considered in legislation. He has been writing The Business Ethics Blog since November of 2005. the complainant) to attend video conference. You can’t just pick the majority because there are too many different ideas about ethics. Chris MacDonald, Ph.D., is an educator, speaker, and consultant in the realm of business ethics. Child Labour and Victoria’s Secret, Again », http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471504574438900830760842.html, Is Animal Cruelty Illegal but Ethical? While bringing up a great point I think the flip side is more important these days, not everything that is illegal is unethical. For example, a business built around products that increase national obesity or addiction statistics can be successful and well within the law, but at the cost of a tarnished reputation among all consumer groups. Please explain what you think the difference is. In legal philosophy, a distinction is often drawn between two broad categories of illegal act: those considered mala prohibita (acts that are technically illegal but not morally wrong), and those considered mala in se (“bad in themselves”).Acts mala prohibita are usually forbidden mainly in the interest of maintaining safety and order, whereas acts mala in se are … During 2010-2013 those in the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) New First, we can proceed by enumerating a few counter-examples: Most kinds of lying are perfectly legal, but lying is generally recognized as being unethical; Breaking promises is generally legal, but is widely thought of as unethical; Your point, Norman, seems more in the direction of saying that laws can be downright wrong. The point of this blog entry isn’t to provide a full explanation of where ethics comes from; it’s just to point out that ethics and the law are not the same. Although certain ethical beliefs are nearly universal, much of the concept of ethics is subjective. The difference is that the people who made laws allowing for segregation had made those based on an ethical error, whereas the people making the laws allowing an unknown toxins use simply lacked information at the time. Less discussed are the abuses by tax collectors & regulators. The complainant witnessed systematic loss of public money of approx. Such discrepancies between the practices of the wealthy and the moral repulsion felt by ordinary citizens are common. 10000/- to 25000/- per person to claim habitual ,uncalled for He is also a Senior Fellow at Duke University's Kenan Institute for Ethics. A very close friend or relative of an interviewer comes for an interview and without asking a single question, he selects him.

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