ASSIGNMENT ONE

1. Sociological: Without morality social life is nearly impossible.

Psychological: People care about what others think of them. Reputation and

Social censure.

: Some people care about doing the right thing. (Conscience)

: To avoid punishment, to gain praise, to attain happiness, to

dignified, or to fit in with society.

Theological: Some people care about what will happen after death, to their
soul or spirit. For many religions there is an afterlife that involves a person’s
being rewarded or punished for what they have done.

2.

Law
 The law refers to a systematic
body of rules that governs the
whole society and the actions of
its individual members.
 Set of rules and regulations
 Expressed and published in
writing.
 Violation of law is not
permissible which may result in
punishment like imprisonment
or fine or both.
 Law is created with intent to
maintain social order and peace
in the society and provide
protection to all the citizens.
 Law has a legal binding.
Ethics
 Ethics is a branch of moral
philosophy that guides people
about the basic human conduct.
 Set of guidelines
 They are abstract.
 There is no punishment for
violation of ethics.
 Ethics are made to help people
to decide what is right or wrong
and how to act.
 Ethics do not have a binding
nature.
 Conclusion

Law and ethics are different in a manner that what a person must do and what
a person should do. The former is universally accepted while the latter is ideal
human conduct, agreed upon by most of the people. Although, both the law and
ethics are made in alignment so that they do not contradict each other. Both go
side by side, as they provide how to act in a particular manner. Every person is
equal in the eyes of law and ethics, i.e. nobody is superior or inferior. Further,
these two allow a person to think freely and choose.

3. According to Consequentialism theories: An action is morally acceptable if

the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable. For
instance:

 Ethical Egoism: an action is morally right if the consequences of that

action are more favorable than unfavorable only to the agent
performing the action.

 Ethical Altruism: an action is morally right if the consequences of that

action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone except the
agent.

 Utilitarianism: an action is morally right if the consequences of that

action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone.

 According to one common formulation, an action is right if it would

promote a greater amount of happiness for a greater number of people
than would any other action performable in the same circumstances.

If the consequences of that action are more unfavorable than favorable it is

morally unacceptable.

The Kantian tradition, in contrast, eschews the notion of consequences and

urges instead that an action is right only if it is universalizable—i.e., only if the
moral rule it embodies could become a universal law applicable to all moral
agents. The Kantian approach emphasizes respect for the individual,
autonomy, dignity, and human rights.
Unlike these traditional approaches, both virtue ethics and the ethics of care
focus on dimensions of moral theorizing other than determining the rightness
or wrongness of particular actions.

Virtue ethics is concerned with the nature of moral character and with the
traits, capacities, or dispositions that moral agents ought to cultivate in
themselves and others. Thus, the virtue ethicist may consider what character
traits, such as compassion and courage, are desirable in a doctor, nurse, or
biomedical researcher and how they would (or should) be manifested in
various settings.
 SOURCE
1. Traditional and contemporary ethical theories https://www.britannica.com

2. Ethics, Society and Human Values Philip Pecorino, Ph.D. (Queens borough)
Community College, CUNY : Chapter 3 Ethics

3. https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-law-and-ethics.html