To tackle an issue as significant as climate change, we will need ethics (Credit: Getty Images). There are many things that can be ethical but still be illegal. 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. For example, stealing can be seen as both an unethical and illegal act. Every situation is different, so its up to each individual to decide what they believe is ethical and legal. For example, testing medicines on animals is legal in many countries but some people believe it is not ethical. Our sense of right and wrong goes back a long way, so it can be helpful to distinguish between ethics and morality. I wonder what would have happened if something wrong went off in surgery and the patient had tried to take the hospital to court? Ultimately, it is up to each individual to decide what is the right thing to do in a situation where the law is not in line with ethical principles. What is not all legal are moral? Environmental pollution is the release of pollutants into the environment. Hunting-Gathering societies.Horticultural societies.Agrarian societies.Industrial societies.Post-industrial societies.. What defines a society? There are many examples of people who have been both ethical and illegal, such as Martin Luther King Jr., who broke the law by protesting against segregation, and Nelson Mandela, who was arrested for protesting against apartheid. Other descriptions would be that they are morally prohibited, morally impermissible, acts one ought not to do, and acts one has a duty to refrain from doing. Or the person committing the unethical act might be able to argue that their actions were justified or that they had no choice. Personally, I have no difficulty looking back at periods when ethics was used to uphold the institutions of slavery and violence and saying that was wrong and those people were mistaken. Finally, another example of something thats unethical but legal in business is environmental pollution. There is a strong tradition of philosophers trying to overcome these differences to produce a unified theory of ethics. Well, maybe more than one, and maybe not that small. Perhaps people get fed up with our theoretical musings, or maybe we move to a more data-driven society that undermines our faith in the existence of the independent humanistic values that ethicists appeal to in their theories. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. For more information, check out our Privacy Policy. I appreciate your guidance. blank! There are seven principles that form the content grounds of our teaching framework:Non-maleficence. Morals Morals are rules, principles, or other habits that conform to what a person thinks is right or wrong. The Master replied: "How about reciprocity: never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself?" This is often called a grey area. For example, there might be a law that allows people to drink alcohol, but it is not considered to be moral. Is America patrilineal or matrilineal? Its not always easy to know the difference between whats ethical and whats illegal. Do you think the court would have sided with the hospital because they tried, this ethics class is really opening my eyes. I do not know how to assess the probability of either of these futures, but I believe that they would both be undesirable. Any third party logos and/or content provided herein is owned by such third parties and is used by permission herein.