Normally when we speak, we don’t differentiate between
ethics and morals. However, we have studied that ethics is a branch of
philosophy that studies the different moral codes, their origin, fundaments and
it does compare them. Besides, when we talk about ethics it is concerning human
behaviors. No other animal can ask themselves what’s right or wrong or what is
desirable to do and that is because the most of their behaviors are
instinctive. This is not the case for us. We are responsible of our actions
because we can choose them. In other words, just because we are supposed to be
free and aware of what we do, we are responsible of our actions. This happens
also in law. Imagine a little two year old child who is playing with his
brother and he gives him some house cleaning spray to drink. As a result of it,
he dies; but is the young brother responsible for the murder?
The answer is no. Because he isn’t aware of what he is
doing.
Now imagine this situation: a drunk man comes home,
prepares a baby bottle for his child and, as he is completely drunk and out of
his mind, when he washes the baby bottle he leaves a lot of detergent in it. As
a result, the child dies. Is this man responsible?
Whatever you answer, the two cases seem different. In
the first one, the child wasn’t aware of what he was doing but neither was it his
duty to know it and, most of all, he couldn’t.
Could we say the same about the second scenario?
We are a kind of animal with very little instinct, we
are designed to make choices, so we need a code to guide us. That’s why it is
impossible not to be moral. These moral
laws don’t refer to how something is but to what it ought to be. However, they
are not the only laws which tell us what we should do. Legal laws do as well.
In fact, the same action can be judged differently by legal laws and morality
and they can either agree or disagree. So we have to differentiate between when
we are acting for legal reasons and when we do it to fit our moral principles.
1.
The sense of obligation comes from
external factors.
2.
Law applies to everyone in the
community.
3.
That’s why they are public and
everybody has the right to know them
4.
The law uses penalties to force people
to follow the rules and these penalties are already established and known to
the public.
On the
contrary moral laws have these characteristics:
1.
The sense of obligation comes from
the inner self
2.
The law applies only to the person who
believes in it.
3.
They are private, namely, they don’t
have to be announced.
4.
The penalties are not established
because they depend on the moral of the person who judges them.
Finally we
can say that law is in the area of heteronomy and moral is in the area of
autonomy. Most of the time, legal and moral laws agree, but what does it happen
if they don’t? What does it happen if the law forces me to do something I
consider unfair or maybe it takes some fundamental rights away from me? In
these cases we find ourselves in a dilemma. On the one hand, I want to do what
my conscience tells me, but on the other hand, if I do, I would have to face
the legal consequences. So, we have to take a decision, which it isn’t always
easy.
EXERCISE:
Investigate
to find out a legal law that you disagree with.
What would
you do if you had to choose between your moral code and this law? Explain the
reasons of your election
