By Ilan Fuchs, Ph.D. | 12/23/2024
In my introductory legal studies courses, such as “Legal Ethics” or “Introduction to the Courts,” my students always ask the same intriguing question: What is the difference between law and ethics? They frequently also wonder how a court can come to a decision that seems to be immoral or unethical to average citizens?
Moral principles are the foundation of our society. Morals guide our behavior, shaping who we are as individuals. They also have an influence on the communities and cultures of various countries.
Ethics take morality a step further, offering a framework for applying these moral principles in everyday situations. Ethics influence how we act; they can help us navigate tricky decisions and manage all sorts of relationships.
Law also shapes our culture, and it deeply affects our relationships, including how we interact with others. However, it is easy to confuse ethics and law.
Both ethics and the law are important because they relate to human conduct, but they are far from interchangeable. They differ in purpose and are enforced by different measures.
While the law functions as a system of rules backed by political authority to maintain order, ethics is a broader concept grounded in personal, cultural, and societal values. The Greek philosopher Aristotle, one of the great thinkers on moral philosophy, argued that ethics aims to achieve eudaimonia (human flourishing) through virtuous action. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle noted that “The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure but to avoid pain.”
The Definition of Law
Law is a formal system of rules enforced by governmental institutions. The law’s objective is to maintain social order, protect rights, and promote justice.
Justice, after all, is a product of moral values, and it is evident that legal standards and legal systems need to promote justice. However, promoting justice is just one of the goals of the legal system; other goals include maintaining social order and supporting social institutions.
The legal system gets its authority from a local, state, or federal government, which uses its power to enforce laws and mend gaps in the law. By holding people accountable for breaking the rules – often through penalties – that accountability ensures that following legal regulations works to everyone’s benefit.
It is also important to remember that law covers various areas. Criminal law is different than civil law, and the ethical dilemmas vary for both types of law.
Constitutional law and administrative law, on the other hand, involve ethical standards. However, their ethical principles can be different than those principles relating to other fields of law.
The Definition of Ethics
Ethics, by contrast, is a set of moral principles guiding what individuals and societies deem to be right or wrong. Ethical values often stem from philosophy, religion, culture, or personal beliefs, offering a framework for personal ethics regardless of a government’s authority.
Unlike law, which prescribes specific actions, ethics emphasizes personal growth and virtue. Ethics encourages individuals to cultivate the internal qualities that guide their behavior. Aristotle’s concept of ethics as a pathway to personal virtue underlines the goal of ethics: self-improvement and human flourishing.
What Are Some of the Differences Between Law and Ethics?
Law has a different source of authority than ethics. Law derives its authority from formal governmental institutions, statutes, and judicial rulings. Because law is created and enforced by recognized authorities, it holds the power to compel individuals and organizations to conform to specific rules. In legal terms, laws are valid regardless of ethics, including individual beliefs or moral perspectives.
Ethics stem from cultural norms and/or religious beliefs. Ethics does not depend on formal institutions for validation – ethics are based on individual and collective moral judgments and are not enforced by the political power of the government that compels obedience. Aristotle highlighted this distinction, noting that ethics is a “reasoned choice” rather than a mandated obligation.
When Aristotle defined the purpose of law, he emphasized its role in regulating behavior and maintaining public order. Aristotle referred to the Politeia (political community) and how law serves a practical, utilitarian function in governance.
Aristotle also explained there is room in the legal system to ensure justice. While the legal system often reflects societal values, it primarily seeks to govern interactions among individuals and groups.
The function of law is primarily external, as it governs actions rather than internal motivations. An ethical obligation, in other words, might be reflected in legal rules, but not all wrong actions are illegal by definition. New legislation does not always deal with ethical issues and will not always follow moral standards, since public order and regulation of behavior outweigh normative ethics.
Ethics, as Aristotle explained, aims at cultivating a good and virtuous character. He argued that ethics is about finding “the mean between two vices,” which he described as a balance between excess and deficiency.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit,” Aristotle famously noted, emphasizing that ethics is about building character rather than enforcing specific actions.
Enforcement and Consequences of Violating Laws and Ethics
When individuals or businesses break the law, consequences like fines, imprisonment, or other penalties are imposed.
The legal system is connected to law enforcement, and one cannot function without the other. Ethical behavior, however, is voluntary and internally motivated.
To be clear, ethical breaches have consequences. Breaking principles may lead to social disapproval, but the Aristotelian view of ethics focuses on personal guilt as the main motivation for maintaining respect for morals.
Sometimes, the lack of formal punishments is a pillar of the ethical system. Aristotle argued that virtuous behavior should be self-driven, as one’s commitment to ethics should not require external enforcement. “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them,” he stated in Nicomachean Ethics, reflecting his view that ethical growth depends on self-discipline and personal action.
Flexibility and Interpretation
When it comes to applying ethics and laws, these systems differ. Laws are typically rigid and standardized, and they are designed to be applied universally.
A law that is not predictable or is not applied in the same way in all aspects, weakens the legal system, since a lack of universality will violate the sense of fairness. Legal changes often require legislative or judicial intervention, making the legal system slow to adapt to new societal norms.
Ethics, however, is more flexible and can evolve as individuals and societies mature. Aristotle’s approach to virtue ethics emphasizes flexibility, encouraging individuals to find the “mean” that suits their specific circumstances.
As Aristotle put it, “Virtue…is a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency.” As a result, ethics allow individuals to navigate unique situations with nuance, unlike the more rigid structures of law.
Law and ethics may, at times, be in conflict. A prime example of this conflict is civil disobedience.
When people encounter laws they believe are unjust, they may feel ethically compelled to challenge or change them. This conflict has played a pivotal role in history, particularly during movements like the civil rights era, where people acted on their ethical principles to oppose laws they found morally wrong.
Aristotle might argue that ethical obligations can supersede unjust laws, advocating for actions that support the greater good and align with eudaimonia. A person might decide that the actions of local governments are unethical and that he or she must violate the law in defense of morality.
This situation is when the legal system needs to take punitive action to defend itself, but also demonstrate introspection and evaluate the role of morality in their decision-making process. Ultimately, morals and their principles are a large part of legal discourse.
The Ethical Foundations of Legal Systems
What about the intersections of law and ethics? After all, Aristotle did discuss the connection between them.
Some legal principles evolve from ethical considerations. Let's take criminal law as an example.
Laws against theft and murder, for instance, reflect the ethical principles that demand respect for life and property. Aristotle acknowledged that laws aim to promote virtues that are beneficial for communal harmony, and he viewed law as an extension of reason applied to society.
While civil disobedience can strain the relationship between ethics and law, it is also a potential catalyst for a country’s legal and ethical evolution.
Let's revisit the civil rights movement. We can acknowledge how ethical values inspired legal reform; American society was forced to re-evaluate itself through a political discourse surrounding morality.
Similarly, morality was at the core of the decision to abolish the unjust laws that promoted slavery and brought about the Civil War. These laws were well entrenched in the U.S. legal system and were upheld over and over.
It was morality that shoved a mirror in front of so many Americans and forced a political reckoning that proclaimed that while laws might be legal, they can also be unjust. Aristotle’s philosophy, which encourages the pursuit of virtue and balance, suggests that ethical values can guide society in refining its legal frameworks.
As Aristotle stated, “Justice is that virtue of the soul which is distributive according to desert,” emphasizing that ethical justice should guide legal structures as they evolve. However, ethics and the law inform one another in less dramatic and more routine parts of human behavior.
Corporate Ethics and the Law
In the U.S. and around the world, corporations are legally obligated to prioritize shareholders’ interests. In recent decades, however, ethical considerations became a factor among consumers, and businesses saw the public relations value of acting in accordance with ethical standards and avoiding illegal behavior.
One such example of the inclusion of corporate ethical actions is the “triple bottom line,” a term created by writer and entrepreneur John Elkington. He defines the triple bottom line as "a sustainability framework that examines a company’s social, environmental, and economic impact.”
In the corporate world, business ethics and ethical standards influence:
- Professional conduct
- Company culture
- Managers’ relationships with employees
- The corporation's perspective on its clients
- The company’s conservation efforts
- Daily operations and business practices
Medical Ethics and the Law
Another important example where law and ethics intersect can be found in the field of medicine. Legal requirements and ethical considerations often intersect (and clash) in modern medicine.
Medicine can involve complex questions – such as limiting medical care in certain situations due to a lack of resources, determining the scope of informed consent, or deciding to withhold care. Some medical situations lead to legal and ethical questions that challenge the integrity of medical professionals.
These ethical dilemmas require reevaluating professional ethics on a regular basis. The medical field tries to streamline ethics into rules, but that takes time.
Also, the government’s involvement in the medical field makes law and ethics part of a medical professional’s daily life.
Freedom of Speech and Hate Speech
Another area that brings law and ethics together is public and political speech. The laws protecting free speech can conflict with ethical concerns about speech that causes harm or at least promotes harm.
Some speech most Americans regard as “wrong” are, nonetheless, protected by the U.S. Constitution. The government is expected to allow this speech as part of the free exchange of ideas that allows for differences, even when the majority finds the speech reprehensible and wrong.
Aristotle’s advocacy for moderation – “Anyone can become angry… but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way” – suggests that ethical speech involves responsible expression, even in contexts where law may permit harmful language. Aristotle would say the solution to speech lacking integrity isn’t more regulations but creating a conversation focused on ethics and principles, helping people see the difference between right and wrong.
The difference between ethics and the law is not a problem of just one country; it is part of any political system. It is essential for every law student to understand the intricate relationship between law and ethics and understand the difference between legal and ethical behavior.
Legal Studies Degrees at American Public University
For students interested in litigation, legal ethics, and other areas of the law, American Public University (APU) provides three degrees:
- An online associate degree in legal studies
- An online bachelor’s degree in legal studies
- An online master’s degree in legal studies
Courses in these programs cover topics such as civil practice and procedure, the U.S. legal system, legal writing, constitutional law, and family law. Other courses involve legal technology, the criminal justice process, contract law, property law, and tort law.
These courses are taught by experienced faculty members with significant experience in the legal field. To learn more about these degrees, visit our security and global studies program page.
Note: The associate and bachelor’s degrees in legal studies do not award professional paralegal certification or any other certification, but they may be helpful in preparing to seek certification. The master’s degree in legal studies does not allow you to sit for the bar exam in any state.
Although some states do not require a Juris Doctor for bar entry, the master’s program does not prepare you for the practice of law or admission to the bar of any state based solely on completion of this program.
