Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Legal vs Ethical

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 2
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous 1 2 template Next
  • #1

    Legal vs Ethical

    Seems like so many of the issues we have discussed over the last year or so have in many cases been about the difference between what is Legal vs. Ethical.

    Plus - based on party affiliation - that line blurs all to frequently.
    It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years and we must stop it.
    Bill Clinton 1995, State of the Union Address

    "When they go low - we go High" great motto - too bad it was a sack of bullshit. DNC election mantra
    Tags: None
  • #2
    the other confusion is that people have different definitions of their personal ethics

    http://www.dictionary.com/browse/ethical

    Comment

    • #3
      Personally I find the ethical discussions far more interesting than the ones surrounding legalities. Mind you I work with lawyers way too much.

      I hope we can at least agree that just because something is illegal doesn't make it unethical. And conversely, just because something is legal doesn't mean it's ethical.
      It certainly feels that way. But I'm distrustful of that feeling and am curious about evidence.

      Comment

      • #4
        Originally posted by TranaGreg View Post
        Personally I find the ethical discussions far more interesting than the ones surrounding legalities. Mind you I work with lawyers way too much.

        I hope we can at least agree that just because something is illegal doesn't make it unethical. And conversely, just because something is legal doesn't mean it's ethical.
        Who or what is the authority that sets the standards for ethics?

        Comment

        • #5
          When I was in graduate school in philosophy, back when dirt was the latest thing, there was a required course simply called "Ethics". Wikipedia has a pretty good definition:


          "Ethics" or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.

          As a branch of philosophy, ethics investigates the questions "What is the best way for people to live?" and "What actions are right or wrong in particular circumstances?" In practice, ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime. As a field of intellectual enquiry, moral philosophy also is related to the fields of moral psychology, descriptive ethics, and value theory.

          Three major areas of study within ethics recognized today are:

          1. Meta-ethics, concerning the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions, and how their truth values (if any) can be determined
          2. Normative ethics, concerning the practical means of determining a moral course of action
          3. Applied ethics, concerning what a person is obligated (or permitted) to do in a specific situation or a particular domain of action.
          If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. - Karl Popper

          Comment

          • #6
            Originally posted by TranaGreg View Post

            I hope we can at least agree that just because something is illegal doesn't make it unethical. And conversely, just because something is legal doesn't mean it's ethical.
            I can certainly understand that legal doesn't mean it ethical. Our politicians seem to be playing this game more frequently than we may have understood.

            I suppose the act of giving your child medicinal marijuana in a state where weed is illegal - may be a case where its illegal and possibly not unethical.
            It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years and we must stop it.
            Bill Clinton 1995, State of the Union Address

            "When they go low - we go High" great motto - too bad it was a sack of bullshit. DNC election mantra

            Comment

            • #7
              Originally posted by Gregg View Post
              Who or what is the authority that sets the standards for ethics?
              why does there need to be standards for ethics? I see it as a personal thing ... one where it's okay if my ethics differ from yours.

              to riff off of an old saying, you may feel that's it okay to swing your fist, I may feel differently, and it all doesn't matter ... until my nose gets in the way; at that point it's not ethics, but a legal matter.
              It certainly feels that way. But I'm distrustful of that feeling and am curious about evidence.

              Comment

              • #8
                in a free market system, isn't so long as it's legal make it ethical?
                I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert...

                Comment

                • #9
                  Originally posted by heyelander View Post
                  in a free market system, isn't so long as it's legal make it ethical?
                  When trump strips away EPA regulations, it makes it legal to pollute, it doesn't make it ethical.
                  "You know what's wrong with America? If I lovingly tongue a woman's nipple in a movie, it gets an "NC-17" rating, if I chop it off with a machete, it's an "R". That's what's wrong with America, man...."--Dennis Hopper

                  "One should judge a man mainly from his depravities. Virtues can be faked. Depravities are real." -- Klaus Kinski

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Fresno Bob View Post
                    When trump strips away EPA regulations, it makes it legal to pollute, it doesn't make it ethical.
                    but people will correct that by not patronizing the polluters.
                    I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert...

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Originally posted by heyelander View Post
                      but people will correct that by not patronizing the polluters.
                      before I spend any actual time answering this, are you being facetious?
                      In the best of times, our days are numbered, anyway. And it would be a crime against Nature for any generation to take the world crisis so solemnly that it put off enjoying those things for which we were presumably designed in the first place, and which the gravest statesmen and the hoarsest politicians hope to make available to all men in the end: I mean the opportunity to do good work, to fall in love, to enjoy friends, to sit under trees, to read, to hit a ball and bounce the baby.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Originally posted by mjl View Post
                        before I spend any actual time answering this, are you being facetious?
                        trolling a bit, but that's how it is supposed to work, right?
                        I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert...

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Originally posted by heyelander View Post
                          trolling a bit, but that's how it is supposed to work, right?
                          I find your behaviour unethical. Not illegal, but still unethical .
                          It certainly feels that way. But I'm distrustful of that feeling and am curious about evidence.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Here is a recent quote by a prominent individual:

                            "I don’t have anything further on that, but I think there’s nothing nefarious about doing anything that’s legal as long as the proper paperwork is filed."

                            Given that nefarious is defined as "wicked" and synonymous with "vile", "corrupt", and "evil", it appears the speaker's opinion is that so long as an action is legal (and properly papered up) it is fine and dandy. So I guess it is the paperwork which makes the difference.

                            Pro tip: Get a receipt from your drug dealer, prostitute, or hit man, just in case you are later audited.
                            If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. - Karl Popper

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Originally posted by TranaGreg View Post
                              why does there need to be standards for ethics? I see it as a personal thing ... one where it's okay if my ethics differ from yours.
                              Because in your statement you just set yourself up as the authority.

                              Comment

                              Previous 1 2 template Next
                              Working...
                              X