Ethics and Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics and Law - Coursework Example According to Williams, law includes the codes of conducts that are developed and made obligatory by the authority for every member of the society or a particular group, state or community (p 51). The state sets punishments that are meted on individuals who contravene the codes of conduct. Laws are supposed to be adhered to regardless of their ethical connotation. A law abiding citizen enjoys his/her freedom regardless of whether the laws are suppressive. In other words, development of state laws is independent of the ethics. Ethics on the other hand is concerned with human behavior. It is about how people conduct themselves in the presence or absence of others. Tingle and Cribb view ethics as the moral values against which humans evaluate behavior (p 66). Generally, humans evaluate ethical behavior on the basis of doing to others what they would like to be done to them. This means that if a person hurts another, that is unethical because he/she would not like the same to occur to him /her. In contrast, the law seeks to protect the rights of individuals and the general public based on a common understanding of what is good for them. For example, a government sets laws to protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens, which may not be granted in another state. An officer in the public service is a servant of the state and hence the government. He/she is required to demonstrate professional ethics while undertaking his/her duties. On the other hand, he is obligated to the statutory duties that surpass his/her moral background. He/she is supposed to perform his/her duties according to the laws that govern the particular field. For example in some states, a parent who is convicted of dealing or using illegal drugs is denied parenting rights. The child or children are adopted as the parent serves the prison sentence. The judge who takes away parenting rights is guided by the