what is the difference between ethical dilemma and legal issue?
2007-06-17 11:56:44 · 8 answers · asked by eternalreverence 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Legal issues involve laws. Ethical issues involve doing the RIGHT thing and may not be bound be legal precedent.
An example: Say I am a consultant who charges by the hour, not by the work product. A client hires me to do a research project; it takes 6 hours and I charge them $600.
A week later a totally different client comes and asks me to do the exact same research project. No more research req'd, I've already done the work. Do I copy it and give it to them? How much do I charge them--$50 for copying? (Because I didn't spend any time on their behalf). Is that fair to the FIRST client?
In my example, there are no laws.......so I have an ethical dilemma of doing the right thing, not a legal one.
2007-06-17 12:02:14 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ethics do not involve laws. A man confesses a murder to a clergyman. The ethical dilemma: keep a confidence or turn the man in and see that justice is done.
A legal issue would be one where a law is violated. A reporter gets a tip from a Pentagon insider about a new Ion Bomb. If the reporter prints a story, he breaks the law.
2007-06-17 12:01:55 · answer #2 · answered by regerugged 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An ethical issue concerns the quest to find what is just and fair in a given situation.A legal issue developes when humanity's efforts to document a procedure to arrive at a ethical solution to a conflict fails.
2007-06-17 12:21:34 · answer #3 · answered by Russh 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An ethical dilemma is a situation that often involves an apparent conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another
Legal issue could be anything pertaining to the law
2007-06-17 12:00:59 · answer #4 · answered by youngminiva 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Use the exanple of abortion. In some states abortion is illegal and if you had an abortion you would be breaking the law. If abortion is legal and you then had to make a decision about what to do, you would be making a decision based on your ethics on what you believe to be the right thing. This would then be your ethical dilemma.
2007-06-17 12:07:03 · answer #5 · answered by lizzie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something can be completely legally, yet completely unethical. Often times, the two have nothing to do with each other (unfortunately).
Example: Taking credit for someone else's idea is unethical, yet not illegal. Taking credit for someone else's idea if it is patented, is unethical AND illegal.
2007-06-17 12:06:58 · answer #6 · answered by sonrisa 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
poor ethics may not break the law, or be subject to interpretation.
2007-06-17 11:59:55 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
wha??
2016-05-18 00:59:11 · answer #8 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋