Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Discussion - Essay Example Ethics on the other hand forms the framework that acts as moral guidelines. Ethics is much more subjective and although it also establishes sets of normative codes of conduct, these codes are heterogeneous due to their subjective origins. If however, we assume Ethics to set the standards of social conduct and moral judgment then ideally, laws should enforce these (Blackburn, 2003). The importance of Ethics in spite of many laws arises precisely from the fact that finer ethical considerations and morality are often beyond the defined conducts that the limited scope of Laws are able to enforce. The necessity of ethical consideration irrespective of the legal framework of any nation can be best understood by considering historical instances where Laws were in conflict or at least not in support of what is now understood to be ethical. Until the 13th amendment of 1865 revised the Law, slavery was entirely a legal practice in the U.S.A. Prior to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; child labor was a legal practice as well. African American people had very little civil rights and when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger on Dec. 1, 1955 she violated the law (Townsend, 1998). It is in the present day almost surprising to note that women were accorded voting rights only in 1920. Such instances of something considered legal in the past later being rectified, reflect that Laws may not always be aligned with what is ethically right and the adjustment can be a time consuming process. Instances of legal binds being constraining from the perspective of ethical actions and decision making is certainly not a matter of only the past. In present days also, issues like Abortion and Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide leads to a debate due to the inherent conflict between the associated laws and ethical