Daniel Toa
BUS 1040
Critical Thinking Journal 2
Question:
If something is legal, is it necessarily ethical? Why
or why not?
Response:
There are many things that aren’t breaking the law
that may seem to many people unethical. Because
ethics are in the constraints of a certain individual
and are very much cultural specific, there really
aren’t absolute set morals for all times and
peoples. However, there can be things that are
legal and unethical to different cultures and
societies.
Slavery is a perfect example of what was legal and
yet unethical in many aspects of many cultures.
Not until the 1865 was the 13th Amendment to the
Constitution abolished. Which also raises the
question, what else is legal and still unethical
today?
I am reminded of the scripture “a good tree cannot
bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good
fruit. In other words, if a law is unethical the fruits
will bear unethical or negative results. If a law be
ethical the results will show good and fair. The
proof will be in the pudding.
Do we have unethical laws today? Absolutely!
Many things are legal that are unethical.