The analytical method of legal requirements can be summarized very simply in the statement that ever

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The analytical method of legal requirements can
be summarized very simply in the statement that
everyone should always obey the law. The law in a
democratic society can be said to represent the
minimal moral standards of that society, and
those minimal moral standards should recognize
the nature and understand the worth of individual
human beings. You may or may not agree with the
extent of those standards, or the degree of that
recognition and understanding, but - the legal
argument continues --you cannot really fault a
person who obeys the law. You may feel that a
person within an organization who faces a complex
moral problem in which some people are going to
be harmed and harmed badly, or have their rights
eroded and eroded harshly, should go beyond the
law. That person, however, may disagree with you.
He or she may say, "We plan to optimize returns
for our firm and benefits for our society. If you
don't like that outcome, get together with a
majority of your fellow citizens and pass a new
law, which more fully recognizes the nature and
understands the worth of other people, and we
will obey the provisions of that new law. But,
until that happens please do not lecture us on
the superiority of your moral standards. We see
nothing wrong with what we are doing, and
evidently other people don't either for what we
are doing is currently legal and approved by a
majority of the population."
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There is a lack of a direct relationship between
moral standards and legal requirements. The
statement "It's not against the law"should not
totally settle the matter.
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The Importance of Values
Judgment
Content
Intensity
Stability
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Types of Values
Terminal Values
Instrumental Values
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Dominant Work Values in Todays Workforce
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Religious/cultural political context Individua
l exposure to cultural context - family units -
peer groups - formal organizations Individual
persons, Small groups Formal organizations Politi
cal processes Legal system w/changing
norms, w/similar norms, w/consensus
norms w/conflicting norms w/standard
norms beliefs values beliefs values beliefs
values beliefs values beliefs
values Individual exposure to economic context -
family units - peer groups - formal
organizations Economic, social political
context
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Corporate Social Responsibility
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Understanding the Four Components
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Why is this view that laws represent the combined
moral judgments of members of our society popular
among many people?
Because it is so simple and direct, and offers a
basis for choice that can be ascribed to others
without accepting responsibility oneself "I don't
like it but it's the law" is an easy evasion of
responsibility.
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Can you think of a situation that is clearly not
illegal and yet can easily be seen to be
unethical (i.e., water and air pollution before
passage of the various pollution control laws as
one example and racial, gender or age
discrimination before passage of civil rights
legislation as another)?