It may not always be ethical. Ethical is what is morally right though it may be legal or illegal. “Legal” is a term derived from the word “law.” It originated from the Anglo-French “legalis,” which stems from the Latin “lex,” meaning “law.” It was first used as a word in 1562.Related forms of “legal” include a bunch of other adjectives like post legal, pre-legal, pseudo-legal, quasi-legal, and as an adverb – legally. Yet, at the same time, any single person who may be (or was considered) primarily responsible for its content has no ethical responsibility to make any claim of responsibility for it. A legal act is an act that meets the terms of rules and regulations of a particular but massive and collective entity, like a society or a country. However, in many religions, killing a fetus is just as criminal as killing a human being and it is considered immoral to abort a fetus. Being legal means following the laws and not breaking any. “Ethical” also has derived terms in forms of other parts of speech. There is judiciary to take care of the violations of laws of the country and law enforcement authorities to see that these laws are followed by the people. Differentiate between ethical and legal behavior To Hire or Not to Hire Smokers—That Is the Question at American Express American Express, a financial services company, found that smokers were costing the company $5,000–$6,000 more per year than nonsmokers. They often clash and work with each other.
Many of the existing laws originated in ethics, while ethics, in turn, is rooted in morals and the perception of the rightness or wrongness of an act or conduct. They have different origins –“legal” comes from Anglo-French, while “ethical” has Middle English and Greek roots. The curious relationship between the two is evident in that the base word or concepts of legal (law) as well as ethical (ethics) have the same kind of relationship. 'Unethical' defines as something that is morally wrong, whilst something being 'illegal' means it is against the law.
They often clash and work with each other.
So driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is illegal while it is perfectly legal to be driving a vehicle after one has obtained his driver’s license.
On the other hand, any ethical part is considered as a voluntary and personal act of an individual based on that individual’s perceptions or stand on right and wrong.In determining what is a legal act or an ethical act, the bases are also different. Though there is a relationship between the two, the concepts are not interchangeable. So what’s the difference between legal and ethical? “Legal” as a noun is also observed in the word “paralegal” and as a label for people who are represented as legitimate or sanctioned by implementation in a given set of rules and regulations.On the other hand, “ethical” is also an adjective as well as a noun, and is used in association with the word “ethics.” The word came from the Middle English “etik,” which in turn came from the Latin “eticus” and the earlier Greek “ethikos.” It was created formally as a word in 1588. They also serve to deter people from indulging in actions and behaviors that may be detrimental to not only others but also to the society in general. Any legal act is applicable to all people in a society that implements a particular set of laws. The principles of morals constitute ethics and thus what is moral is what ethical is. This article explains the difference between legal and ethical to remove some of the confusion people remain to have between legal and ethical and cannot make the right choice.