Ethics and law are not the same thing

Typically, the law tells us what we are prohibited from doing and what we are required to do. It is said that the law sets minimum standards of behavior while ethics sets maximum standards.

Ethics provides us with guides on what is the right thing to do in all aspects of life, while the law generally provides more specific rules so that societies and their institutions can be maintained. Ethics engages our thinking and also our feelings, including those of disgust and guilt.