1.5 - 2.0 CPE Ethics vs morals vs law: Is there a difference? There are significant variations between applying each (ethics vs morals vs law) in decision making. Many people use morals and ethics interchangeably. The concept of law is quite another topic. In order to properly understand ethical concepts, it is important to understand the concepts of morality and the law. The definition of morals will reference ethics in a circular definition; same goes for ethics. But ethics represents an innate knowledge of right/wrong distinctions. Ethics transcends culture, religion, and time.
Morality is defined as having and living per a moral code, or principles of right and wrong. Basic morality condemns murder, adultery, lying and stealing. Ethics explores the idea of morality and its place in society and addresses questions about morality. The law is based on principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people.
This course explains the difference between morals and ethics, evaluates these concepts and put them in a business context.
Learning Objectives
- Explore the meaning and examples of ethics vs morality vs the law.
- Recognize the differences between ethics vs morality vs the law.
- Identify distinguishing factors between morality and ethics.
- Explore philosopher’s theories of morality and ethics.
- Discover a case study experiment on ethics vs morality.
- Explore authoritative behavior versus ethics.
- Recognize the realities of ethical authority.
- Explore example cases of ethics vs morality and legal dilemmas.
Last updated/reviewed: March 28, 2024
Included In Certifications
This course is included in the following Certification Programs:
13 CoursesEthical Leadership Certification
- History of Ethics
- Ethics and the Psychology Behind the Concept - Part 2
- COSO 2013 Control Environment
- Today’s Corporate Ethical Culture - An updated course
- Managing Through Corporate Politics
- Real World Business Ethics Scenarios
- Relationship between Ethics, Morality, and the Law
- Impact of Ethics on Leadership
- Framework for Ethical Decision Making
- Keys to an Effective Code of Conduct
- Keys to Understanding Conflicts of Interest
- Whistleblower Hotlines - History and Regulations
- Whistleblower Hotlines - Effective Management
82 Reviews (338 ratings)
Reviews
Anonymous
(-)
Great explanation of ethics, morality & law and how they all intesect & interact in many instances. Explores philosopher’s theories of morality and ethics, ethical authority and the legal/ethocal/moral dilemas.
Anonymous
(Chair)
Challenging course especially as to the differences among moral, ethical and legal principles.
Anonymous
(Manager)
Exploring the Relationship between Ethics, Morality, and the Law course delves into the intricate interplay of these fundamental concepts. Through engaging lectures and thought-provoking discussions, the course illuminates how ethical principles, personal morals, and legal frameworks intersect and influence one another. By dissecting real-world scenarios, it fosters critical thinking and a nuanced understanding of ethical decision-making. It is invaluable for anyone navigating complex moral landscapes.
Anonymous
(VP, WFM and BusTech)
This course provided a comprehensive overview of the differences between morals, ethics, and the law. The instructor presented content in an informative and engaging way, building upon previous concepts with real-world examples. I particularly enjoyed the section on theories and experiments. Good supporting materials provided to help reiterate key concepts.
Carter Tate
( at JB Hunt Transportation)
This course provided an entertaining and relevant overview of ethics, morality, and law and the relationships and distinctives among those topics. I find discussions like this particularly helpful for myself as a finance professional as an opportunity to think critically about the nature of my work and decisions.
Anonymous
(General Accounting)
This is a good, basic course on ethics. Some of the information is repetitive. Case studies were very enlightening and made me understand how important it is to question and evaluate requests from those in authority.
I liked that Lynda did summary review questions to reinforce the information.
Anonymous
(Accountant)
Broad ranging look at ethics, morality, and laws. There is enough time in the lecture to cover definitions, the difference between the concepts, a brief discussion of Jonathan Haidt's theories and the Milgram Experiment, and the personal aspect of dealing with conflicts.
Anonymous
()
Really great course for understanding the differences between ethics, morality and the law as well as the difficult dilemmas that could be faced by professionals in different fields. I particualry liked the light shed by Milgram Experiment. Thanks Lynn.
Lisa Marie Harrington
( at City of Richardson)
Great course! This particular course provides perspectives and examples that give more to think about and ponder when compared to other ethics courses that I have taken throughout my career. Highly recommend this course and instructor!
Anonymous
(Director of FInance)
This course described the differences between ethics morality and the law. The course was harder to follow. It had good information and thought provoking data. The Instructor was good and knowledable.
Anonymous
(Senior Accountant)
Very clear explanations and examples of Ethics vs Morality vs the Law. Also, how we operate within each. Lynn gave a thorough and thoughtful presentation. I always enjoy and learn from her training.
Anonymous
(Accounting Manager)
This course was challenging and I had difficult following the different scenerio's. I did learn a lot and it was interesting as knowing the difference between moral / ethical / legal is all important.
Jordann Hoo Jiun Horng
(Senior Internal Auditor at OCLARO INC)
Lynn gave real-life examples on how ethics, moral and the law will affect one's life when it comes to tough situations. These examples will really make you think deeper when you're making decisions.
Rene Anglo
(Administrative Clerk at EBMUD)
Lynn Fountain emphatically and clearly explains the distinctions between morality and ethics and how they are applied in organization and society as a whole. She provides good real-world examples.
Anonymous
(Financial Advisor)
Very good overview. Content is at the right level. Could have shortened the presentation a little by being more succinct with words, but that is a minor criticism. Overall, very interesting.
John Croyle
(CEO at W9manager)
Hard to have a discussion about morality and ethics without the concept of a moral law-giver. Otherwise, everything is relative to the cultural opinions and survival of the fittest.
Anonymous
(Accounting Manager)
A great course to provide an overview regarding the differences between moral, ethical and lawful. It gives a detailed explanation and examples to provide further understanding.
Anonymous
(Director)
Interesting discussion on morality and ethics and how they are related. Brings out several good points on how these areas are relevant in the business world.
Anonymous
(CFO)
This was a good course which helped define and understand the differences between ethics, morality and the law. The examples that were provided were helpful
Brian Fleischer
( at NYC School Construction Authority)
Good course. I've already read Haidt's "The Righteous Mind" and read up on the Milgram experiment, but it was good to see those tied in to business ethics.
Anonymous
(Manager - Compliance and Risk Management)
I enjoyed this course, similar to all the courses by Lynn Fountain I have taken.
She keeps the content engaging and practical. Thank you, Lynn.
Anonymous
(Corporate)
Very informative. Great graphics too. It clearly defines the difference between morals and ethics. Very good examples. It did help to distinguish.
Emily Fiocco
(Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Umpqua Community College)
Good information and discussion - a little repetitive and would have enjoyed more active dilemmas to consider rather than simply be informed.
Anonymous
(Director)
The speaker is very good. She explained the difference between Morality and Ethics very well and provided various examples that are helpful.
Sergey Bulychev
(Internal Auditor at CPC)
This course presents a very interesting material in the part of the experiment conducted on human behavior. It was very interesting to me
Anonymous
(Director, Compliance and Insurance)
Very concise review of ethics and morals, a good refresher course that would work well as an introductory for staff new to the concepts.
Joshua Knight
(Internal Audit Director at Alliance Health)
Good training. I appreciate the real world examples and the case study walk throughs. Great way of distinguishing ethics and morals.
Anonymous
(IT Advisory Snr. Associate)
This training is based on variations between applying each ethics vs morals vs law in decision making. This is highly recommended.
Anonymous
(Head of Internal Audit)
good topic to understanding the network of our behavior, reasons for it and thin ice between morals, ethics, law. well presented.
Anonymous
(Senior Accountant)
Great summary and support detail. Appreciated the quiz questions and various notes in preparation for the final exam at the end.
Anonymous
(SVP Corp Compliance & Accounting)
THis instructor provides great materials and sections off the information in a digestible manner. Just a lot and can be dense.
Sylvia Ratliff
(internal audit consultant at self employed)
I had taken the Philosophy of Ethics courses, and adding the legal aspect made this one different. Very thought provoking.
Anonymous
()
This is a very interesting course. Enjoyed the nuances, subtle distinctions and overlap of ethics, legality and morality.
Anonymous
(Internal Controls Manager)
Such understandings will help to promote Corporations to recognize the importance of ethical policies and moral norms.
Sandra Heelan
(CPA, CFE, MBA at None)
Interesting course with varied real-life examples to help clarify the concepts. Great presenter and thorough slides.
Lawrence Hirsch
(Controller at Builders design)
Thought provoking ! Thank you Lynn for another great presentation. We are lucky as learners to have you out there.
Robert Bartolacci
(CFO at Modern Transportation Services)
Great course. Very interesting. Well put together and informative. Did a great job of describing the concepts.
Anonymous
()
I found this course very informative and appreciated the real life case situations presented by the instructor.
JIN ZOU
(Senior Accountant at STS Traders)
Material and concepts are very easy to follow. I found that some of the examples given are very interesting.
Anonymous
(Director)
Easy to follow and understand and the instructor is well versed on the material and her understanding of it.
Anonymous
()
good info to always revisit when you can; lots of gray areas, so good to keep this top of mind; good course
Anonymous
()
Comprehensive course material that did an excellent job of explaining the differences. Thought provoking.
Anonymous
(CPA)
Excellent overview and presentation of concepts involved in understanding ethics, morality, and the law.
Anonymous
(Controller)
There is a strong correlation between ethics and morality and this course helps explain the connection.
Anonymous
(Chief Growth Officer)
A great reminder to keep ethics and morals at the forefront and question authority appropriately!
Anonymous
(Program Analyst Auditor)
This is a wonderful in depth description of ethics, morality, and how the law functions within.
Paige Jones
(Owner at AHF Consultants)
excellent content. this answered personal questions that I am actually dealing with currently.
Raveendran Madappattu
View Instructor Profile
Relatively tough and assimilable terms and subject matter handled nicely by Lynn. Well done!!!
Anonymous
(finance controller /Director)
I can recognize that Ethic is really difficult subject and differ from other subjects as well
Anonymous
(Director of Capital Accounting)
Lynn compiled a good course using theory and examples to support the learning objective.
Anonymous
(Internal Audit Manager)
Good overall course and I enjoyed the discussions of past experiments in this area.
Anonymous
(Consultant - Process Specialist)
Great discussion on the differences. The speaker has great insights on this topic.
Anonymous
(AVP Compliance Risk Management)
It was interesting. I liked the social experiments were brought into the discussion
John Checki
(CPA at John Checki Jr. CPA CFP CRC)
Ethics, Morality, Law, Behavior and sticky situations, reviewed in depth.
Thanks.
Anonymous
(Senior Finance Manager)
Really enjoyed the various case studies presented in this course; learned a lot.
Anonymous
(Transaction Advisory)
Ethics, morals, legality. Learn about it here. Compare and contrast. Good stuff.
Premugh Bose Evans Dicruz
(Accounting Manager at Alshaya Group, Kuwait)
It is a good course which covered various aspects of ethics, morality and legal
Tim Flake
(Financial & Accounting Consultant at DLC Consulting)
Very interesting concepts and great case study provided. Very clear examples.
Darla Greer
(Sr. Fin Analyst at DTE)
This was a hard to follow course. The Milgram Experiment was very interesting
Anonymous
()
Love this course! I will be taking this back to my team to share. Thank you!!
Anonymous
()
The pace of the course was a little slow, recommend the course to be faster.
Jennifer Willey
(Finance Manager at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day..)
Enjoyed that concepts were discussed by no one way was represented as right.
Anonymous
(Director, Audit)
The course provided the clarifications I needed between morals and ethics.
Anonymous
()
This is a great course on ethics and morality presented in a clear manner
Anonymous
(Senior Internal Auditor)
The examples discussed of the experiment conducted was very interesting
RICARDO CAMPOLINA DE TOLEDO
( at WPP)
Great content. Clear and straightforward with good real life examples.
Anonymous
()
Lynn's courses are my favorite on the platform, great presentation.
Inna Shmukler
(Controller at Fornetix LLC)
Lots of interesting information. Very well organized and presented.
Christopher Hole
(Director of Internal Audit at Roseburg Forest Products)
Decent overview, especially the part about authoritarian behavior.
Anonymous
()
Excellent course, with relevant points covered on all three areas
Anonymous
(ACCOUNTING MANAGER)
The course is detailed and clear. The professor is knowledgeable.
Tamar Conyers
(Internal Auditor II at Alliance Health Plan)
I enjoyed the discussion on Johnathan Haidt and Stanley Milgram.
Michael Zomber
( at MOCFS)
Very enjoyable course. Lynn Fountain is a wonderful presenter.
Anonymous
(Staff Accountant)
Good application of specific examples and high level concepts
Anonymous
()
great class. Really fun learning about the moral case study
John A. K. Traynor
(Business Analyst at Maritech Dynamics Ltd.)
A good overview/refresher of the morals, ethics, and laws.
Anonymous
(Finance)
It was a very informative, useful and interesting session.
Anonymous
(Director, Tech Audit)
Good course, good material, good presentation and layout.
Anonymous
(Senior Corporate Investigation Advisor)
Excellent course - understandable and very interesting!
Anonymous
(SVP Finance & Accounting)
Great course to help satisfy the Ethics CPE requirement
Anonymous
(Investment Accounting Bureau Chief)
Well designed course! Lots of insightful material!
Jaden Turner
(Founder - CTO - CIO at QUIKER Quality Engineering)
Awesome as always
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Intermediate
No Advanced Preparation or Prerequisites are needed for this course, but completion of the instructor's other courses on ethics may be helpful
Education Provider Information
Company:
Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA
95113
Contact:
For more information regarding this course, including complaint and
cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to
.
Lynn FountainCPA, CGMA, CRMA, MBA, cPIA, Consultant, Author, Trainer
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