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The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
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If you were asked to define “the law,” what would you say? Is “you should eat five fruits and
vegetables a day” a law? What distinguishes law from mere suggestions or good advice? The key
difference is obviously enforcement and consequence. If you don’t eat five fruits and vegetables a
day, you are not going to be imprisoned or fined. If you steal or embezzle, however, you may be
prosecuted and face stiff financial penalties and imprisonment. Law, therefore, is a set of rules that
are enforced by a government authority.
Now consider the nature of law. Would you say that the law includes only the actual words that are
written, or does it also include reading between the lines to discern the spirit of the law? Would you
follow a law that you disagreed with, or would you ignore such a law? Do you believe that what the
law actually is matters as much as who enforces it? Do you think that morality is a part of legality, or
do you think that morality is wholly separate from the law?
Based on the particular system of jurisprudence to which one ascribes, these questions will generate
different answers. Not only will the answers to these questions differ, but the potential outcomes of
legal disputes can also vary widely, depending on one’s conception of what the law is. These
differences highlight fundamental disagreements over the nature of law.
Jurisprudence is the philosophy of law. The nature of law has been debated for centuries, giving rise
to a general coalescence of ideas to create particular schools of thought. Several different theories of
jurisprudence are explored in the paragraphs that follow.
At a most basic interpretation, some believe that law is simply power. That is, the law is followed
because the sovereign issues orders that are backed by threats.
Saylor - Personal Name
2nd Edition
NONE
The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
Management
English
2000
1-421
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