Distinguish Between Laws and Rules

Laws and rules are two concepts that are often used interchangeably, but they are quite different in their purpose and construction. Some laws were made to be broken, and others were written with loopholes to allow exceptions and special circumstances. Rules, on the other hand, should always be followed to avoid breaking them; when people do break them, it can lead to serious consequences like demotions, fines, or even jail time.

What is Law?

Law is a system of binding rules or standards as found in any society that can be enforced by some social institution, such as, for example, a nation state’s courts; these tell you what must be done to avoid breaking it. Ethical decision-making seeks to find a balance between the greater good for all, versus one’s self-interest.

What is Rules?

Rules are generally created by human beings to guide their interactions with each other and help maintain social order. Rules may be necessary, like speed limits, or they might be made up on the spot by one individual without considering other people’s needs, like walking half a block to cross at an intersection instead of right in front of someone’s house to save a few seconds. These types of rules are often referred to as petty when they apply only to one person and not everyone around them.

Importance of Law:

Law is designed to ensure a civilized society, to prevent individual actions from negatively impacting society as a whole, and to create a level playing field for everyone to maintain a fair chance of achieving happiness. Laws exist because our communities need stability, protection, predictability and enforcement; no matter who you are or where you come from, we all want these things for ourselves and our loved ones.

Importance of Rules:

Rules are essential to any organization or business, as they dictate how everyone involved is expected to act, behave, or perform their tasks. Rules make up part of a company’s culture and help employees understand how they’re supposed to act within this environment, even if it’s not explicitly stated outright. It can be easy for people to think that rules don’t matter because they’re just guidelines, but failing to follow these guidelines could lead to disciplinary action. Failing to follow certain policies and procedures could also result in accidents on the job site, which could put other people at risk of getting hurt too.

Differences Between Law and Rules:

1. Law is a system of rules and guidelines that dictate social behaviour and provide for acceptable conduct within a community. Rules, on the other hand, are concrete directions for behaviour that must be followed to avoid punishment or censure. 
2. Laws are based on broad principles, while rules are based on narrow technicalities in their application to specific cases and people involved in different situations. 
3. Laws have the force of law; they have been codified into formal legislation and enforced by judges, police officers, and other legal officials. Rules are not backed by law but rather by private agreements, customs or tradition. 
4. Rules are enforced privately; people involved in breaking a rule decide for themselves how to punish violators (if at all). Laws are enforced publicly, generally by people with some official authority who have legal means for punishment, including jail or fines.
5. Laws are open to interpretation; judges can decide on a specific case based on precedent or their ethical approach to what’s right. Rules usually have no wiggle room for individual judgment; they must be applied verbatim, without variation.
6. Laws guide future conduct; they have an element of predictability and consistency that’s necessary to avoid confusion, or worse yet, discrimination. Rules can be applied differently every time, based on a ruling official’s discretion or whimsy. They do not require consistency because they are not backed by law, with their firm moral compass as a guide for decision-making under uncertain circumstances.

The Role of Ethics in Formulating Laws?

Laws are made to govern behaviours that are deemed immoral by society. The ethical considerations in developing these sets of rules involve whether or not that behaviour hurts another person or infringes on their rights, damages something irreplaceable, etc. Laws also help maintain societal order and balance. For example, if there is no law against murder, many more people would kill each other because they know they can get away with it. Society needs a way to regulate people’s behaviour so they don’t go out of control and do whatever they want just because there are no consequences for those actions.

The Role of Ethics in Formulating Rules?

The role of ethics in formulating rules cannot be underestimated because they are an integral part of society and morality; however, as most people will agree, this area of philosophy is complicated with many grey areas. It is also difficult to draw a clear distinction between what should be a law or a rule because there are some situations where it would be both ethical for a rule to exist, but not practical to enforce such a rule. For example, it may be unethical to wait in line behind someone who is paying for their groceries with food stamps. On the other hand, if one were on a tight budget and had been waiting behind the person with food stamps for 10 minutes, it may be impractical to spend any more time doing so.
As another example of when it can be hard to distinguish between laws and rules, consider how much money parents should set aside per month for their children’s college education savings account.