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Re:The New Prostitution Economy by Jtsummers on Friday July 08, 2016 @10:16AM (#12055630)
Many laws are based on morality:

  Morality: principles concerning the distinction between
  right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
Let's say that violence is considered inherently wrong, that's morality. But it's an easily justified stance that allows us to legislate against murder, rape, theft, assault, and other crimes.

But non-violent crimes, then, or those that don't violate property or privacy? Who says you have a right to either of those? On what basis do they justify that position?

Morality and ethics are the very basis of legal frameworks. The question is, what do we consider moral/ethical and what is worth criminal/civil punishment versus social ostracization.

Re:The New Prostitution Economy by jcfrei on Friday July 08, 2016 @10:29AM (#12055751)
There's obviously a big overlap between ethics and morality. So how do we differentiate the two sources of law? To me, ethics are the result of a process of critical thinking. Morality is inherited and learned based on our peers and culture. In other words it's a case of deductive vs. inductive reasoning.
Re:The New Prostitution Economy by HillaryBriss on Friday July 08, 2016 @11:19AM (#12056126)
FWIW, here's another way to characterize the difference between ethics and morality:

Ethics is a set of rules about what one person can do to another person. Is this act harmful to another person?

Morality is a set of rules about what a person can do to their own self. Is this act harmful to me?