Ethics defends and recommends concepts of right and wrong behavior or approach to various situations in life. Ethics should often be in accordance to the moral standard given by the society. Ethics can be in accordance to culture, to religion, to the cause and effect scheme or depends on one’s personal standard and social orientation of what is good and bad. Law on the other hand is a system of rules usually enforced by government or a set of institutions. Law shapes and governs the society, politics, economy and morality.
Not following law has a response of punishment in order to eliminate disorganization and massive conflict since law should unite the people in one common interest and goal. The establishment of both law and ethics has been greatly influence by culture. Culture is difficult to define since it holds broad concept that includes religion, belief and pattern of human knowledge about this world. The standard of law and ethics depends on the social and cultural background of those people involved.
Their concept of right and wrong, their knowledge about something metaphysical or their belief of God’s existence and people’s personal judgment or intuition defines the content of laws and ethics. Caveat emptor is a Latin phrase which means “Let the buyer beware”. In this concept, the buyers should examine a product before purchasing since they take responsibility for the condition of the items they purchase. This principle is often applicable for those items or products that are not covered under a strict warranty.
In the law of commercial transactions, Caveat emptor principle says “that the buyer purchases at his own risk in the absence of an express warranty in the contract” (Caveat emptor, 2009). Caveat emptor is very applicable before the mid twentieth century when consumers had limited rights with regard to their interaction with products, manufacturers and commercial producers. Consumer Bill of rights however by John F. Kennedy in 1962 presented four basic consumer rights to protect consumers.
The right to safety where consumers have a right to be protected from unsafe products, the right to be informed where consumers have the right to know exactly the features, benefits and possible consequences of the products they are buying, the right to choose products or items even with a massive competition and the right to be heard where businesses and government agencies recognize the need to hear complaints that are voiced by the consumers are the four consumer protection rights legalized during Kennedy’s administration (“The Consumer’s Bill of Rights”).
The right to service is the recent added consumer protection rights that include the right to take advantage on the use of advertising and technology to be fully informed and educated, the right to innovate products into a more useful one and the right to warranty.
Reference:
caveat emptor. (2009). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved February 09, 2009, from Encyclop?dia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/100648/caveat-emptor “The Consumer’s Bill of Rights by John F. Kennedy online”. Retrieved on February 9, 2009 From http://www. curriculumlink. org/econ/materials/billofrights. html “Bill of Rights”. DigitalConsumer. Org online. Retrieved on February 9, 2009 From http://www. digitalconsumer. org/bill. html