“In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so”
— Immanuel Kant
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Simplified Meaning:
In the legal world, a person is considered guilty if they actually break the law or harm someone else’s rights. For example, if someone steals another person's wallet, they have committed a crime because they've taken something that doesn't belong to them. In contrast, ethics is about what we think and believe is right or wrong, even before we act. If someone thinks about stealing the wallet but doesn’t go through with it, they might still feel bad or consider themselves guilty because they had the wrong intention. Ethics is about our inner sense of right and wrong, not just our actions. So, in everyday life, it’s important to keep our thoughts and intentions as clean as our actions to truly be good people, not just law-abiding citizens.
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