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Can ethics and laws be in conflict? Discuss with specific examples.

Absolutely, because ethical stances of the individual or organization are sometimes incompatible with the laws that affect that individual or organization.

For example, if I have an Egoist ethical orientation, one in which I believe that that which is right is that that benefits myself alone without any other factors, I can easily enter into conflicts with laws. Taken to its furthest extremes I could consider a sociopath, one who does not have regard for the feelings or lives of others, as an Egoist. A sociopath might go on a killing spree or run their car into a crowd of people to suit their own needs for happiness or control, but this is clearly in conflict with even the most basic sets of laws.

If I take into account Kant's Ethics, an nonconsequentialist point of view in which we only consider the intent of the actor, but not the results, we can imagine a situation in which the law is conflicted. Let's say that a worker at a University gets a phone call from someone asking for a student address in order to send a gift package, and gives out the address in the hopes of helping the caller send the gift. FERPA law prohibits such actions because it potentially provides someone who is not supposed to have location, status, or identification information about a student with this information.