Final answer:
Ethical guidelines differ from the law in that they go beyond the minimum standard set by the law to guide moral and professional conduct within specific fields. Ethical guidelines, like those provided by IEEE-CS for technology professionals, incorporate complex concepts of morality and provide a framework that can exceed legal requirements.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question how do ethical guidelines differ from the law is best answered by option b. They go beyond the minimum standard set by the law. Ethical guidelines are sets of principles that guide the behavior of professionals and are often established by professional organizations. While laws provide a baseline of rules that must be followed to maintain public order and protect rights, ethical principles often address more nuanced and complex issues of moral conduct that are relevant to specific professions.
For example, within fields like science and technology, organizations such as the IEEE-CS have developed codes of ethics that outline the responsibilities of professionals. These responsibilities include approving software only if it is safe and does not harm the environment or impinge on privacy. The ethical guidelines can be seen enriching the concepts of corporate responsibility and offering a framework for moral deliberation that exceeds legal requirements. In some cases, ethical guidelines draw upon normative ethical theories like consequentialism and Confucianism to establish this framework.
Ethical guidelines can shape professionals' actions beyond what is legally required, embodying commitments to altruism, moral reasoning, and the good of society. Issues in applied ethics like social justice are sometimes best addressed through these frameworks, which complement but do not necessarily replace the law.