Ethical understanding, reasoning or decision-making is not something that is predetermined. This is influenced by culture, values and personal experiences. Whenever someone is confronted with a difficult decision, it opens up an opportunity to develop empathy and understanding, which in turn informs their ethical reasoning. Several decisions have an ethical dimension and recognising such components would yield in better reasoning skills and decision-making through practice and observation.

There is also a common misconception that if something is legal, it must be ethical. The purpose of the legal system is based upon the expected sets of standards required by a government within its particular jurisdiction. For instance, the death penalty is legal in a number of countries around the world and yet, many individuals consider it unethical. In another scenario, a hungry child might have stolen a loaf of bread because he is hungry, and while the action is unlawful, it might be seen as ethical as the child needs food to survive. 

Social and economic movements often develop at rapid rates, leaving regulators, lawmakers and ethics researchers unsure of what should be considered legal or illegal. One cannot rely solely on legal premises to define or determine ethics, given that one could be ahead of the other.