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The term jurist describes an ethicist whose judgement on law becomes part of a legal code, or otherwise has force of law . This may be due to formal ( de jure) state sanction.

Some jurists have less formal ( de facto) backing by an ethical community, e.g. a religious community . In Islamic Law, for instance, such a community following ( taqlid) a specific jurisprudence ( fiqh) of shariah mimics judgement of a prior jurist. Catholic Canon Law has a similar structure. Such a jurist may be a theologian or simply a prominent teacher. To those outside this tradition, the jurist is simply an ethicist who they may more freely disagree with, and whose input on any issue is advisory. However, they may find it hard to avoid a fatwaA fatwa ( Arabic: ) plural 'fataawa', is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. Usually a fatwa is issued at the request of an individual or a judge to settle a question where fiqh Islamic jurisprudence, or excommunicationExcommunication is religious censure which is used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means "out of communion. Catholic Communion Excommunication is the most serious penalty that can be imposed for Catholics. or other such shunningThe shunning of an individual is the act of deliberately avoiding association with him or her. The historical punishments of ostracism and exile were forms of shunning. Today, shunning in an official, formalized manner is practiced by only a few religions by the religious community, so it may be hard advice to ignore.

Outside the legal profession s and spiritual tradition s, ethicists are usually considered to be either philosopherPhilosophy literally means 'love of wisdom' from the Greek 'philo' and 'sofia'. It is now widely used to designate the pursuit of knowledge or wisdom about fundamental matters concerning life, death, meaning, reality, being and truth. The term may also res or more practical mediator s of disputes. Indeed, views of ethics that are not deemed to be useful in resolving actual disputes are usually frowned upon as ideologyAn ideology is a collection of ideas. The word ideology was coined by Count Destutt de Tracy in the late 18th century to define a " science of ideas. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things (compare Weltansch. Modern ethicists often take the view that ethics is only about such resolution.

The list of ethicistsList of ethicists including religious or political figures recognized by those outside their tradition as having made major contributions to ideas about ethics, or raised major controversies by taking strong positions on previously unexplored problems. demonstrates the extreme range of people who have made, or contributed to, ethical debates. It also demonstrates that not all individuals who do so can be considered to be good moral exampleMoral example is trust in the moral core of another, a role model without the obvious mediation of any theory or language. It was cited by Confucius, Muhammad, Mohandas Gandhi and other important philosophers and theologians as the prime duty of a ruler is by all.