I think it's worthwhile to define some terms as I use them...
In contrast to Ethics (see below), I define Morality as rules based on spiritual or religious belief.
This definition, and that of Ethics below, is personal to me and not widely shared. However I find it useful to be able to draw a distinction between rules that come from a sense of the ineffible and rules that come from logical thought.
If nothing else, these are simply labels for different concepts, so if you disagree with these definitions, that's fine. The point is so that you'll know what I mean when I use them.
In contract to Morality (see above), I define Ethics as rules based on logical analysis of a given situation.
For example, Business Ethics are rules based on analysis and experience in business.
Law is what societies create based on Moral and/or Ethical considerations. Societies also create laws that allow society to function smoothly.
It's interesting to note that there are these two types of laws:
An interesting aspect of law is that no law can anticipate every situation in advance. Futher, what laws do exist can be contradictory in some unanticipated situation. And sometimes laws can have unintended or undesired effects. (The tv show, LAW & ORDER has been outstanding for its exploration of this aspect!)
In any event, this is why any society really does need (good) lawyers and judges. Without the ability to adjudicate an unanticpiated situation, we have only the letter of the law, and that can be the wrong thing sometimes!
A Theory is basically an idea about something, but to be a proper Theory the idea must be disprovable.
In other words, there must be some way to test–and possibly disprove–a Theory.
An interesting aspect of this is that it's actually difficult to prove a Theory, but relatively easy to disprove one. More on this in the essay, Atheism as Faith.