Law and Morals:
Law is rule and regulation that are objective, that determines the way in
which we behave, not necessarily fault based.
Morals are subjective personal codes of value, that are based on level of
fault and determine what is right or wrong.
There is a possibility for the two to overlap, such as murder is unlawful
and morally wrong.
Laws are made by formal institutions such as parliament and court. They
can be instantly made or repealed.
Where moral rules evolve as society evolves there is no formal creation.
And they change with society’s attributes; a slow transitional period.
Lord Devlin divides key principles for Parliament to bear in mind when
deciding which moral ‘offence’ ought to be prohibited by law and which
ought not. For example the individual freedom to be allowed must be
consistent with the integrity of society and privacy must be respected as
far as possible.
There has been legal debate about whether the law should be used to
enforce moral values: POSITIVISM AND NATURAL LAW THEORY.
Positivism maintains that law and morality should be kept separate.
Philosopher Jeremey Betham states that natural law theory is
‘NONSENSE UPON STILTS’. And that the philosophy of law should be
concerned with what law is.
Law is rule and regulation that are objective, that determines the way in
which we behave, not necessarily fault based.
Morals are subjective personal codes of value, that are based on level of
fault and determine what is right or wrong.
There is a possibility for the two to overlap, such as murder is unlawful
and morally wrong.
Laws are made by formal institutions such as parliament and court. They
can be instantly made or repealed.
Where moral rules evolve as society evolves there is no formal creation.
And they change with society’s attributes; a slow transitional period.
Lord Devlin divides key principles for Parliament to bear in mind when
deciding which moral ‘offence’ ought to be prohibited by law and which
ought not. For example the individual freedom to be allowed must be
consistent with the integrity of society and privacy must be respected as
far as possible.
There has been legal debate about whether the law should be used to
enforce moral values: POSITIVISM AND NATURAL LAW THEORY.
Positivism maintains that law and morality should be kept separate.
Philosopher Jeremey Betham states that natural law theory is
‘NONSENSE UPON STILTS’. And that the philosophy of law should be
concerned with what law is.
