When you first start reading Kitty Calavita ‘s Introduction to law and society you begin to wonder what the book will truly be about. She starts off telling you about the history of the study of law and society. She then begins to tell of how society defines law and how a definition is hard to establish. As you continue through the book you discover that Calavita is trying to make three main points. These points I would argue are law is created by society and guided by society, Law allows society to hold back individuals and even create tensions between laws and the society, and lastly that law that those in society who interact most with the law tend to shape the outcome of the laws and the system itself.…
Unjust laws are created by humans and don’t have roots with natural laws (King, 3). They degrade the human personality and damage our souls. Unjust laws provides a false sense of superiority to some and inferiority to others. (21) King concludes that when an individual breaks an unjust law and accepts the punishment they are really showing the highest respect for law. Since unjust laws aim to dehumanize some they should not be seen as laws at all.…
Laws and Morals The importance of laws and the concepts of their inherent values change. These laws that are imposed on our people today save freedom for others, but when laws restrict these morals, multitudes of opinions and different motives arrive. Such feelings as possibly felt by Equality 7-2521 in Anthem by Ayn Rand include rebellion, regret, and greed. We would change our opinion…
Natural Law theorists argue that moral standards are based on the objective nature of the world and that legal standards derive their authority from these moral standards. Aquinas argues that law is, “Nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by him who has the care of the community.” This is very similar to Austin’s command theory, in which laws are commands by a sovereign to citizens, and commands are orders that are backed up by threats. The difference here is that the sovereign can only give orders to their citizens if they are a good person. Aquinas argues that just laws are consistent with natural law and are thus unbreakable, but unjust laws are inconsistent with natural law and are thus…
What do you see as the basis for morality and law making? I believe that laws should be created for the common good. Morality is taught from religion and tradition, and solidified through each person’s evaluation of their beliefs. Some societies share a strict set of values, which may influence the laws.…
This paper discusses the harm principle and the sovereignty principle. It questions the harm principle validity on the grounds that some harm seems to be allowable, even though the principle denies man the right to harm another and then criticizes the sovereignty principle for being too broad. This paper concludes that the harm principle is the better of the two principles to base a legal system on, as it allows for more liberty than the sovereignty principle. The Harm Principle…
Why does the argument that “anything that is legal is ethical” is insufficient? The argument that ‘anything that is legal is ethical’ is insufficient and complicated topic to discuss, because it contradict the majority of legal systems around the globe. However, it is important to point out that laws cannot satisfy every member of the population, and in order to have a healthy balance within our communities, the government need to find codes of conduct and procedures that benefit most people and do not harm the future of a nation; in other words, laws are made to find fairness for most people and seek for the right equilibrium, for this simply reason, not always what is legal is ethical. According to Massood Samii & Southern New Hampshire…
In “Legal Realism, Critical Legal Studies, and Dworkin”, realism highlights the challenges and negative qualities that Positivism encompasses, not only through criticism but a detailed explanation of an alternate perspective of how the law should be. Hart then responds to these criticisms that point out underlying flaws in the realists views, which indicate his modern view on Positivism and how it has evolved from a better known classic version used previously. Even though Hart does defend Legal Positivism, he acknowledges the growth and development that must occur in order for it to successfully capture the structure of law that needs to be in place in order for a society to function in a civilized manner. Even though Hart’s version of a legal…
Throughout the history of law, morality has created conflicts between the lawmakers and enforcers of the law, with those whom the laws apply to. Morals, although often shared within a society, differ between people. Lord Patrick Devlin and John Stuart Mill were both men who were interested in how morality affects legal systems, though they both had contrasting opinions on how to approach this. Mill writes of the “harm principle”, in which a person should be free to act however he choses so long as it does not harm those around him, and should only be punished if it does harm. (Tasson, Dickson, Kazmierski, Kuzmarov, Malette, 106)…
In “The Ethics of Natural Law,” C.E. Harris explains the views of natural-law theorists. First, he states that the moral standard of natural law is that the actions that promote the values that follow the natural inclinations of human beings are right. These values include life, procreation, knowledge, and sociability. Anything, such as murder, birth control, stifling intellectual curiosity, or spreading lies, that opposes these four natural inclinations is wrong. Then, Harris notes that natural-law theory is absolutist, explaining that no values specified by natural inclinations may be violated and values cannot be measured or compared.…
This discussion deals with legal and moral codes and how they have reflected historic society and whether modern society should no longer look to codes but to a single set of rules to be followed by all. The word “moral” have been defined as “the principles, habits or standards with respect to right or wrong in conduct.” Morals are the social norms imposed by society and by those in power and affluence. According to Harris a ‘code of morality’ may be defined as “a set of beliefs, values, principles and standards of behavior found in all social groups.” Legal code on the other hand is a code of law adopted by a state or nation, basically all the official laws of a country.…
This will be done by considering Prof. Lon Fuller’s claim that there is an intrinsic connection between law and morality and Prof. H.L.A Hart’s rejection thereof. First, Hart’s support of the separation thesis will be considered. This thesis is…
By today’s standards, this is a lighthearted romantic comedy. However, Otto Preminger encountered a great deal of resistance when he tried to distribute his film. In the Production Code files archive there are several letters between Otto Preminger and Joseph Breen (the director of The Production Code Association) discussing the denial of a seal of approval for The Moon is Blue. Among these are letters between Preminger and the heads of many studios that also refused to distribute the film due to its violation of the production code. The archives also include a letter from the archbishop of Philadelphia stating that the legion of decency gave the film a rating of C and urged the Catholic Church not to partake in the films viewing.…
Exclusive positivists argue that the use of moral standards to make a ruling in court leads to the creation of a new law. The law is often subject to different interpretations, and the judges, having full knowledge of the law, make judgments that reflect the right things to do in specific situations. Such decisions become law, whether they were based on legal or moral considerations, as long as they were made within the legal system. In this regard, the law and morality are indeed complementary rather than distinct from each other.…
This is shown through the philosophy provided by Aquinas and Cicero in which they have stated that natural law consist of morality which has been founded through ones experience or through a person’s reasoning on situations. For legal positivist however, a law is considered as good law when the law is enacted by a proper legal authorities, following the rules, procedures and constrains of the legal system. This is provided by legal positivist John Austin in which he was a strong believer of legal positivism. John Austin is more renowned for his Command theory in which he believes that once there is a person of sovereign over a country and this sovereign gives command which must be followed if not there will be sanctions as a consequences. This is regardless whether morality plays a part or…