ETHICS AND MORALITY

Ethics and Morality

Ethics and Morality

Morality and Politics

One of the classics that has been addressed from the perspective of the relationship between law and morality is the possibility, and if justified, the imposition of moral standards by law. That is, trying to determine if the mere immorality of an act is or is not reason enough to justify the right to interfere with its realization (Bix 1993, pp. 64-114). From a liberal perspective, this is a major problem, because almost all the constitutions of the sign in revenue in its midst provisions stating that the actions of men, unless they harm others, cannot be legally prohibited.

The role of criminal law is to preserve public order and decency, protect citizens from what is offensive or harmful, and provide sufficient safeguard against exploitation and corruption of others, especially those who are particularly vulnerable, either because they are young, weak in body and mind, or inexperienced, or are in a state of physical dependence, legal or economic. In our opinion it is a function of the right to intervene in the private lives of citizens, or attempt to impose any particular behavior pattern, beyond what is necessary to implement the purposes that we have outlined (Barry 1995, pp. 145-163).

The only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral is not sufficient reason. The only part of the conduct of each one for which he is accountable to society is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns him, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and spirit, the individual is sovereign.

All legal systems impose a particular moral through the criminal law as a means of society to defend against certain attacks that can destroy it. The criminal law is but a moralized right. And in many crimes, their only function is to apply no more than a moral principle. In support of this position, the consent of the victim plays no role in criminal law as a justification or excuse. The reason for this is that in his opinion, a crime is not only an attack on a particular individual, is also an affront to the community as a whole. Moreover, he adds, although there immoral actions are not criminalized, there would be forgiven immorality by law. Thus, places such as a contract whose object was immoral not to be valid.

The defense of such legal morality is based on the premise that social cohesion depends on the set of moral beliefs shared by members of a community. By sharing these beliefs, individuals become members of society. In fact, society is a community of ideas, and not only political ideas, but also ideas about how its members should behave and govern their lives as well: the latter ideas are its morals (Young 2007, pp. 8235-8240). Every society has a moral structure, besides politics, or ...