3A - Law and Morality Flashcards
What are the two ways in which rules can exist?
- Law
- Morals
What is a rule?
A rule is something that determines the way in which we behave, either because we submit ourselves to it voluntarily (moral rules) or because it is enforceable (laws).
What is a law?
Law is a system of rules administered by the state and enforced by sanctions.
What are morals?
Morals are a system of values and principles of conduct. It is a normative and subjective concept, depending on society/culture/religion as well as the society’s values, principles and norms.
What is a societal norm?
A societal norm is something that a society deems to be normal. What is right or wrong usually fits around these societal norms. These norms change over time and differ depending on location.
Give an example of how societal norms differ from time and locations?
For example, homosexuality was illegal and seen as morally wrong in the UK before 1967, and that is still the case in in many middle eastern countries such as Iran or Saudi Arabia.
How is religion a key influence on morals?
In UK society and in many others, morality has been influenced to a large extent by religious beliefs.
- For example, the Bible provides a moral code for Christians, both in the very basic and strict rules of the Ten Commandments. In Islam, the Quran provides a very extensive moral code for Muslims. The Torah does so for the Jewish faith.
What did Mary Warnock believe?
There are ‘core’ moral beliefs surrounding the issues of birth, death and families. All societies have opinions about these topics.
- For example, there are a variety of opinions surrounding abortion and euthanasia.
Give examples of how morals change over time?
This can be seen in attitudes to issues such as abortion, homosexuality, drugs and drink-driving.
What did sociologist Durkheim believe?
There is a ‘collective conscious’ within societies, where the society shares thoughts. He believed the collective conscious is more likely to be stronger in smaller communities than larger communities.
He stated that societies can break down as they get too big. Most developed countries are multicultural societies, where there are a wide range of views.
More authoritarian individuals (e.g. the governments of North Korea or Iran) believe there is a need to keep collective conscious together, otherwise society will break down.
Under Durkheim’s theory, laws will be implemented to prevent the disintegration of society, and will therefore reflect morality.
What characteristics can be assessed to show the differences between law and morals?
- their origins
- their date of commencement
- their enforcement
- their ease of change
How do the origins of law and morals differ?
- The origin of laws can be easily traced back to a source – either common law or in Acts of Parliament (statute).
- Morals on the other hand, often don’t have clear origins. They typically are developed over time with no clear source, although sometimes they follow the teachings of major religions in the society.
How does the enforcement of law and morals differ?
- Laws can be enforced by the courts following a set procedure and an appropriate sanction can be given.
- Instead, moral rules are generally enforced through public disapproval through the media or privately through social ostracism, rather than a formal sanction.
How does the date of commencement of law and morals differ?
- Laws generally have a set start date. Precedent operates from the date of the decision.
- Morals, however are much less straightforward. Western attitudes towards particular social issues have changed significantly over time. It is not possible to attach a date to this change, as it is part of a wider change in views – it evolves over time.
How does the ease of change for law and morals differ?
- In theory, legal rules are relatively easy to change. Parliament has the authority to pass a law whenever it wants. In practice, however, Parliament is often slow to respond to change. Courts also have the power to change legal rules but only when a case comes to court.
- Moral rules tend to change gradually, perhaps over decades or centuries. It is often only in hindsight that we become aware of such change.
