Socrates Law vs. Morality

Introduction

This essay will be discussing the distinction between the duty to obey the law and morals taking into consideration the trial of socrates within which this essay will be using as a vehicle to analyse the jurisprudential question as to why in a very modern constitutional democracy the citizen has a duty to obey the law.

Socrates-Law vs Morality

The trial of Socrates suggests that there are three possible bases for an ethical obligation to obey the law. First and foremost a citizen might have agreed to the law, that is, we might find that an express or implied agreement to conform exists. Secondly, short of an implied agreement, his own actions might stop him to decline, if the term were used in a legal sense the argument would in fact be redundant. Thirdly, absent any assent or action by the citizen himself, he might simply are the recipient of advantages presented by alternative citizens and so arguably ought to have associate obligation to conform the laws enacted by those citizens. Logically, these three prospects appear to exhaust the vary of sources of obligation.

Laws are the body of rules that are recognized as binding among folks of a community or state in order that they will be obligatory upon them and enforced on them by applicable sanctions are referred to as laws. Morals are beliefs and values which are shared by a society or a region of a society. These tell those who share them what's right or wrong. problems in identifying the ethical values of a society is that Some folks sometimes regard things as morally right or wrong that at over again or in another place are thought to be matters of taste or indeed to be matters of no importance at all.

Moral attitudes tend to alter overtime as an example homose...

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...icised Hart's "soft social thesis" approach in the Authority of Law. Raz argues that law is authority, distinctive purely through social sources, without regard to moral reasoning. Any categorisation of rules beyond their role as authoritative is best left to sociology, instead of jurisprudence.

Conclusion

Law is drawn from tradition and cultural attribute of community based on non-secular values or social cultural traditions. However, law changes with ever-changing social and economic circumstances and scientific advancement. Therefore law cannot be divorced from morality. However, it's meant for a bigger community. Persons having abnormal behaviour or instinct, a miniscule minority cannot challenge a law meant for the right-minded majority. However, now days to imitate a unique culture even in South Africa laws can be changed to accommodate a miniscule minority.