Liberty is the true path to morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Liberty is the true path to morality - Essay Example This in itself can lead to deeper and more profound questions and analyses'. As society's collective morality can be influenced by a variety of factors, some of which could be considered arbitrary and fleeting. Examples of such factors could be the media and those with strong political influence. By allowing the state to enforce morality, a number of questions must be answered. First and foremost, in what manner do these moral laws relate to the Constitution and the right of individual freedom People have free will and the right to choose for themselves, to choose their own morality and ethics and their own way of life, as long as no one is harmed. Another question to address is the reasoning that the morals that are being enforced by law based upon Those writing law can consciously or unconsciously provide their own interpretation of morality in the legal doctrine. Milsted writes, "Democracy represents the people in the middle. The government represents the immoral as well as the moral. Thus, we can expect the government to be more moral than half the population and more immoral that the other half "(Milsted). It also should not be forgotten that law is not magic. Moral norm, which becomes a part of law, needs to be provided into the real life. Practice has shown that perso nal morality laws are general ineffective and can have very unpleasant sequels. "The war on drugs has led to higher crime, broken families, increased poverty, the clogging of the court system, the funding of international terrorism and higher taxes. Furthermore, the laws against prostitution have led to an increase in the abuse of women and the spread of deadly sexually transmitted diseases" (Milsted 2005). Lord Devlin in an essay entitled, Introduction... Practice has shown that personal morality laws are general ineffective and can have very unpleasant sequels.   â€Å"The war on drugs has led to higher crime, broken families, increased poverty, the clogging of the court system, the funding of international terrorism and higher taxes.   Furthermore, the laws against prostitution have led to an increase in the abuse of women and the spread of deadly sexually transmitted diseases† (Milsted 2005).     Lord Devlin in an essay entitled, Introduction to Law and Morality, is quoted as saying that a society requires a public morality.   â€Å"A society is created by a sort of community of ideas, not only political ideas but ideas about the way the members of the society should behave and govern their lives† (2001).   The institution of marriage was used as an example of this, in that a society has to choose whether they will govern themselves by the rules of monogamy or polygamy, as the society can not have both.   Lord Devlin takes this example even further by stating that the institution of marriage would be damaged by morally accepting adultery, but that this is not a crime and should not be, yet the public and government should be compelled to protect itself and its valued institutions, such as marriage.   A look at paternalism allows for a greater analysis of the role that morality should have within the legal system.   Paternalism is the institution of laws that are meant to keep individuals from harming themselves, i.e., the use of drugs, gun laws, euthanasia, etc.