Morality

• What are morals?

  Morals are subjective personal codes of values or beliefs that are based on levels of fault and determine what is right or wrong
• What are situations that create tension between legal and moral rules?

  Abortion or Euthanasia
• What is an example where there is an overlap between legal and moral rules?

  Murder
• What are laws?

  Rules and regulations that are objective and not necessarily fault-based
• What type of society is the UK?

  Pluralist
• What does it mean if the UK is a pluralist society?

  There's more than one culture, language, race, religion, etc
• What can a progressive, pluralist society lead to?

  Tensions as to whether the law should involve itself in matters of moral importance to some groups
• Who proposed the four key principles for Parliament to bear in mind when deciding which moral 'offences' ought to be prohibited by law?

  Devlin
• What was the first principle Devlin said Parliament should bear in mind deciding which moral 'offences' ought to be prohibited by law?

  Individual freedom to be allowed must be consistent with integrity of society
• What was the second principle Devlin said Parliament should bear in mind deciding which moral 'offences' ought to be prohibited by law?

  Limits of such tolerance are not static, but lawmakers should be slow changing laws protecting morality
• What was the third principle Devlin said Parliament should bear in mind deciding which moral 'offences' ought to be prohibited by law?

  Privacy must be respected as far as possible
• What was the fourth principle Devlin said Parliament should bear in mind deciding which moral 'offences' ought to be prohibited by law?

  Law is concerned with minimum not maximum standards of behaviour
• What are the two philosophies as to whether the law should be used to enforce moral values?

  Positivism

  Natural law theory
• Positivism

  Maintains that laws and morals should be kept separate
• Positivism


  Maintains that laws and morals should be kept separate
• Who are the five key theorists for positivism?

  Aristotle

  Bentham

  Mill

  Hart

  Wolfenden
• What did Aristotle say about positivism?

  "Law should be reason, free from passion"
• What did Bentham say about positivism?

  "Natural law theory is nonsense upon stilts"
• What did Mill say about positivism?

  Protecting "His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant"
• What did Hart say about positivism?

  "Laws that ... enforce morals should cease. Laws should only intervene where immorality causes harm"
• What did Wolfenden say about positivism?

  "There must be a realm of private morality and immorality which is ... not the law's business"
• Aristotle (Positivism)

  The law should be reason, free from passion
• Bentham (Positivism)

  Natural law theory is nonsense upon stilts
• Mill (Positivism)

  Protecting "His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant"
• Hart (Positivism)

  Laws that ... enforce morals should cease. Laws should only intervene where immorality causes harm
• Wolfenden (Positivism)

  There must be a realm of private morality and immorality which is ... not the law's business
• Wolfenden (Positivism)


  There must be a realm of private morality and immorality which is ... not the law's business
• Hart (Positivism)


  Laws that ... enforce morals should cease. Laws should only intervene where immorality causes harm
• Mill (Positivism)


  Protecting "His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant"
• Bentham (Positivism)


  Natural law theory is nonsense upon stilts
• Aristotle (Positivism)


  The law should be reason, free from passion
• Natural law theory


  Maintains that law should be used to enforce moral values
• Natural law theory

  Maintains that law should be used to enforce moral values
• What is the natural law theory?

  Maintains that law should be used to enforce moral values
• What is positivism?

  Maintains that laws and morals should be kept separate
• What are the five key theorists for the natural law theory?

  Aquinas

  Stephens

  Devlin

  Fuller

  Simmonds
• What did Aquinas say about natural law theory?

  Natural law theory is a "dictate of right reason"
• What did Stephens say about natural law theory?

  "The immorality of an action is a good reason for it to be a crime"
• What did Devlin say about natural law theory?


  "It is an error of jurisprudence to separate crime from sin"
• What did Fuller say about natural law theory?

  "Some laws are so immoral that they must be invalid"