Shall we obey any laws that happens to prevail?
Thanks to all of you philosophers for the answers. Have a wonderful day!
2007-09-24 01:37:24 · 16 answers · asked by Third P 6 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
I say the Laws of God, because nothing is more just than His laws. All human laws are imperfect.
2007-09-24 01:45:36 · answer #1 · answered by Green Phantom 5 · 3⤊ 2⤋
If man is to selectively obey the laws of society, then he must apply the measuring concept of Good and Evil to those laws. Is a law Evil? Then it should be disregarded and the authority which imposed that law should be resisted.
How, then, does a just man define Evil? The simple answer would be that Evil is that which is farthest from that which he defines as Good. His belief system, his Faith, his moral compass define good for him. In the broadest sense of the words, Good is selflessness and Evil is selfishness. Good is that which considers the greatest benefit to all with the least cost to all. In some cases, ther must be some kind of balance decided, in which the benefit and cost are most evenly distributed A law may, for example, provide great benefit to a vast number of people, at the heavy expense of a minority. This law, then, is Evil, because it exists due to the selfishness of the majority at the expense of the minority.
This is an excellent question, though it would take far more server space than Yahoo has available to discuss it to conclusion. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss!
2007-09-24 04:05:58 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I go with Yowsie's answer. Add to that the golden rule, some positive reinforcement from the government and I think we're good to go.
But the problem is, no matter how many laws or how much goodwill and profound thought went into making those laws, it would still be up to the citizens to uphold and follow them to create a good, harmonious society. True, there are a lot of laws out there that are partial or biased to certain privileged groups, have a lot of legal loopholes, allow corruption and/or create more problems than they were designed to solve. But we as citizens still have the responsibility to do what is good and uphold what is just.
Just be responsible and everything else will follow.
Great question! Have a nice day:-)
2007-09-25 00:02:19 · answer #3 · answered by Aken 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you are applying the standard of "a just man" and "a good citizen," then it seems very straightforward to me.
Good citizens obey all the laws in place, unless they are practicing civil disobedience in an effort to have them repealed. Civil disobedience is most effective when practiced in a group, the larger the better. Individual protesters are viewed by the legal system as "law-breakers" or "criminals".
If good citizens disapprove of or disagree with any particular law, they then work through the legal or legislative channels in place to have it amended or repealed, faithfully obeying it in the mean time, like it or not.
Having said that, I must say that I am not 100% law-abiding at all times. :-)) But then, I never said I was an exemplary citizen, either :-))
We are talking about legalities here, not morality. In my opinion, legality, morality and justice do not always coincide!
2007-09-24 10:43:08 · answer #4 · answered by zen 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'd say to first stay true to the "laws" of our subjective morality. Yet, there are federal, state, county laws & so on. Some of these laws may, or may not--serve the majority. These laws can also be broken by the manipulation of them, by persons in power. I would obey any such law, that if I broke it--could have serious consequences. At the same time, I would do whatever I could to change "unjust" laws, & the abuse of "just" laws. I feel that your question "may" be in two parts. Morality, & legality. They may often seem in conflict, & that is why we should make every attempt to alter, or change what is considered the errors of the laws themselves, or the misuse of them.
2007-09-24 15:55:38 · answer #5 · answered by Psychic Cat 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are laws on the books in the U.S. that need to be re-evaluated, eradicated, revised, however, with that said, the laws of the land are to protect individual rights and freedoms, protecting even the "bad" guys. Laws that protect a patient with a doctor, a client with an attorney, a citizen with a judge are in place to protect all. Each state has their own particular laws, again, some ridiculous, some even ludicrous that need to be "up dated" or even abolished. In the mean time, laws are in place and must be obeyed to maintain order throughout the country.
2007-09-24 02:25:23 · answer #6 · answered by Nancy S 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
When laws are backed up by what is just and right, we are really killing two birds with one stone by not only being a better person but also being a law abiding citizen. But then again, there are countries that have unjust laws that do not promote freedom and condone violence and genocide. These are the type of laws that we are forced to fight against and through fighting for what is right, we are a better person. So what I am trying to say is it depends on what the law is and whether it is beneficial to society and fair for everyone or whether it segregates its people and is potentially harmful to everyone.
2007-09-24 02:20:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I believe people need not seek more of laws other than those having handed to us thousands of years ago. Had the people of the past to the people of today willingly abode with those laws, the world wouldn't be as hostile, problematic, and chaotic as it is now.
How many thousand laws have been passed in the human code since then? Have they ever made us truly secured and peaceful? Have they not just confused us more?..Being unable to grasp exactly what they've intended for us?
The laws that came from above are the simplest laws ever. Nobody would come to misunderstanding any of them. We just refuse to live by them because we do not want the things we're doing be identified as acts against those laws. We want to do our own things and cleverly get away with them through our own set of rules - recognized and favored by the human courts.
2007-09-24 15:56:37 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Do not obey laws that are wrong. Wrong laws are those laws that do wrong or lead to wrong or fail to negate or prevent those wrongs for which it is addressed Obey laws that do no harm and do not negate the good in life or a universal liberty for that would be a wrong. Do not wrong and do not crime. We obey laws for the universal good whose end is peace in common with a mixed peopled nation.
The Will is positive, the Judgment is negative.
2007-09-24 14:27:33 · answer #9 · answered by Psyengine 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Good people generally obey the law, but we do have good laws and bad laws. A hypothetical example would be if you and a group of other people were camping out somewhere and appoint a leader to make the rules. "Nobody shi+s inside the tent" would be an example of a good and reasonable law. "Everybody must shi+ one mile away at precisely 2:00PM every thursday" would be bad law, and needs to be ignored.
2007-09-24 08:41:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It kind of looks that way. You must obey the laws or....you can do your thing with civil disobedience or should you choose to break any law be prepared to do the time.
Don't like the laws, stand up and fight to get them changed through the proper channels.
2007-09-24 05:08:45 · answer #11 · answered by kickinupfunf 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋