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Can the law help us to be moral?
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Brownlee, Kimberley and Child, Richard (2018) Can the law help us to be moral? Jurisprudence : An International Journal of Legal and Political Thought, 9 (1). 31-46 . doi:10.1080/20403313.2017.1352317 ISSN 2040-3313.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/20403313.2017.1352317
Abstract
The moral value of law can take many forms. It is instrumentally valuable when it coordinates interaction, provides moral advice and leadership, models the virtues, and motivates us to be moral. It is intrinsically valuable when it constitutes the collective moral conscience of citizens, embodies an ideal form of communal life, and expresses the moral integrity of the community. We analyse all of these potential values of law and assess their moral significance. In doing so, we are careful to distinguish between (a) the general concept of law and (b) the actual law of any particular legal system. We argue that, although in principle law does have the potential to help us to be moral in each of the ways noted, many actual legal systems are conducive to great immorality and injustice. Being moral and living well under such regimes is likely to be much harder than it would be otherwise, even in the absence of any legal system.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics K Law [Moys] > KA Jurisprudence |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy | ||||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Law -- Moral and ethical aspects, Virtue, Consequentialism (Ethics), Duty | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Jurisprudence : An International Journal of Legal and Political Thought | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Routledge | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 2040-3313 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | 2 January 2018 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 9 | ||||||||
| Number: | 1 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | 31-46 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1080/20403313.2017.1352317 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 3 March 2017 | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 25 March 2019 | ||||||||
| Related URLs: |
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