Legislating Morality

Argumentative Essay # 58166

English > Argument
Ethics
Law

A discussion on whether legislating morality is a danger to freedom.

1,672 words () | 8 sources | MLA | 2004

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how morality laws can be defined as laws that permit and forbid behavior and actions depending on whether or not they are considered ethical. It contends that governments should not legislate morality because it would mean imposing the beliefs of one group in a society over all members of a society, which would contradict with the right of freedom and encourage discrimination against those who follow a different moral system or religion.

From the Paper:

"Governments do not have the right to interfere with the way people lead their lives as long as what they do is not harmful to society. In an essay entitled, "On Liberty," John Stuart Mill examines "the nature and limits of power which can be legitimately exercised" by a government over the society. As Mill argues, the role of a government in a society is to make laws that will protect the people's rights to live a secure life. By outlawing violence and theft, for example, governments are doing so without contradicting with the principle of individual rights and freedom. However, if governments were to make laws which forbid divorce, for example, saying that it is an immoral act that leads to the destruction of families, they will be interfering with the right of individuals to choose the way that they live their lives."