Under what circumstances should things that are unethical also be illegal?
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When Should the Unethical Be Illegal?
- Thread starter Left Coast
- Start date
Koldo
Outstanding Member
In principle, always.
It depends on what one means by unethical.
Cheating on your spouse can be considered immoral...but the law cannot and must not condiders it illegal.
Imho
Cheating on your spouse can be considered immoral...but the law cannot and must not condiders it illegal.
Imho
Koldo
Outstanding Member
It depends on what one means by unethical.
Cheating on your spouse can be considered immoral...but the law cannot and must not condiders it illegal.
Imho
Why not?
This is exactly where my mind went; only the opposite. I am still shocked that adultery is legal. It makes me wonder what the point of marriage is.
HonestJoe
Well-Known Member
When they're also potentially harmful. Ethics is about what you choose to do. The law is about what you're required to do. There is obviously crossover but they're still fundamentally separate concepts.
Always? So, lying should be illegal?
exchemist
Veteran Member
When the practice damages others or society.
Because marriage is a contract.
So therefore, there can be civil responsibility of the unfaithful spouse, but no penal responsibility of two adulterers.
Civil and penal responsibility are two different things.
Also because we live in secular states...at least in the West.
I tend to agree, although with the caveat that the law often dictates what's allowed, not what's required.
I disagree completely.
I consider elective abortions unethical. Do you think my opinion should be legally enforced? Should the government have the right and duty to investigate miscarriages?
Tom
Koldo
Outstanding Member
I don't think lying is always unethical. But whenever it is, it should be illegal.
Koldo
Outstanding Member
Sure. But I was thinking of legality as including civil liability.
It already is to some extent (perjury). To me, a lie is still a lie whether it was under oath or not, but the law sees it differently.
Legally, it's the state recognising a relationship between two people who chose it. If they choose to dissolve it, that's also their prerogative.
But keep your filthy political nose out of my business unless I invite you.
Tom
It would be nice if you told us what you mean by unethical, giving an example.
I wanted to leave it open-ended, since I know people use different ethical systems.
An example of an act I think is unethical and should be illegal is murder.
An example of an act I think is unethical but shouldn't be illegal is a lie (other than under oath, etc.).
And illegal is a term used only in public law (which includes penal law).
In private law jurists say "non-complying' or ' defaulting"
Koldo
Outstanding Member
First we would need to vote on what counts as unethical, and then proceed to figure out not only the proper sanctions but also if it is viable to employ said laws and what is the ideal method.
But if they're legally allowed to break the contract whenever they want, what's the point of the contract? Just get rid of marriage in that case.