Essay on "People Obey or Disobey"

Essay 4 pages (1282 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Laws deter people from committing crimes and the fact that legislations are harsher if the crime is greater is effective in preventing people from committing severe crimes. Obeying the law is, to a certain degree, a tool that a person can use with the purpose of influencing others to behave similarly. For example, a military leader who refrains from committing war crimes is likely to have his or her subordinates feel that it would be wrong for them to act in disagreement with their leader's behavior.

Many people obey the law because they fear that they are going to be punished if they break it. While it seems that such behavior is absurd, the reality is that some actually want to break the law but feel that they are unable to suffer the consequences if they do. As a result, these individuals refrain from doing so and simply put across socially-acceptable behavior in order to fit in. It is not necessarily that they are not aware of the fact that some of the impulses that they have can be harmful for themselves or for society as a whole. It is just that they know that controlling these impulses would protect them from being punished. However, conditions are different in some communities where leaders impose unjust laws and people thus acknowledge that they need to break the law in order to be able to survive. Such individuals are aware that many laws are absurd but still refrain from breaking most of them because they know that they are going to suffer greatly if they do (Morris 1).

People should consider both rationality and morality when coming across a situation where their thinking in disagreement with a particular law. Their rationality might tell them that it is in their best interest to perform a certain act, but morality might dictate that it would be wrong to do so. By reaching a balance between both of these concepts one is probable to do the right thing eventually. Breaking the law is not necessarily bad when it is obvious that the respective law is unjust. Adultery is punishable by death in some countries while it is regarded as being something perfectly normal in others. Divorce is a more rational choice in comparison to execution and it is thus natural for some people to believe that particular governments are wrong to promote unfair laws.

Most people want to live in a world dominated by justice and they know that one of the only methods of doing so would be for them to respect the law. Even with the fact that they consider some laws to be too strict, they focus on promoting the beneficial effects that the legislation system has on society as a whole. Many are probable to break the law, but they differentiate between acts that harm society and acts that are simply meant to control the social order. The law-abiding world is basically divided in two parts: people who are unhesitant about refraining to pay tax or using illegal drugs and individuals who categorize such acts as being equivalent to criminal behavior. The rest of the world is represented by delinquents who perform severe crimes and who express little to no interest in the well-being of society in general.

Works cited:

Atkins Edmundson, William, "The Duty to Obey the Law: Selected Philosophical Readings," (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999 )

Morris, Stewart, "Do we have an obligation to obey the law?," Retrieved October 29, 2012, from the Stewart Morris Website: http://www.stewartmorris.com/essays/05runciman4.pdf

Tyler, Tom R., "Why People Obey the Law," (Princeton University Press, 17.04.2006)

"ARE HUMAN RIGHTS UNIVERSAL?," Retrieved October 29, 2012, from the Danish Institute for Human Rights Website: http://www.humanrights.dk/human+rights/history+and+documents/are+human+rights+universal-c7-

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