People have an unhappy habit of conflating legality with morality. I recently admonished my cousin for trash-talking his brother (these are young kids--his insult and my subsequent scolding were both innocuous). His reply? "The Constitution gives us all a right to free speech." (Yes, this kid is too precocious for his own good.) This is a simplistic example of a straw-man argument that you'll hear throughout your life. Don't fall for it. Yes, we should theoretically have a legal system that embodies our morality, but that's not the case. (For one, whose morality should we embody?) There are numerous examples of actions which are largely accepted as immoral that (rightly so) remain legal: lying* and committing adultery come to mind. I'm having a tougher time thinking of affirmatively moral actions that are illegal...that's probably a good thing that few if any examples exist. Admittedly, there are a healthy number of amoral actions that are illegal: antitrust laws, speeding laws, maybe even statutory rape laws. ("Statutory rape" as defined in a penal code is arguably way too broad to be classified as wholly immoral. I hate to qualify that statement but it's 3 AM and I could be thinking nebulously.)
*You don't have to be Kant to realize that there are some situations in which lying is immoral. No, I didn't reference Kant in order to tie the post back to the title. I swear.
There are plenty of moral actions that are illegal. Antitrust law forbids moral action, not amoral action, assuming the moral purpose of a manager's job is to maximize his shareholders' wealth. Also gay marriage is illegal. Buying potentially life-saving drugs that our benevolent overlords at the FDA haven't approved yet is illegal. Owning a firearm to protect your life and property is illegal in many places. Buying a life-saving kidney is illegal. Of course, all these laws are also unconstitutional as well.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, once you accept that voluntary trade for mutual benefit is a type of moral action, the list becomes almost infinite.
P.S.: Kant was a douchebag. Just saying.