THE ENFORCEMENT OF MORALS A BASIC RE-EXAMINATION IN ITS HISTORICAL SETTING

Authors

  • R A SAMEK

Abstract

In considering the dichotomy of legal and moral restraints on the individual, R.A. Samek asserts that it is paradoxical to speak of the enforcement of morals as such unless morals can be enforced only as morals, and law enforced only as law. The immorality of an act should never be the decisive factor in making it illegal, since the appropriateness of a moral sanction does not entail the appropriateness of a legal sanction. But any attempt to exclude immorality as a relevant factor in deciding whether to make an act illegal is both dangerous and futile. The legal system cannot function without the frame of reference of a moral system.

Keywords:

Jurisprudence

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Published

1971-05-01

Issue

Section

Legal Commentary