Why Obey the Law? An Analysis of Moral, Ethical, and Legal Duties

This essay explores the multifaceted reasons why people should obey the law, delving into moral, ethical, and legal perspectives. It examines the concept of law as a set of rules established by legitimate authority to maintain order and harmony, emphasizing the moral duty of citizens to comply. The essay discusses various types of obligations, including perfect and imperfect obligations, and analyzes the interplay between law, ethics, and morality. It considers arguments for and against obeying the law, referencing utilitarian, teleological, and deontological theories. The essay also addresses the issue of unjust laws, highlighting the importance of challenging them while advocating for respect for just laws. Examples such as traffic rules and criminal law are used to illustrate the significance of obeying the law for societal well-being and the potential consequences of disobedience. The essay concludes by emphasizing the role of law in securing social values, administering human activities, and promoting justice, peace, and equality.

Running head: ESSAY 0
JUSTICE
WHY SHOULD PEOPLE OBEY LAW
JUNE 13, 2018
STUDENT DETAILS:

ESSAY 1
Introduction-
Law is set of rules which are given by relevant authority for the purpose of preserving the
law, order and harmony. It is a moral duty of people to obey law. The people are required to
obey law on the primary basis not because of the fear of punishment. The people should obey
the law because they should believe in valuing the legitimate authority. The law should be
obeyed because this is just to do so. The compliance is essential so it is necessary to
understand the mechanism by which law affects the behaviour.
People have key obligation to follow the rule. There are various types of obligations which
can be described as moral tie by which citizens are expected to do or avoid doing something.
The following rules and orders have moral foundation. The obligation to follow the rule may
be classified as the perfect obligation and the imperfect obligation. In this essay, the
obligation to follow the law is explained and critically examined.
Moral duty to obey the law-
It is moral obligation of citizens to obey the rule. The law is written from the social ethical
codes (Austin, 2012). It can express the ethics and morality. There is opinion that it is legal
obligation to obey the law. One should always obey the law no matter what. The reason is
that law is the law. It should always be followed by people. Naïve. As per the legal opinion of
supporters, it is a prima facie legal opinion to follow the law because law is called law. It
should be necessarily followed except in some circumstance. There are some circumstances
in which law is not required to be obeyed. No law or judiciary system binds the people to
follow the rules and law by the way of obedience.
When the morality and ethics are reflected by the law and it secures the people from pain for
example warning against the murder, it is argued by the practical theorists that following the
law and rule is common moral duty. There are some conditions where morality surpasses the

ESSAY 2
law. The utilitarian philosophy which is given by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill may
be useful in the situation where the violation of the law can be ethically acceptable if the
consequences are preference for many peoples. It means rules, regulations and law can be
breached if it is for the advantage of the many people (Beatty, 2012).
As per the teleological theory and deontological theory, the law against the murder, theft and
driving drunk is required to be followed ethically. The deontologists like Kant stated that the
following law is natural ethical act. The tax evasion is not ethical because it does not
considered legal but it is argued by John Stuart Mill that tax evasion is no moral irrespective
of short term benefits. The tax evasion may lead to action against tax payer. It can be painful
condition.
The person has not legal but the ethical responsibility to follow the just laws. The people
should not disobey the unjust laws, rules and the regulations. The modern laws are made to
define the general will. The purpose of this will is focus on the common good. It means the
rules, regulations and laws secure the rights of the members of the society as per the principle
of the fair and just (Benthm, 2017).
Some unjust laws may be come into effect because of the limitation of the time. The isolation
law in Alabama was not just (Beran and Zell, 2017). It was politically, financially and
sociologically not just. At the initial stage of the implantation of the isolation law, many
people realised the injustice in it. The unjust law is not considered as law at all. The
following the unjust law may harm the rights of the citizens. The peaceful and fearless
society cannot make on the basis of the unjust laws, rules and regulations. It is required by
the citizens to not to follow the unjust law. The legal system depends upon the honesty,
loyalty and involvement of the citizens in respect of role of judges or magistrates, witness and

ESSAY 3
legislations regarding the will of the citizens. It depends on the interests so law can be just in
the best possible manner. The modern law protects the individuals in the society.
Many ancient laws were made to secure the rights of the upper class people such as kings and
the pop. It is difficult to exclude the chances of modern law being unjust. Sometimes
Injustice cannot avoid and it is not so easy for the legislature to consider the every situation
and its outcome into the consideration. On the other hand different people have different
religions, different financial status, different standard and different opinion. The justice is
based upon the diversity concept (Denny, 2017). The implementation of the laws, rules and
regulations is very controversial issue. The people should not obey the unjust and the unfair
laws. But it is not practical to disobey the laws, rules and regulations on the basis of their
personal just or unjust evaluation. At the time of disobeying the law, the people should have
accurate and high object in respect of the will of mass. The people are not required to break
the rules for their own convenience. They should attack on the unfair and unjust law on their
own risk for developing and maintaining the fearless society. It is duty of people to respect
the laws, rules and the regulations (Finnis, 2015).
Examples of obeying the law-
The laws and commands are generally more important. For an example, it is essential to
follow the traffic rules, traffic signs. The traffic rules are required to be followed to save the
life and preserve the property. The traffic law defines the predictable behaviour of the driver.
It defines the rule to stop at sign and drive on the right side of the road. If the expected
behaviour is ignored by the driver then the travel becomes difficult. It traffic rules are not
followed, then fine is imposed on that person as per the rules. The legal rules and regulations
impose an ethical duty on the citizens. For example, when someone steals then that person
will be sanctioned by the legal system. The object of criminal law is to develop and maintain
the systematic and organised society (Ganc, 2012). This object can be achieved if people are

ESSAY 4
allowed to anything that are required by them without consider the right of others in the
community. The crime violates the social control. The criminal law is required to deal with
people who are determined to interrupt the society working and to stop the wrongdoing and
misbehaviour (Greenawalt, 2017).
Significance of obeying the law-
Law is not complete. Law can be amended on the requirements of the society. Obeying the
laws, rules and regulations is an important step to secure the social values and administrate
the human activities. In the complex society, the law is not required if no one did the right
thing and connected with other well. The law defines what can do or cannot do. Law is very
significant for the society to be non-violent (Hardimon, 2012). Law is created to introduce the
justice, peace, loyalty, trust and equality. The law is made by the persons so it is all up to
people to obey the law or not obey the law. It gives the security to the victims. There are
provisions in law to give punishment to the offenders. It means if people disobey the law then
they have to be face many difficulties (Hart, 2016).
In absence of the legal system, law, rules and regulations, the society cannot be imagined to
live in. There would be no control over the people in absence of the legal system (Hayek,
2014). In this situation people will take decision on the basis of their own principle. They will
do crime like murder, rape, steal and encroach on their desire. The people will do what they
want to do. People will take revenge from others. The society will become full of crime and
prohibited actions. Even in the absence of the rules, the problem of unused disposal will be
raised. The diseases will be increased. The problem of supply of water could also be raised in
absence of the rules because there will be no cleaning of the water. The people will live as
per their own way. The society will be convert into the war area. It shows the importance of
law, legal system, rules and regulations. From the legal system, respect can give to the human

ESSAY 5
rights. People cannot work effectively when no law. The law should be followed for the
safety of the future generations.
On the failure of obey of law-
Failing to follow the law and rules makes people lack amend in the incident where they had
done wrong things. For the security from rules, regulations and laws, the person living in
society should always be ready to sacrifice a small amount of their independence and
freedom to involve in which people wish for at given period. It is very essential in case where
activities of the people inhibit with the rights of the others (Hobbes, 2017).
Reasons to obey law-
Many sociologists have raise the question that why people should obey the law. The law has
impact in the people’s daily life. The people should follow the rules and law for the better
life. The people should obey the law for the three main reasons. The first reason for obeying
the law is to avoid the legal consequences and the sanctions. This is because people have
some respect for the relevant authority and it should be done ethically (Horton, 2015).
The main reason to obey the rules and law is that people do not want to face the
consequences by breaking the rules. The people obey all the rules and law even though it will
not harm others to break them. It is considered as financial explanation or instrumental
explanation (Hume, 2018). For the example, the jay walking does not harm to others still the
people do not prefer to jay walk. The reason is that jay waking is not considered legal. The
people do not want to get penalised. The other example is that if someone follows the stop
sign and no car is there. The person still stops there and looks around before passing the road.
The reason is that person thinks that car of police may pull out behind the bush. It means that
people follow the rules not because of importance of law and rules. It is because the people
do not want to face the consequences from disobeying the law (Jackson and Palmer, 2018).

ESSAY 6
The second major reason is that people have respect for the authority. It is based on the
theory of the gratitude. Many things are supplied by the governing officers for the better and
easier life. These things are free health services, free medicines, free education and security.
The government thinks for the people (Robert, 2018). The government wants that all the
facilities should be given to the society. The people should be free from the problems. In
return it is required by the government the people should obey the laws, rules and the
regulations. Most laws are made to give protection to the society. It is expected by the
government that society should follow the determined rules, regulations and laws. If in return
society cannot follow the laws then how it can be expected from the government or relevant
authorities that they will fulfil the promises made to the citizens. It means if people break the
rules and do not respect the government or the relevant authorities then government also will
not think about the society and its development (Joseph and Hells, 2017).
The third reason of obeying the law by people is that people thinks that disobey of law is
against the moral value and ethics. When the rules, regulations and laws are broken by the
citizens irrespective of minor fault or major fault, they feel differences between them because
it is not good to do this. For an example, generally common people do not steal the things of
the others because they know that it is not good as per moral values and they feel the guilty
for the wrongdoing. When people break the law then it is considered immoral and illegal
(Kant, 2008).
There are several other reasons to obey the rules, regulations and laws. Some people belong
from the family which is the law abiding. The parents and grandparents of the person have
respect for the legal system, rules, regulations and laws. Following the laws of state is
considered as the tradition of the family. It is not so difficult for them to follow the laws
because of law abiding family. It is the main function of the state to protect the rights of the
citizens and secure the property of the citizens. The authorities proper take care of the

ESSAY 7
properties and the rights of the citizens. They make all the efforts for the citizens. It will be
appropriate to obey the laws, rules and regulations. The fear of punishment is the reason of
obeying the law by the people. The people follow the rules because they have fear of being
sentenced or the penalised. If anyone chooses to break the law then the state has powers to
compel that person to follow the rules, regulations and law (Masson and Shariff, 2016).
The public interest is also one of the reasons to obey the laws. The people obey the laws
because they think that laws are made in the interest of the public. They are made for good of
every citizen in the state. The people who follow the religions, also follow the rules,
regulations and the laws. The reason is that they are learned to obey the laws by the books
and novels. For an example, the Christians are educated to follow the every authority of the
world. All the articles are required to be followed by the people because all are creation of the
god. The loyalty to government or relevant authority is the reason to obey the law. It is
considered as well-thing because government thinks lot of for the citizens. The stability can
be possible if people follow the rule. When the people of the state follow the particular law, it
means no one will take arms to defeat the government and the relevant authorities. These are
the reasons for which the people obey the laws (Ray, 2016).
Conclusion
As per the above mentioned analysis, it can be said that the people are required to obey the
laws. The laws create the harmony in the society. The society without the restrictions as per
the law will be disordered. It is the moral duty of everyone to respect the laws. One should
obey the just laws. The people are not required to follow the unjust and unfair laws
irrespective of considering the high purpose. In the absence of just and fair law, the crimes
such as murder, rape, corruption and steal will be increased in the society.

ESSAY 8
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