Q&A: Democracy as a Value?
Democracy as a Value?
Question
Good afternoon!
What is the reason a person should obey the law when at that moment it harms no one? Is it only because of some kind of social contract, or because if everyone were to say that, the law could not continue to exist?
Also, I would be happy to know whether the categorical imperative says one should obey the law—that is, whether the law itself is something of value (perhaps this is the issue of legal positivism or natural law)?
Thank you very much!
Answer
How is this connected to the title (“democracy”)? Obeying the law is not necessarily connected to the form of government.
In my opinion, there is not much value in obeying the law when no harm at all results from violating it. True, one can invoke the categorical imperative here, but I am not sure one cannot say that there is no problem if everyone fails to obey the law when no harm is caused. Beyond that, the categorical imperative is not the only rule in the game. There is also common sense. See column 122 on the consequentialism of the categorical imperative.
Actually, the title I gave was “Obeying the Law as a Value,” but apparently it got mixed up because of the automatic redirect the site provides.