PRESENTATION ON

The Conflict between Morality and

Law
 INTRODUCTION
◦ Concept of morality
 It is quiet known to most people in the world that there is a great influence
of law and morality in our daily lives. Both of them are somewhat
responsible for the behavioral conduct of the humans in the society in
which they live. Law controls the behavior by issuing threats of sanctions,
punishments and fines if we fail to obey them. Morality equally plays an
important role in the structuring the behavior of human beings. If we
commit a certain wrong, we tend to get the feeling of guilt and
approbation. On the contrary if we are able to do a right thing, we are
engrossed in the feelings of virtue and praise for the work done. This tussle
and the resulting push and pull force result in developing the human
conduct in the society.
 ◦ ORIGIN OF MORALITY
 -The development of morality is a process closely tied to the
sociocultural evolution of different peoples of humanity.
 Some evolutionary biologists believe that morality is a product of
evolutionary forces acting at an individual level and also at the
group level.
 -Some believe that the set of behaviors that constitute morality
evolved largely because they provided possible survival and/or
reproductive benefits (i.e. increased evolutionary success).
 -Morality is a set of self-perpetuating and ideologically-driven
behaviors which encourage human cooperation. Biologists contend
that all social animals, from ants to elephants, have modified their
behaviors, by restraining immediate selfishness in order to improve
their evolutionary fitness.
 ◦ Definitions of MORALITY
 -Winston Churchill

 “A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in

spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis
of all human morality.”
The definition lays the stress on the qualities a person
should possess for the benefit of the mankind as a whole.
It recognizes that there will be obstacles faced by him in
his pursuit to achieve these morals values.
 Albert Einstein

 “Morality is of the highest importance - but for us, not

for God.”
 The definition given by the undisputedly the greatest

scientist of the twentieth century, lays emphasis on the

fact that the moral values are for good o0f the society
as a whole and not for one religion only.
 ◦ Principles of morality
 In general scenario, morality has lot of power. It has the quality and the
command to be in harmony or compliance with what is rightful and wrong
conduct. It has a certain level of standard and dignity with respect to considering
what is right and what is wrong. The word carries with itself the following
concepts:
 Standard that ought to be moral on basis of behavior
 Responsibility which should me moral with reference to our conscience
 Moral identity that is able to differentiate itself from right and wrong conduct.
The principles or guidelines that ought to be followed for a proper
behavior and conduct within the society are all that is described
under Morality. It is virtually impossible for any society to exist for a
long period of time without these guiding principles
 ◦ Ancient and Modern View
 In the beginning, no one can make any sort distinction between the legal system and
system of values. Greek writers suggested that the model people were those who did
anything that is within the framework of legality. It was sheer due to the people who
made in laws in early civilizations that distinguished between the exact point of
difference between right and wrong. What should be legal vaguely represents about
what is actually right or just, that is, what we ought to say that it is morally right
Apparently the entire progress of development and use of human reason is enough for
us to have knowledge of what is moral and we are able to recognize difference between
justice and morality.
But it didn’t take a long time for the intellectual people of the societies to figure out the
precise difference between what is legally right as mentioned by the political authorities
and what is morally correct.
 ◦ MORALITY and RELIGION
 Morality and religion is the relationship between religious views and
moral values. Religions have value frameworks that guide adherents
in determining between right and wrong. These frameworks are
outlined and interpreted by various sources such as holy books, oral
and written traditions, and various religious leaders.
 Religion and morality are not synonymous. Religion and morality
"are to be defined differently and have no definitional connections
with each other. Conceptually and in principle, morality and a
religious value system are two distinct kinds of value systems or
action guides.”
 Value judgments can vary greatly between religions, past and present.
Religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism typically derive ideas
of right and wrong by the rules and laws set forth in their respective
holy books and by their religious leaders. On the other hand, religions
such as Buddhism and Hinduism generally draw from a broader canon
of work.
 ◦ Role of MORALIY
 -A civilized society requires continuous influx of young citizens
having strong base of moral character which enshrines values
that bring out empathy for the society as a whole.
 Morality, compassion, empathy, is an attitude toward the weak.
The strong don't need morality in order to function; common
sense is enough.
 All behavior is judged based on how well or how poorly it
fulfills our basic and higher human responsibilities. These
obligations come in the form of human instincts which create
our entire most important daily and life long behavioral goals.
 These instinctual drives, forces, feelings and their accompanying
mental yearnings are satisfied or fulfilled through the proper
behaviors which are pre-designed to relinquish them.
What is LAW
Law is the body of official rules and regulations, generally found
in constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions, and the like, that is
used to govern a society and to control the behavior of its
members, so Law is a formal mechanism of social control. Law is
one of the basic and most important institutions of the society. No
society could exist if all people did just as they pleased without
any regard for the rights of others. It is also essential for the
members of society to recognize that they also have certain
obligations toward one another. The law thus establishes the rules
that define a person's rights and duties. The law also sets penalties
for people who violate these rules, and it states how government
shall enforce the rules and punish the defaulters. However, the
laws enforced by government can be changed. In fact, laws
frequently are changed to reflect changes in a society's needs and
aspirations of the society.
Definitions of the LAW  
 John Austin (English jurist born 1790)"Province of Jurisprudence

Determined"
“A body of rules fixed and enforced by a sovereign political authority.”
This definition shows law is enforced by a supreme authority which is
elected by the people for whom the laws are constructed. It also gives the
idea that law is a fixed set of rules and applies uniformity to all the
people. 
-Aristotle (Greek philosopher born 304 BC)
“An embodiment of Reason, whether in the individual or the
community”
The striking feature of this definition is that it states that law is based on
reason and logic. It also says that the reason on which the law is based i s
same for every individual and the community.
 ◦ Sources of the law
 Sources of law means the origin from which the various rules which govern the
human conduct come into existence and derives legal force or binding characters.
It also refers to the sovereign or the state from which the law derives its force or
validity.
 Several factors of law have contributed to the development of law. These factors
are regarded as the sources of law.
 -Precedents
 Precedent is one of the main sources of law. The judgments passed by some of the
learned jurists became a significant source of law. 
 -Customs
 A custom is a rule which in a particular family or in a particular district or in a
particular section of society, class or tribe, has from long usage obtained the force
of law.
 -Legislation
 Legislation is that source of law which consists in the declaration of legal rules by
a competent and sovereign authority. Legislature is one of the most common
sources of law. Legislature frames new laws, amends the old laws and cancels
existing laws. In modern times, this is the most important source of
law making.
Statutory interpretation
 Interpretation is one of the most important functions of the court. The process of

ascertaining the meaning of letters and expressions by the court is either

interpretation or construction.
◦ Role of LAW in society
 The role law plays in society is to guarantee the rights of those who are
weaker either physically or socially in the given social structure. Laws were
enacted by elected representatives of the social group in order to protect the
rights of life and property from those in a society who would use their
prestige, wealth and manipulation of arms to restrict the rights of others.
 Without laws, society would be at the mercy of anarchists whose prime motive is

to disrupt the orderly progress of the society.

 The law also plays an important role in providing an equitable, peaceful and
harmonious environment for the overall development of an individual’s
personality and society as a whole.
◦ Essential features of law.
 An authorization that is passed by the state constitutes law. It has a strong
backing of coercion which is generally physical in nature. The breach of
which is punishable by law. It basically represents the will and purpose of
the state.
 The Social, political, and economic relations within the society are depicted
by law. It defines the rights and duties that citizens have to abide towards
one another and towards the state.
 Government fulfills its promises toward the people only with the help of law.
There is reflection of the sociological need of society in present scenario.
 ◦ Role of LAW in society
 Without laws, society would be at the mercy of anarchists whose prime motive
is to disrupt the orderly progress of the society. Laws are written to be followed
and applied equally to all people in a given society to ensure that no one feels
abused by his fellow countrymen and to protect members from external
aggression.
 The law also plays an important role in providing an equitable, peaceful
and harmonious environment for the overall development of an individual’s
personality and society as a whole.
 The very existence of law makes it possible for man to make significant
developments in various fields and unravel the mysteries of the nature,
thereby contributing to the development of science and technology.

 The role law plays in society is to guarantee the rights of those who are
weaker either physically or socially in the given social structure. Laws
were enacted by elected representatives of the social group in order to
protect the rights of life and property from those in a society who would
use their prestige, wealth and manipulation of arms to restrict the rights of
others.
Distinction between Law and Morality
 While law has its main focus on regulating and controlling external human conduct,

Morality focuses on both the internal as well as external aspect. In short it looks after
overall development of man.
 Law is generally universal in nature; it is usually applied to all the people of society.

On the contrary, morality is quiet dynamic. It changes from man to man and age to age.
 Laws are meant to be definite and precise while morality is a bit vague and lack

precision.
 Law has to enforce upon the society by the supreme political authority in the society.

But in case of morality, it is neither framed nor enforced.

 Law falls under the field of jurisprudence; on the other hand morality is a branch of

ethics.
The few points of relationship between morality and law can be mentioned in
brief as follows-
 Due to the existence of laws which are unjust in nature (e.g. slavery) helps us to

prove that morality and law lack similarity and have their own unique paths.
 But at the same time, the laws which exist to defend intrinsic values which

include laws against murder, rape, malicious defamation of character, fraud,

bribery, etc. give us the hint that both can work hand in hand up to a certain
extent.
 Stating of what is a wrong conduct and the subsequent punishments
is the major work that is done by law. Even though courts and the
legal system don’t ignore the intention or state of mind of the
person, the law can’t normally look after the desires of all the
individuals. The reason for this is that most of the time morality
passes judgment upon the intentions and character of everyone; it
has a much different and wider scope compared to the law.
 By the means of punishments, law partially tries to govern the
conduct of individuals in society. When Morality is internalized, it
governs the behavior of everyone without compulsion.
 Morality influences the field of law in a way that it provides the
factors for making groups of immoral actions illegal.
 CONFLICT BETWEEN MORALITY AND LAW-
 the movements for equality on social and political fronts, the most
suitable example between blacks and whites in the United States,
the “chicken or egg” paradox might compel oneself to go on a
search to determine the origination of that moment. This is
basically to see whether the law has influenced morality more or is
it that whether morality has greater impact on the law. While the
discussion might be interesting for a history course, the larger
dynamic might be lost so let us lay aside the origin quest and
instead look at the dynamic itself. A quick browse of history of
United States would depict that sometimes laws did lag the
important aspect of indicator for public morality and sometimes
laws preceded a change in public morality.
 Currently social liberals all over are trying to seek legal precedents
with the aim to advance homosexual marriages. The decision of
the apex court in support of homosexual marriage along with
federal and state laws to support it will be extensively used by the
left as their trump card to advance their plan and to normalize the
practice of homosexuality – just like they normalized abortion on
demand. It is not inappropriate for social conservatives and others
to seek to use the law to protect and advance their position.
 All laws, whether prescriptive or prohibitive, legislate
morality. All laws, regardless of their content or their
intent, arise from a system of values, from a belief that
some things are right and others wrong, that some things
are good and others bad, that some things are better and
others worse. In the formulation and enforcement of law,
that question is fundamentally important because not all
systems of morality are equal. Some are wise, others
foolish. Few are still in their first incarnation, nearly all
having been enshrined as law at some time or place, often
with predictable results. For better or worse, every piece
of legislation touches directly or indirectly on moral
issues, or is based on moral judgments and evaluations
concerning what it is we want or believe ought to be, what
it is we want or believe we ought to produce and preserve.
 ◦ Aspects of Law Not Based on Morality 
 First of all, as is the thinking of a number of people, few of the laws are
administrative in nature wherein they induct behavioral conduct for purposes of
procedures that could have been written in a different or opposite way from a
moral or socially useful point of view. 
 Example- The common example is traffic rules about the side of the road on

which one is to drive. Apart from consistency with bordering neighbors, it does
not matter from a moral standpoint which side a country adopts, as long as the
choice is made among equally right options, though once a side is chosen by
law, it is generally prudent, and morally obligatory without some good reason to
the contrary to abide by the choice. These laws are not based on morality, in
terms of their specifics. They are moral because they are a way of promoting
social benefits of a certain kind in an optimal way.
Even if the contents of a particular law are not unjust, Legal system can also have
wrong or immoral consequences which lack in adequate laws.
, not all morality is enshrined in law because law is in a sense "incomplete". Many
unfair and wrong business practices are not anticipated and therefore not made
illegal until someone invents and uses them in a way that clearly mistreats
others.  
 Aspects of Law Based on Morality
 
 Nevertheless, in spite of all of these reasons, there seems to be some
relationship between law and morality, or at least it seems there ought to be
because we talk about unfair or unjust laws, laws that are immoral, laws that
ought not to be obeyed or enforced; and we typically do not mean just that
they are unconstitutional, but that they are counterproductive to their intended
purpose or that they are bad or harmful or morally unfair or unjust laws.
  All cultures are expressions of deeply rooted values. Cultures are the
historical outgrowth of those values — the historical human consequences of
those values — values that sometimes lead to compassion, beauty, war,
deprivation, heroism, or degeneration. Law is a function of culture — all
cultures have law — which means that law is a function of values or morality.
Law without values is cultural suicide, which is what those who wish to
separate the one from the other are going to produce, whether they wish to or
not. In our age of increasingly complex moral problems, where technological
advances outstrip moral growth and understanding, we must do our level best
to cultivate the wisest persons, the noblest motives, and the highest actions of
which we are capable. We need to make far better use of the law as tutor and
moral ennobler.
 TRACING THE CLASH BETWEEN LAW AND MORALITY IN DIFFERENT
COUNTRIES-
 Law is different from morality but one can also not ignore the fact that morality cannot
be completely separated from law. It is a fact that law has developed from the vestiges
of morality. Law at all times and places have in fact been profoundly affected both by
conventional morality and ideas of social aggregations and also by the forms of
enlightened moral criticism of these people whose moral horizon has transcended the
morality currently accepted. In Ancient times, what long-practiced customs and moral
standards dictated was taken to be unquestionable authority of the supreme power, the
law of the land. What ethics, morals and prudence conveyed was conceived as the basic
idea of law, but when the interpretation of such customs turned prejudiced, that is when
the clash between law and morality arose.
 Law is different from morality but one can also not ignore the fact that morality cannot
be completely separated from law. It is a fact that law has developed from the vestiges
of morality. Law at all times and places have in fact been profoundly affected both by
conventional morality and ideas of social aggregations and also by the forms of
enlightened moral criticism of these people whose moral horizon has transcended the
morality currently accepted. In Ancient times, what long-practiced customs and moral
standards dictated was taken to be unquestionable authority of the supreme power, the
law of the land. What ethics, morals and prudence conveyed was conceived as the basic
idea of law, but when the interpretation of such customs turned prejudiced, that is when
the clash between law and morality arose.
 Even countries like India are torn between law and morality with respect to
different aspects of the contemporary world such as legalization of
homosexuality, attempt to suicide, legalization of khap panchayats and
legalization of Passive euthanasia
 In ancient times there was no distinction between law and morals as law and
morality are so closely related to each other. The term Dharma in India denoted
both law and morality. Manu, the first law giver in the country laid down the
provisions in accordance with the moral standards and customs that prevailed in
the society at that point of time. The distinction between law and morality took
birth out of the overtly revengeful penalties awarded by officials and the immoral
conduct that falls out of the ambit of the moral standards of the society. This
clash undermined any sense of true human rights, left the individual defenceless
against unjust laws, and opened the way to different forms of totalitarianism.
Law is different from morality but one can also not ignore the fact that morality
can also not be completely detached from law. It is a fact that law has developed
from the ashes of morality. As a matter of fact, the Indian Constitution is itself a
crystal clear example, our Fundamental Rights , Directive Principles Of State
Policy , all these have the base of
 morality and that morality is molded and shaped in the form of law so that it can
be enforced and implemented by each and every citizens of India.
 Therefore, with the advent of time the terms like ‘natural Justice’, Justice,
Equity, Good Faith and Conscience have infiltrated into the fabric of law.
For instance, untouchability is prohibited by the Constitution and in
pursuance of this prohibition the Government of India has enacted
legislation making its practice a penal offence. This is legally as well as
morally correct. In today’s scenario, the relationship between law and
morality has become increasingly relevant as social liberals advance issues
like homosexual marriage, suicide attempts, khap panchayats and
euthanasia. There are many such issues which call as to what is actually the
law is and is it actually influenced by morality or not.
 Since our standards of right and wrong change, so laws too must
change in accordance with such changes. For instances, Sati was
declared illegal acts as they did not accord with our changed
standards of virtues or value. Laws must keep pace with the changing
needs and standards of the society and obsolete regulations must be
abolished. The clash between law and morality can only be overcome
if laws that regulate the conduct of people are in accordance with the
moral standards and customs which the society subscribes itself to.
 between Law and Morality could be more easily assimilated. Both the disciplines
even though may seem to have distinct identities, but in reality there exists a grey
area between both of them which is the main cause of the conflict.
 Law is a fixed and authoritative entity. It is socially accepted by the members of the
society and is based on sound principles and conventions. Law comes with an
obligation and commands obedience. The penal aspect of law serves as a binding
force and glues the society as a whole. Laws govern conduct by the way of
deterrent effect through fear of punishment. Morality, on the other hand has become
habit-like or second nature, governs conduct without compulsion. The virtuous
person does the appropriate thing because it is the noble and ethically correct to do.
  
 -Morality is a set of all those moral values which are accepted to be followed by
every member of a social group. Morality is the aggregation of the moral standards
and customs that a society subscribes itself to. Moral values are subject to a wide
range of applications and extremes and some societal moralities can be created from
lies and false beliefs. They are subject to change and most are not absolute. What
was once moral, for example slavery, is no longer moral today and thus we move on
toward a more civil and moral human society. Morality and law as a result, evolve
with the changing needs and standards of the society.
 Both Law and Morality are like brain and heart of the human body,
both in tune with each other but are nevertheless in constant struggle
of being proclaimed as the superior one. Both are necessary for each
other’s survival and are interwoven. Hence, the team concludes that
both law and morality go hand in hand. According to the researcher,
they are the two sides of the same coin. Morality gave birth to law. In
earlier times, moral values were considered to be a very superior
phenomenon. But the changing standards of the contemporary world
are becoming one of the prominent reasons to cause a shift in the
moral as well as legal ethics.
  So, law is being created due to which the moral values of the people
change. For example in India the age limit of consuming alcohol
differs from state to state. In Madhya Pradesh it is 24 years, whereas
in Punjab it is 18 years, so, the moral values or the behavior of the
people changes according to the respective laws. We conclude that
now due to laws, moral values are changing. Moral values might
have created law but now law is more or less changing moral values.
THNAK YOU