登陆注册
5451600000002

第2章

I do not say that there is not a wider point of view from which the distinction between law and morals becomes of secondary or no importance, as all mathematical distinctions vanish in presence of the infinite.But I do say that that distinction is of the first importance for the object which we are here to consider--a right study and mastery of the law as a business with well understood limits, a body of dogma enclosed within definite lines.I have just shown the practical reason for saying so.If you want to know the law and nothing else, you must look at it as a bad man, who cares only for the material consequences which such knowledge enables him to predict, not as a good one, who finds his reasons for conduct, whether inside the law or outside of it, in the vaguer sanctions of conscience.The theoretical importance of the distinction is no less, if you would reason on your subject aright.

The law is full of phraseology drawn from morals, and by the mere force of language continually invites us to pass from one domain to the other without perceiving it, as we are sure to do unless we have the boundary constantly before our minds.The law talks about rights, and duties, and malice, and intent, and negligence, and so forth, and nothing is easier, or, I may say, more common in legal reasoning, than to take these words in their moral sense, at some state of the argument, and so to drop into fallacy.For instance, when we speak of the rights of man in a moral sense, we mean to mark the limits of interference with individual freedom which we think are prescribed by conscience, or by our ideal, however reached.Yet it is certain that many laws have been enforced in the past, and it is likely that some are enforced now, which are condemned by the most enlightened opinion of the time, or which at all events pass the limit of interference, as many consciences would draw it.Manifestly, therefore, nothing but confusion of thought can result from assuming that the rights of man in a moral sense are equally rights in the sense of the Constitution and the law.No doubt simple and extreme cases can be put of imaginable laws which the statute-making power would not dare to enact, even in the absence of written constitutional prohibitions, because the community would rise in rebellion and fight; and this gives some plausibility to the proposition that the law, if not a part of morality, is limited by it.But this limit of power is not coextensive with any system of morals.For the most part it falls far within the lines of any such system, and in some cases may extend beyond them, for reasons drawn from the habits of a particular people at a particular time.I once heard the late Professor Agassiz say that a German population would rise if you added two cents to the price of a glass of beer.A statute in such a case would be empty words, not because it was wrong, but because it could not be enforced.No one will deny that wrong statutes can be and are enforced, and we would not all agree as to which were the wrong ones.

The confusion with which I am dealing besets confessedly legal conceptions.Take the fundamental question, What constitutes the law?

You will find some text writers telling you that it is something different from what is decided by the courts of Massachusetts or England, that it is a system of reason, that it is a deduction from principles of ethics or admitted axioms or what not, which may or may not coincide with the decisions.But if we take the view of our friend the bad man we shall find that he does not care two straws for the axioms or deductions, but that he does want to know what the Massachusetts or English courts are likely to do in fact.I am much of this mind.The prophecies of what the courts will do in fact, and nothing more pretentious, are what I mean by the law.

Take again a notion which as popularly understood is the widest conception which the law contains--the notion of legal duty, to which already I have referred.We fill the word with all the content which we draw from morals.But what does it mean to a bad man? Mainly, and in the first place, a prophecy that if he does certain things he will be subjected to disagreeable consequences by way of imprisonment or compulsory payment of money.But from his point of view, what is the difference between being fined and taxed a certain sum for doing a certain thing? That his point of view is the test of legal principles is proven by the many discussions which have arisen in the courts on the very question whether a given statutory liability is a penalty or a tax.

On the answer to this question depends the decision whether conduct is legally wrong or right, and also whether a man is under compulsion or free.Leaving the criminal law on one side, what is the difference between the liability under the mill acts or statutes authorizing a taking by eminent domain and the liability for what we call a wrongful conversion of property where restoration is out of the question.In both cases the party taking another man's property has to pay its fair value as assessed by a jury, and no more.What significance is there in calling one taking right and another wrong from the point of view of the law? It does not matter, so far as the given consequence, the compulsory payment, is concerned, whether the act to which it is attached is described in terms of praise or in terms of blame, or whether the law purports to prohibit it or to allow it.If it matters at all, still speaking from the bad man's point of view, it must be because in one case and not in the other some further disadvantages, or at least some further consequences, are attached to the act by law.The only other disadvantages thus attached to it which I ever have been able to think of are to be found in two somewhat insignificant legal doctrines, both of which might be abolished without much disturbance.

同类推荐
  • 月屋漫稿

    月屋漫稿

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 演禽通纂

    演禽通纂

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Life and Adventures of Baron Trenck

    The Life and Adventures of Baron Trenck

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 夜宴洛阳程九主簿宅

    夜宴洛阳程九主簿宅

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Diary of an Old Soul

    The Diary of an Old Soul

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 官扎营的孙主任

    官扎营的孙主任

    “洋活(济南方言:臭美)洋活小(济南方言:小男孩),洋活洋活妮儿,撕巴撕巴喂小鸡。”五十多年前,我追着王春丽在官扎营大街上唱着这首济南儿歌,王春丽不躲不闪回身就打,情急中我转身就跑。五十多年后,我在官扎营的大街上看见王春丽,王春丽居然没有认出我来,于是我冲着她的背影喊:“洋活洋活小,洋活洋活妮儿,撕巴撕巴喂小鸡。”王春丽愣了,猛然站住,转过身,冲着我扑了过来……我的这种行为在五十年前得到过惩罚。我冲王春丽喊,王春丽打不着我,就一溜烟跑到我家,拉着我母亲的衣襟说:“孙大姨你不管小胖胖吗?他骂我。”
  • 凤女的傲娇冷皇

    凤女的傲娇冷皇

    他是天生的王者,尊贵之身,却因手足的陷害,亲眼目睹父皇惨死,更成为被追杀的对象。她是山中不问世事的单纯少女,因为一次意外碰撞,救起濒死的他,注定从此以后的纠缠不清。在漫长的复国之路上,她舍身舍命陪伴始终,用才华和能力注他成就大业。然而,待他终于登临帝位之时,却对她弃如敝履。“秦程言,这辈子爱上你,是我最大的错误!”悬崖之上,她迎风而立,话落之时,纵身一跃,断情绝爱。那之后,他六宫无妃。多年之后,王者归来,她已是至尊之身,复仇,利用,不择手段,他只是挂着宠溺微笑,一步步走入她的圈套之中。最后的最后,她才明白,那个天大的误会,是他无情的开始,也是她爱情的终结……莫玉慈,你要这天下我都可以给,只是能不能,再把你交给我一回?
  • 君承一诺

    君承一诺

    承治一十一年,先帝病逝,颁下遗诏,封帝后武氏继其位。同年十一月,帝后正式登上玉箫鸾殿,启理国土纵横政务,改年号为武兴。此后十年,都城繁荣兴盛,女官数量趋增,各地反叛不断却不能动国之根本,权当盛世调料而已。又三年,女帝男宠柳辟邪登堂入室,玩弄权术,人尽皆知。此后一年,国堂之类,男风盛行。武兴一十六年,女帝最宠爱的十公主成年,公主作风颇为豪迈,据传十七岁生辰礼成后,当众收男宠一十三人,尽入府邸,为一奇谈。
  • 大氏族

    大氏族

    男儿何不带吴钩,收取关山五十州。请君暂上凌烟阁,若个书生万户侯。他本以为他的降临是为了嬉戏世间,他却上了战场;他本以为此生孑然一人做个笑傲江湖的剑客,他却发现无数的人因他而昌亦因他而亡。这就是氏族,氏族之间的征服,至死方休。
  • 爱情控

    爱情控

    海默收拾东西准备下班的时候,肖梅拿着一叠报纸和信件进来,把几封信扔在她桌上。她没看,说了声谢谢肖姐,继续收拾东西。肖梅提醒她说,看看吧,里面有一封情书呢!她随口笑着问,你怎么知道是情书?肖梅没好气地说,自己看,信封上写着。海默是刚刚走红的电视节目主持人,每天都会接到大量的信件,她知道,有的观众怕她信件太多看不过来,故意搞点小花样,不过想引起她的重视罢了。这时,她的搭档吴勇伸过头来,说,看看,谁写的情书?果然,有一封信与众不同,信封是淡蓝色的,在显眼的位置上写着:这是一封情书!!
  • 左右脑销售:用“脑”拿定单的104个实战案例

    左右脑销售:用“脑”拿定单的104个实战案例

    本书旨在运用左右脑博弈的理论帮助推销员处理销售中遇到的一些关键问题,提高推销员的销售业绩。本书首先介绍了左右脑博弈的基本理论及作用,然后分别介绍了左右脑销售博弈在销售流程中的运用,在销售技巧中的运用和在大客户销售中的运用。本书的每章都选择了6个左右的经典实战案例,并运用左右脑博弈的知识进行详细的案例分析,切实从实战的角度,帮助销售人员将本书中的销售技能真正运用到实际工作中去。
  • 灵气复苏的后现代生活

    灵气复苏的后现代生活

    灵气复苏了,世界变幻,你想要的生活来临了是中二的大呼一声拯救世界,还是咸鱼到底选择权在你自己的手中
  • 憋宝人(江河湖海里的诡异事件)

    憋宝人(江河湖海里的诡异事件)

    南派三叔极力推荐的作家,一部带您认识真实存在的水怪,追溯水怪源头、种族、习性的禁忌冒险小说 !20年前,晋陕黄河大峡谷中惊现一头房子般大的巨龟,古老神秘的憋宝人重出江湖,身怀绝技的白袍少年,一座由死人组建的鬼魅阴城……黄河古道中潜伏的铁头龙王,长江三峡神秘的蛟龙,雅鲁藏布江食人怪兽,新疆喀纳斯湖巨型水怪,种种迹象,全部指向出那个水下隐藏了数百年的秘密。
  • 汉世尘

    汉世尘

    重臣之子不学无术为人烦,一朝明悟痛改前非刮目看;入得江湖化虎化豹心难安,风起云涌锋芒毕露绝内患;子承父业镇守皇朝四敌暗,龙城守将傲然天地汉永存!
  • 所有的梦想都需要全力以赴

    所有的梦想都需要全力以赴

    没有人、没有文字能真正够教会你如何生活,因为没有千篇一律的人生,这不是一本小清新类的心灵鸡汤,而是一本能让你好好思索生活的有趣书籍。有趣的人,有趣的经历,有趣的想法,那些成功失败里,是不是都有你的影子?真的,人生没有一种努力是不美的。也许,你初始所拥有的只是梦想,以及毫无根据的自信。但是,所有的一切就从这里出发……愿你勇敢找到更好的自己,向着梦想行进!