Formal and Informal Law: The Role of Ethics

Formal and Informal Law: The Role of Ethics

“To this point the analysis has been based in the implicit assumption that formal, codified rules and regulations, requiring explicit collective implementation, make up the primary if not the sole content of “law.”Before we consider further causes of observed breakdown in law-abiding, it is essential to incorporate some treatment of the role that ethical precepts play in maintaining social stability. First of all, as noted in earlier chapters, if there is no conflict among separate persons, there is no basis for social contract; there is no need for law, as such. By the same token, however, there is no need for ethics; there is no function of a moral code. In the strict no-conflict setting, pure anarchy remains ideal without tempering. When conflict does emerge, however, anarchy in its pure form fails, and the value of order suggests either some social contract, some system of formal law, or some generally accepted set of ethical-moral precepts. It is important to recognize that these are alternative means of securing order. To the extent that ethical precepts are widely shared, and influence individual behavior, there is less need for the more formal restrictiveness of legally imposed standards.”

Buchanan, James M. The Limits of Liberty: Between Anarchy and Leviathan. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, Inc. 1999. Library of Economics and Liberty [Online] available from https://www.econlib.org/library/Buchanan/buchCv7c7.html; accessed 12 August 2012; Internet

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