Morality and law: similarities and differences (comparison)

It is known that any legal norms are the result of morality and moral principles. But how do morality and law relate today? The similarities and differences between these two categories will be indicated in our article.

Concept of law

What you need to know before you begin to study the similarities and differences of morality and law? A brief description of both of these categories will help to better understand the issue.

Law refers to a system of public relations regulated by law. No state can exist without a right. The authorities establish certain rules of behavior in society that are binding in nature. In turn, society itself voluntarily forms state power, endowing it with powers.

What are the attributes of a right? Firstly, it is normativity. Special collections of rules and regulations are created, referred to as laws and by-laws. The second sign of law is compulsory. Without exception, all state acts must be executed by all members of society. Warranty and formality are the third attribute of law. The official form in which the laws are concluded serves as a certain guarantor of their implementation.

Moral concept

Morality is a philosophical category. There is even a whole discipline dedicated to this concept: it is called ethics. Ethics is studied both in universities and in schools (the study of the conceptual apparatus and tables in grade 6 is typical). The similarities and differences of morality and law can already be detected. As you know, philosophy is the "mother" of all sciences. Legal disciplines are also closely associated with some philosophical categories.

Morality forms a system of norms, principles, ideals and other elements that find expression in the real life of a person. The main categories of morality are good and evil. Good is harmonious integrity, and evil is the destruction of harmony.

The main functions of morality as a philosophical concept is evaluative, controlling and educational activity. Morality indicates the most general rules of conduct, and law extends and systematizes them. By the way, it is in the functions of both categories that the main similarities and differences of law and morality lie.

Philosophers on the relationship of morality and law

The first rudiments of law appeared several thousand years ago. Many are aware of the Hammurabi Laws of Mesopotamia, the written ancient Egyptian norms, the Roman 12 tables and other famous sources. The similarities and differences of morality and law were debated by such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Democritus, Cicero and many others. Philosophers tried to distinguish law from morality and thereby show the special significance of social norms. Carrying out the law as something special, more important than morality, it was possible to indicate the special importance of legal norms.

And yet, what is the main difference between law and morality? Philosophers were able to guess that the development of sanctions by the state for violating elements of morality was the first step towards the emergence of law. Expressed in modern scientific language, the legal norm of law has acquired an integrated structure. Disposition - the rule of conduct - has become associated with sanction, punishment for violation of the disposition. The final development of the law was when it became written. The norms fixed on material carriers were handed down from generation to generation, gradually improving and acquiring a more holistic structure.

Thus, one cannot talk about the complete discrepancy between law and morality. These are two interconnected systems, equally operating to this day.

Unity of concepts

It is necessary to understand what is common between morality and law. Still, law is a relatively young category that appeared only a few thousand years ago. Much more time people were guided by considerations of altruism - the ancestor of morality. Thanks to altruism, people lived on a communal basis, united in groups and worked together. We can say that prerequisites were created for the future socio-economic system. This is the first similarity of the categories under consideration: both law and morality are a superstructure phenomenon over the social and economic basis.

Morality includes all universal values. Law is based on a system of morality. Here you can find the second unifying link: both law and morality have as their goal the affirmation of morality in society. Morality refers to the humane attitude of people towards each other, mutual assistance and the rule of justice.

Areas of action

It should be briefly distracted from the analysis of the similarities and differences of law and morality and look at the areas of functioning of both categories. It is known that law expresses the will of state power, the people and various social groups. Morality does not have such a clear classification. It applies to all groups of society - regardless of layers and classes. Morality does not happen federal and regional - all its norms are known to most people.

The rules of law are contained in regulatory enactments. And where are the moral standards? Is there a compilation where they are fixed? In fact, there are so many moral standards that it is simply impossible to put them all in writing. Each person will understand what is moral and what is not. Someone comes to morality through religion, but someone lacks the principles of social humanism. Some people are guided only by laws, but their life can be called immoral. Others believe that morality is above any right.

Scope is the first and main difference between law and morality. So, the totality of legal norms is only part of morality. Moreover, laws are imperative, binding, but moral standards are not.

The differences between morality and law

The similarities and common features of these categories are obvious. They are associated with the evolution of morality, its transformation into law. In the case of differences, everything is somewhat more complicated.

Formal punishments have not been established for violating moral standards. To explain this is very simple: not every moral norm is considered legal, but every legal norm is moral. It is impossible to collect and systematize absolutely all moral rules and establish sanctions for their violation. Nevertheless, the sphere under consideration is constantly being improved.

Legal regulations are more detailed. Philosophers, and after lawyers took one rule of morality, after which they gave it a more clear and concrete form. So the rule of law appeared.

Category Interaction

What is the relationship between law and morality? There are many theories on this subject, but the simplest one is related to the concept of interpenetration. Laws embody morality. This means that the law is a product of morality. But how does the evolution of morality into law take place?

One of the topics of the 10th grade curriculum is “The Similarities and Differences of Morality and Law”. Tables, illustrations, definitions - all this is included in the course of study of social science. Here the ratio of these two categories is known. Sometimes an illustration is provided. For example, a significant problem was discovered in society. To solve it, it is necessary to formulate a rule of behavior, which should correspond to morality. The disposition is being built. For its violation, a certain sanction is introduced. So the rule of law appears.

Thus, a characteristic feature of the interaction of law and morality is the isolation of one category from another, as well as its further evolution.

Table of similarities and differences

In grade 7, morality and law are correlated in a table. Patterns and drawings play an important role in schooling. They help to assimilate the material learned.

The table of distinctive features of the categories considered is as follows:

The similarities of morality and law in the table are as follows:

Thus, morality and law are related categories, which, however, have more differences than similarities.