PHL271H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Negative Liberty, Wolfenden Report, Morality
Document Summary
Setting aside devlin"s own moral views, the position he defends about when and why the state can enforce morals is very important. Can the criminal law be used to enforce the moral views of the majority in a community: two views, wolfenden report (1957- uk) May not, other than this, enforce any pattern of behaviour. 1. the government has a right to use its criminal law to enforce its moral ideas. If yes, what are the principles that determine when it should do this and when it shouldn"t: question 1: Yes, society has the right to pass judgement on matters of morality. You can understand why this is important simply by understanding what society is. What makes a society is the ideas of what a society should be and how people should behave within it. Similarly, (p. 378) society is not kept together physically but by the invisible bonds of common thought .
