Synopses & Reviews
Are morals always relative? Are private actionsamong consenting adultsalways beyond the law? Or are there some behaviors which so weaken a society that common beliefs about right and wrong must be enforced to protect the common good?
In opposing the decriminalization of private acts of homosexuality in Britain, Patrick Devlin maintained that not only is it reasonable to allow popular morality to influence lawmaking, it is imperative: ". . . For a society is not something that is kept together physically; it is held by the invisible bonds of common thought."
Some sidestep this controversial issue by asserting that the law should not be used to enforce any morality. Others invoke John Stuart Mill's doctrine that the only purpose for laws governing any member of society is to prevent harm to others, chiefly physical harm. But, Devlin argued, while breaches of shared morality do not cause harm to other individuals in the way that murder and assault do, they do harm society by undermining its moral structure.
Patrick Devlin (1905-1992) studied history and law at Cambridge University and became a successful lawyer.
Table of Contents
Preface v
Bibliography xiii
I Morals and the Criminal Law 1
II Morals and the Quasi-Criminal Law and the Law of Tort 26
III Morals and the Law of Contract 43
IV Morals and the Law of Marriage 61
V Democracy and Morality 86
VI Mill on Liberty in Morals 102
VII Morals and Contemporary Social Reality 124