Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 2.11
According to social contract theory, we have a prima facie obligation to obey
the law.
If you were to copy a CD containing copyrighted material, you would be violating
the property rights of the copyright owner—you would be failing to fulfill your obliga-
tions to others as a member of civil society. Therefore, it is wrong to copy the CD.
What would be the consequences of people ignoring laws whenever they chose? A bene-
ficial consequence would be the immediate happiness of the people who are doing what
they please rather than obeying the law. However, there would be numerous harmful
consequences. The people directly affected by lawless actions would be harmed. People
in general would have less respect for the law, which would encourage more people to
break the law. Assuming increased lawlessness puts an additional burden on the criminal
justice system, society as a whole would have to pay for having additional police officers,
prosecutors, judges, and prisons. If the lawlessness is not controlled by the criminal jus-
tice system, criminal behavior could get out of hand, causing great harm to the victims
of these criminals. Hence, from a rule utilitarian viewpoint, breaking the law has more
harms than benefits and is wrong. We should adopt the moral rule “Obey the law.”
It is possible to conceive of situations where the benefits of breaking a law are greater than
the harms. Suppose I purchase a copyrighted music CD. I play it, and I think it is great.
