Political Philosophy: Marxs Ethics of Freedom - Essay Example

JURISPRUDENCE There was a time during Palaeolithic and Neolithic eras, when man was leading a wild and an anarchic life. There was neither any code of conduct, nor the concept of a code of law prevailing that time. With the growth of his intelligence and intellectual development as well, man started thinking in respect of devising some specific methods to make his environment peaceful, systematic and organized. Thus, the sets of laws and concept of jurisprudence came into existence. “Society develops”, Katers views, “because of the need for people to use the services of others and insure their own security. In order for a society to gain such a reliable reputation, there needs to be a backbone, which in this case would be a code of law.” (2006: p 1) Man makes laws and crafts amendments in them according to the prevailing circumstances and situation. The basic motive behind devising the statutes of law was the prevention of crimes from the society. Since crime is a social phenomenon and exists in each and every culture of the world from the most primitive human tribes and clans to the modern contemporary society, no civilization can deny its subsistence at all. “Community disorganization”, according to Vedder, Koenig & Clark, “has been found to be related to several social problems, including crime and delinquency.” (1973: p 7). It is actually an act that disturbs and destroys the peace and harmony of a society. With increase in population of the world at large, the tribes and communities grew widely and developed into society. The crime rate also got its place along with the growth of civilization with an upward trend and increase. The need of rules and system was felt to preserve calm and harmony. Subsequently, social norms, folkways, mores and taboos came into being to bring regularity in society. Socio-cultural and political authorities were also established, to evade turbulence and control crimes in the prescribed manners prevailing in an area. There are two types of offences i.e. one which is against the law enforced by the state, called criminal acts, and the other that is against religious beliefs as well as existing norms that is called deviancy and immorality. Deviant behaviour and perversion refer to the breaking of the prevailing norms and values. Prostitution, incest, homosexuality, bestiality, buggery, exhibitionism, voyeurism and masochism etc are the examples of moral offences or perversion. The parliament of the Old Land, has decided to pass a bill in order to criminalize sexual intercourse between consenting male adults. In other words, the parliament aims at applying constant banishment on sodomy and anal sex between the persons of the same gender. The basic motive behind the resolution is to prohibit sexual immorality and perversion within the country. It has been argued many times since long that should there be implementation of moral laws too in society in the same lines as the prevailing law in force against criminal activities and offences. There has been a long discussion between Hart and Devlin about the legal enforcement of moral values. It actually started in the wake of proposed repeal of the British law prohibiting the promotion of homosexual activities. Homosexuality refers to the sexual relationships between the individuals of the same sex. It has been considered as a grave moral vice and criminal offence against religion and society. "As all the three Abrahamic religions and their Scriptures", Zaidi views, "condemn the same sex physical relationship, it is therefore homosexuality has become a taboo in many cultures and civilizations of the world at large." (Quoted in allphilosophy.com) The scholars maintain divergent opinion in respect of homosexual practices in a country. Some of them are of the view that both religion and sexual orientation are an individuals personal matter; no one should inflict embargos on others in the name of morality or religion. On the contrary, few theorists solemnly condemn same sex preference while entering into sexual intercourse and declare it unnatural, unethical and strictly against the code of moral law, religious beliefs and social norms. In 1957, the Wolfenden Committee of England submitted a Report on the subject “Homosexual Offences and Prostitution”, according to which the permission of homosexuality and prostitution was suggested as no crime if both the offences are committed with consensus. One of the High Court judges, named Patrick Devlin, seriously criticized it declaring it a serious threat to the moral values of the country. Also it would, according to him, jeopardize the very foundations of the community life, cultural values and social norms. The social norms and morality are the identification of the individuals of a nation. “The price of toleration”, George argues, “of serious deviance from a society’s constitutive morality is the loss of a distinctive form of interpersonal integration in community understood as something worthwhile for its own sake.” (1993: p 65). Devlin exhorted the question to examine and interpreted the fact that the Committee simply meant that immoral offences should not be declared as criminal act until these are accompanied by some other feature such as dishonesty or exploitation. There is a strong relationship between law and moral values. On the other hand, famous English Political Economist, J. S. Mill (1863) argued in favour of personal liberty and individual freedom of thought and action. He states that the only justification for limiting one persons liberty is to prevent harm to another. The main theme behind the famous work of J. S. Mill under the title “On Liberty” is collective and social liberty of thought and action. The treatise looks into the nature of the limitations imposed on individual by the forces of society. “The struggle between Liberty and Authority”, Mill submits, “is the most conspicuous feature in the portions of history with which we are earliest familiar, particularly in that of Greece, Rome and England.” (1859: p 2). Hence, if two male individuals practice homosexuality without coercion, fraudulence, undue influence, compulsion and intimidation, the society has no right to intermeddle into their affair at all. His treatise on Liberty describes how cruel had been the governments of ancient times, who were always ready to perturb the wishes and views of the helpless subjects. He declares such rulers as the ‘flock of vultures’ sucking the blood of the people. Then he expresses his opinion over political governments, which are, according to him, far better than those of tyrannical governments. Nevertheless, he condemns the tyranny of majority over minority in a democratic set up. The same is the case with the consenting male homosexuals on whom the parliament is going to implement the laws of its own choice. Mill stands for the complete and unconditional civil liberty for each and every individual provided it can harm the other. It is Mill who first time introduced the ‘principle of harm’ in his works. An individual must be given full freedom of thought to exercise best of his qualities within a social structure so that it can provide maximum benefit on individual and collective basis. The society can only intervene if an action taken by an individual is harmful to the other members of society, but should make no interferences if these actions harm the individual himself. As the two homosexuals do not intend to harm the very foundations of the society at large, their sexual preferences should not be condemned or censured by the majority. It may turn them into a state of frustration leading them to enter into the world of crime and destructive activities. "It has often been observed", Zaidi views, "crimes are usually conducted in order to obtain which man has been kept away from or had been deprived of in his adolescence or early youth. These deprivations and unfulfilled desires assume the form of delinquency and man adopts every possible way to achieve them all." (2001, p 31) As Dorothy Allison, famous feminist writer, was an illegitimate child of an unwed mother, experienced social exclusion during her childhood when she was up brought by single parent and lived in a very poor and almost intolerable atmosphere where her step-father raped her for six consecutive years from the very small age of five only. The feelings of hatred for her step-father turned into hatred for man-folk and she became flag-bearer for the feminist cause and fought for the cause of woman homosexuals. Her reaction against exclusion of women from the mainstream turned out to support a movement for the cause of lesbians in the USA. “My age, my family background”, she states, “the region and class in which I grew up, and yes, my times---the political and moral eras I have come through—have shaped me.” (2005: p 209). 1988:48). The principle of utilitarianism is one of the most significant works of J. S. Mill, which he describes the differences of opinions between philosophers while expressing their views about morality. The idea offers for the first code of morality and is based on the belief that makes distinction between right and wrong. "The utilitarian candidate", he views, "is the principle of utility, which holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness man is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure.” (1863:p 3). Mill vehemently stresses on the principle that every mans act must provide maximum pleasures for the others at large. He stands for the qualitative separation of happiness and considers moral and intellectual pleasure superior to physical pleasures. Mill declares that mans sentiments, both favourable and unfavourable, are influenced by the principle of utility, which earns happiness for him. "The greatest happiness principle", according to him, "has had a large share in forming the moral doctrines even of those who even more scornfully reject its authority." (1863:p 8). “Mill’s teleological notion of man as a progressive being runs strongly through his economic thinking, as well as his political writings. Despite his views of man as a scraping, selfish player in an impersonal and unforgiving marketplace, Mill ultimately champions capitalism for reasons informed and guided by the same perfectionist ideals he holds in the political realm.” (Chiu, 2005). Mill takes liberty in a vast sense, and does not see eye to eye with the notion that liberty stands for mere freedom from the tyranny of political government as it was considered in ancient times as well as medieval ages. Freedom of thought though is especially needed in a political set up, yet man must be free of unnecessary and unlimited social bindings too. The individuals should have been provided with enough freedom to celebrate their religious and cultural ceremonies as well as perform their religious and social obligations. He censures the interference of legislation and executive powers within a private conduct, which he thinks inappropriate. He laments on unavailability of any recognized principle to test the propriety of the interference of government into private affairs. “Despotism is”, he writes, “a legitimate mode of government in dealing with the barbarians, provided the end be their improvement, and the means justified by actually affecting that end.” (1859: p 17). Mill calls utility as the foundation of moral principle and doctrine of ethics, and interlinks the direction of action with the happiness and the opposite of it. "By happiness", he asserts, "is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure." (1863: 16). He criticizes the Epicurean perspective of happiness which states that life has no longer end than pleasure—no better and noble object of desire and pursuit—worthy only of a swine. Thus, happiness is something superior to pleasure in his doctrine, where it brings satisfaction and joy for others at its highest. Furthermore, Mill has divided pleasures into different categories including superior, higher, inferior and lower pleasures. He views mental and moral pleasures as the highest ones in rank, while physical and carnal pleasures as lower category. In addition, he keeps satisfaction in lower category of pleasure. He argues that sources of human pleasures must be higher than that of beasts. "If the sources of pleasures were precisely the same to human beings and to swine, the rule of life which is good enough for the one would be good enough to the other." (1863: p 18). In the same, there are different scales and levels of pleasures for different people. And majority of people does not care for the moral perspective of pleasure seeking. It is therefore, most of the pleasures are sought out of bodily satisfaction. "They pursue sensual indulgences", Mill opines, "to the injury of health, though perfectly aware that health is the greater good." (1863:24). Hence, two males indulged into homosexual practices are offering one another lots of pleasures without harming and hurting the other members of their society. It is therefore, the society and its legislature should not pass any bill that can snatch happiness from them provided they do not intend to challenge the other individuals rights and happiness. The moralists refute altogether the idea of so much liberty presented by Mill and his school of thought. They are not ready to free the individuals from the bindings of ethical values and moral law. On the contrary, Devlin school of thought argues that the immoral practices must not only be banned from the society, but also punishment and penalties must be in the same patterns on breaking moral law, as these have been implemented to treat the criminals breaking the law stated in the penal codes. Law enforcing agencies must work out to cope with the individuals deteriorating the peace and stability of society. Abnormal attitude creating public nuisance must be declared as crime against the state and its individuals. The states devise laws and recruit staff in bulk to suppress criminal behaviour from their societies. Police stations and prison houses were set up to eradicate the menace with an iron hand. Yet, the misdemeanour found its vacuum more profoundly with the passage of time. The need of such power was felt to corner the threat in a proper way. Thus it appeared the concept of moral laws and ethical values. “For many centuries”, Devlin (1965) opines, “the criminal law was much concerned with keeping the peace and little, if at all, with sexual morals. But it would be wrong to infer from that that it had no moral content or that it would ever have tolerated the idea of a man being left to judge for himself in matters of morals.” He stresses upon the significance of morality and declares it quite unjust to pass a law that can allow an act that is immoral and profane. Taking homosexuality, for example, it is a serious sin under the moral values and social norms. The sodomy, pederasty, bestiality and buggery had been viewed as crimes against the law of the state since ever and there was serious punishment suggested for this worst type of immorality. But the new amendments in the statute laws implemented in many countries of the world have justified the homosexuality and prostitution on the basis if the offenders are practicing it with free consent of both the parties without any coercion, undue influence, fraudulent, misrepresentation or compulsion. Immorality invites disruption and disturbances in the society. Collective behaviour is seriously responsible for maintaining law and order situation. If a society does not apply moral ethics in it, its masses are sure to go to the path of destruction and collective turmoil. Moral laws are based on the obligations with regard to be good or bad in the eyes of Almighty God. There exists code of law announcing penalties against these laws on revolting the moral values. However, the British Wolfenden Committee suggested that immorality exercised in private with free consent must not be tried in the court of law. Delvin, being a moralist lays stress on the importance of ethics and the revolt of which must be taken in the same patterns as violation of law is considered. “The suppression of vice, he observes (1965:13-14), “is as much the law’s business as the suppression of subversive activities; it is no more possible to define a sphere of private morality than it is to define a sphere of private subversive activity.” CONCLUSION: It is a fact beyond doubt that immorality including homosexual activities and other type of fornication and perversion may jeopardize the very foundations of a society. Though utilitarianism and Marxism contain a natural perspective of morality, yet their main focus is at the freedom of thought and action. Marxism does not stress on morality alone. Marx had no concerns with moral values, though he raised a thunderous voice against the inequality and social exploitation. There should be no exploitation of humans at all and they must have been free to exercise their capabilities. Mark does not set out, as Kant and others have, to search for and establish the supreme principle of morality by argument and consideration of the reasons and views of others. (Quoted in Brenkert, 1983). Homosexuality in access not only perturbs moral values of a culture, but also may drag the very survival of the society into a perplexed situation. Looking into the prejudice, prevailing in human societies since ever, it becomes clear that Devlin is quite justified in his opinion regarding the imperative significance of moral laws. Presence of moral law reminds the individuals regarding their obligations to the fellow beings. "Immorality then, for the purpose of the law, is what every right- minded person is presumed to consider to be immoral. Any immo­rality IS capable of affecting society injuriously and in effect to a greater or lesser extent it usually does; this is what gives the law its locus standi." (Devlin, 1965: p 185) People are so absorbed in their financial activities that they altogether neglect the moral values and law. Deprivation from the resources urge individuals to revolt the code of law to snatch away all that has been kept out of their reach. Dispossession does not accept the code of law and therefore so many crimes including rape, homosexuality, forced male rape, fornication, incest and murder are the outcome of the reaction of the unfulfilled desires of the suppressed class. “Presence of moral law”, Devlin argues, “would end a number of specific crimes. Euthanasia or the killing of another at his own request, suicide, attempted suicide and suicide pacts, dueling, abortion, incest between brother and sister, are all acts which can be done in private and without offence to others and need not involve the corruption or exploitation of others.” (1965: p 179). Hence, the parliament of the Old Land is justified in passing the bill strictly banning the homosexual offences and perversion from its country. REFERENCES Brenkert, George G. (1983) Marx’s ethics of freedom. Routledge & Kegan Paul Publications. Chiu, Y. (2005, Apr) Perfectionism in J.S. Mills Economic Thought  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, Illinois Online Retrieved 2006-10-05 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p85712_index.html Devlin, Lord Patrick. THE ENFORCEMENT OF MORALS. 1965 George, Robert P. Making Men Moral: Civil Liberties and Public Morality Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. Katers, N. (2006) Development of Law in Early Western History (Retrieved in http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/26484/the_development_of_law_in_early_western.html) Zaidi, M.H. (2001). Biological, Psychological and Sociological Causes of Deviant Behaviour. An unpublished research report submitted to the Department of Criminology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan p 31 Pashukanis, Evgeny The General Theory of Law and Marxism 1924. Porter, Jene M. (1997) Classics in Political Philosophy Prentice-Hall Canada INC. pp 513-547 Skocpol, Theda. States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1980. Wallerstein, Immanuel M. The Modern World-System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century. New York: Academic Press. 1974. http://agingwell.state.ny.us/safety/articles/crime.http http://www.iep.utm.edu/l/law-phil.htm Read More