“It’s the Law!”

Excerpted from The Myth of the Social Contract by Andrew Kern

Often, objections to police misconduct, business regulations, taxation, or just some trivial statute inspire the response of “it’s the law.” The implication being that we shouldn’t do it because the law prohibits it. This line suggests legislation is good because it is legislation, which amounts to little more than claiming might equals right.

Is and Ought

In a practical sense, if a course of action is prohibited by law it means police or other government agents will use force or coercion to stop individuals who are observed engaging in that act. In other words, to say “it’s the law” is merely pointing out overwhelming force will be used.

Logically, what is right to do does not follow from what is enforced. What is enforced is an empirical observation, how one ought to act is not. So, unless it is first shown that people should act in accordance with what is enforced, merely stating an observation does not necessarily show anyone should act in a particular way.

All Laws Just?

If the claim is rather that a law should be followed because all laws are good and just, then that is a premise that almost no one will consistently defend if they are pressed. Given the track record of laws throughout history, it is reasonable to be skeptical that any given law is just. Even if we just limit our scope to the U.S., the most obvious injustice is slavery, which was sanctioned by law. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Racial segregation has been mandated, interracial marriage banned, sterilization been forced upon promiscuous women, immigrants, the poor, and others, criticism of the government banned, internment forced upon people by race, the senseless killing of livestock ordered while people suffered through the Great Depression, just to name a few. If history is any indication, we cannot rely on the law to tell us what is right. Each law should be evaluated based on its merit.

Simply pointing out that “it’s the law” is not enough. It is an appeal to the might of government, not the justness of the law, and the latter cannot logically follow from the former. Nor can every law be assumed to be just unless one condones the numerous questionable laws that have been enacted.

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