Discussion: ‘There should not be any human behaviour free of regulation by the law’
- Shreya Mahat
- Dec 3, 2021
- 2 min read
Freedom of expression and action is one of our universally accepted human rights and so, there should be human behaviours free of regulation by the law. It is essential that humans have the liberty to behave within their own authority, as long as it is with reason.
By legislating every human action, the most important laws will inevitably lose their value. The economic principle of diminishing marginal utility of returns explains this well; it proposes that the more we consume something, the less satisfactory it becomes. This same principle can be applied here, by having the law essentially govern our every action we will eventually start to lose the preciousness of laws and such a depreciation will in turn cause the pillars that hold our society together to collapse. It will create a precedent where we will see trivial laws at eye level with laws put in place for the protection of others.
Society functions because we are free to do as we please as long as we are subject to the rule of law but if this extends to every human behaviour, then we are not really free at all.
One thing that makes humans unique is our freedom of expression however if all human behaviours cannot be free of regulation, this strips away our ability to access such rights. Of course there should be certain behaviours that must be subject to regulation by the law such as that of murder, rape, theft etc but it should not be taken to the point where this extends to all behaviours. It takes away from the value and liberation that is personal autonomy, we will subsequently be stripped of our uniqueness and have no such freedoms and this is what will cause anarchy, a disruption to society. It is not to say that we are playing God or government by giving ourselves the authority of doing as we please, but we cannot go this far as to be controlled in this manner.
In conclusion, although It can be argued that it will ease confusion and complications as many laws can be ambiguous and if all behaviours were regulated then there will be no confusion and perhaps, in turn, less crime. However, we can only expect for the opposite to happen. It is likely that people will oppose such trivial and unnecessary laws that disrespects their freedom and it will only be a matter of time till such an attitude will create a precedent that will extend to more essential laws and so, there should be some human behaviours that are free of regulation by the law.
Comments