Research On Utilitarian Law-abiding Theory

Utilitarianism law-abiding theory has begun in the period of ancient Greece.Democritus, Aristotle and Epicurus separately explain the legal obligation and the law-abiding reasons by way of utilitarianism, which reflect in the theory of happiness,the rule of law and happy philosophy. This exposition shows in Hobbes and Locke's contract theory, Hume and Smith's moral theory and the theory of the interests of Helvetius and Holbach during the period of Enlightenment. Finally, it matures in Bentham and Mill's utilitarianism philosophy, and is divided into two different branches: act-utilitarianism law-abiding theory and rule-utilitarianism law-abiding theory.Utilitarianism law-abiding theory believes that when obeying the law is more conductive to the happiness of most people than violating the law, the citizens will have the moral obligation to obey the law. With the help of the excitation of interests,the guidance of habits and the assistance of conscience, this moral obligation can be translated into law-abiding practice. Specifically, this law-abiding practice is divided into three different patterns: the negative law-abiding pattern based on obeying the ban, the positive law-abiding pattern based on protecting the individual rights and the positive law-abiding pattern based on protecting the public interest.The theoretical contribution of utilitarianism law-abiding theory is that it puts forward the law-abiding theory based on the new foundation and has had an important influence on the law-abiding theory of other law schools in later generations. Its practical significance lies in the reduction of the proportion of punishment in the process of obeying the law, the acceleration from negative law-abiding practice to positive law-abiding practice and the promotion of the improvements and changes of legal system. The limitations of this theory in theory and reality consist of the improper argument for law-abiding obligation, the overly simplified law-abiding motivations and the difficulties to put theory into practice.