whats the point of obeying particular laws if....

[katia]

(note, the question only applies to laws that all

A) you know you won't get caught (or at least the other benefits of breaking the law outweigh the probability weighted costs of getting caught)

B) you know your peers won't look down on you (or the probability is sufficiently low)

C) you know you won't feel guilty (or the probability is sufficiently low)

D) you don't believe that you will suffer any supernatural punishment

E) your action won't lead to a significant number of others imitating your behavior, and in turn harming you. (this is an attempt to address the "what if everyone did that" response)

an example of this would be if you are in a parking lot, alone, at night, and you run a stop sign (they do have them). nobody is ever going to know or care, and i'd be surprised if i felt guilty afterwards.

the only response i could come up with is arguing that morality is a kind of habit, so this would lead to bad habits.  dunno.

[Cindi Jones]

Laws are set forth by our society for the good of our society.  At least that is the hope.

Wouldn't it be swell if we just could obey the law without threat of punishment if we should disobey them?  So, we would stop at that stop sign in the parking lot because it is the correct thing to do.

Yes, there are laws that don't make any sense.  We should repeal them..... not just disobey them.

Cindi

[Butterfly]

Morality is based on not harming others. Laws are supposed to be realistic. In a perfect society, the laws would all be understandable, practical and obvious. No one would disobey the law. In this society, laws are very imperfect. If an action is morally correct, it doesn't matter (except in a practical way) whether we obey them or not.

[Lisbeth]

I am less concerned with whether something is specificly illegal or immoral than if it is harmful to someone.  My favorite Heinlein quote is, "Never let your sense of morality prevent you from doing what you know is right."

[RebeccaFog]

There are few laws that I feel compelled to obey.

There are some laws I obey to avoid being hassled.

some laws I obey because the law itself is against something I would never do anyway.

Now and then I blow off a law if it seems pointless.

I guess, under the conditions you set, I have no problem not obeying a law.