illustration of the proposition that an action potentially has two types of value
or worth - intrinsic value and consequential value. An action’s intrinsic value is
its value as it stands alone, regardless of what it leads to. An action’s
consequential value is measured by the values of all the consequences that it
causes in whole or in part.
Proposition 3: Law Mostly Possesses Consequential Value
Handsome is as handsome does.
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A law passed by legislators in the dead of night that is concealed from
everyone is a piece of paper that has little significance. This is the basis for the
proposition that a law as written, before it has caused any consequences, has
little intrinsic value. It is just a piece of paper. In the popular phrase, it is all talk
and no action.
To ensure that this proposition is fully understood, assume that a law as
written contains a manifestly unjust even morally horrendous law. A biblical
example is the law providing for the Massacre of the Innocents, an episode of
mass infanticide
by the King of Judea, Herod the Great. The story is told in
the Gospel of St Matthew.5 King Herod feared a loss of his kingship because
of a prophecy revealed to him by the Jewish priests that a new King of the
Jews would be born in Bethlehem. In consequence he ordered the execution of
all young male children in the village of Bethlehem. This, according to St
Matthew, lead to Jesus’ family fleeing to Egypt and staying there until after
Herod’s death. However, historical evidence for this massacre is slight or non
existent. Consequently it is now regarded as conveying allegorical truth.
But to take this law as an example, most people who read it would be shocked
in the extreme by its content. Surely this is proof that a law can have significant
intrinsic consequences? The answer to this objection is as follows. The
ordering of the killing of innocent children is morally repugnant in the extreme,
but the order on its own lacks significance. Now when people read the law
they experience strong revulsion. This, however, is a consequence of the law
(just as the subsequent killing of innocent children is a consequence), not a
measure of its intrinsic value.
It is appreciated that this distinction may seem artificial. Moreover, I am
not
denying that laws can be morally judged by how they are written. What I am
arguing is that the most relevant way to assess a law is by its consequences
___________________
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This proverb means that good deeds are more important than good looks. The
saying was parodied in the movie Forrest Gump in the line: "Stupid is as stupid does”.
The proverb was first recorded by Geoffrey Chaucer in ‘The Wife of Bath's Tale,' in his
Canterbury Tales (c. 1387).
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