On the Virtuousness of Certain Refusals to Comply with Legal Demands Prompted by Other Normativities

Nicolás Carrillo-Santarelli

doi:10.5294/dika.2023.32.1.22

Authors

Nicolás Carrillo-Santarelli Author University of Cagliari https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7053-118X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5294/dika.2023.32.1.22

Keywords:

Virtue ethics, civil disobedience, phenomenology, natural law, philosophy of law

Abstract

The question of whether a deliberate choice to refuse to comply with the demands placed on a moral agent by a given provision of positive law can be explored from the perspective of different ethical approaches, including deontology and consequentialism. However, examining that question from the standpoint of virtue ethics can prove especially illuminating, considering how it expressly takes into account nuances pertaining the specific context in which agents find themselves and the tension between different virtues. In this article, I carry out one such examination, considering the value of justice. I further posit that if harm and negative effects on others do not take place or are outweigh by the injustice of a legal demand, and alternative remedies with prospect of effectiveness to address a potential injustice brought about by the law are not feasibly present, then disobedience in a deliberate fashion can prove sometimes to be not only ethical but even, in exceptional cases, the most responsible course of action.

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