Reference no: EM131691014

This is a discussion, and I need to reply to this opinion in 150 words or more.

Hammurabi's code contains many laws that pertain to moral standards and value. Equality is a value that is very important in today's society and plays a pivotal role in people's actions. Hammurabi's code contains many laws that have to do with equality. One of these laws mentions that if someone steals, they will be put to death. It also mentions that whoever recieves the stolen goods will be put to death as well. This shows equality in that the person who is not doing the dirty work of stealing, but wants the final product, gets punished for even the idea of stealing. Another law that shows equality is one that says "if the wife of one man on account of another man has the spouses of her husband murdered, both of the wife and her lover shall be impaled on stakes" (Hammurabi 153). This shows equality in that both parties of the act get punished, even if only one of them may have commited the crime. The last example of equality shown in Hammurabi's Code is one that states that if a doctor hurts man, or causes his death, the doctor's hands be cut off. This shows equality since the doctor's hand directly aided in the death of another person, so his hands do not deserve to be of use any longer.

There are many laws in Hammurabi's Code that indicates injustice towards women. One of which mentions that even if a woman is accused of adultery, and there is no proof against her, she still has to jump in a river for her husband's sake. This is not fair towards the woman because she might not even be guilty, but it is her duty to be a submissive wife and die for her husband's future. Another law that directly shows injustice towards women states that "if [a woman] has not borne [her husband] children, then her mistress may sell her for money" (Hammurabi 147). This proves complete injustice since it cannot be controlled in a woman whether she can have children or not. Some woman are able to bear children and some are not, it is not fair to sell the ones that cannot bear children. A third example of injustice towards women found in Hammurabi's Code mentions that if a holy woman enters a tavern for a drink or even opens the door, she will be burned to death. This is unfair because it is not a problem if a holy man goes into a tavern, but a woman would be burned to death for it.

Based on these laws I have mentioned above, I think the best law is the one that states the one who stole, and the one who recieved the stolen goods gets punished as well. This is because no matter who did the dirty work, everyone gets punished for even having the bad thought of stealing in the first place. The worst law out of those mentioned above, I think the one that forces doctors to cut their hands of if something goes wrong in surgery. It is so easy for complications to happen in the older days, making all the doctors possibly lose their hands. If this is the case, then there would not be many experienced doctors left in the land.