Letter: Moral judgments

Your leader (18 September) raised a valid issue: the deliberate evil of a rapist deserves greater punishment than the criminal stupidity of a drunk driver that killed a girl. I'm all for harsh penalties for drink driving (and for drivers using mobile phones) whether an accident ensures or not, but something seems amiss with our justice system when rape is rated less serious than drink driving.

While we drift towards secular utilitarian ethics that look only at the consequences of actions, however, we can only expect more of the same. If we re- emphasise a moral system in which only the act itself is amenable to moral judgment, and the consequences, tragic though they may be, do not affect the degree of guilt, then a more just system will prevail.

RICHARD LUCAS

Cowan Road

Shandon, Edinburgh