For better or worst, the history of law

Is the study of two ancient ideas.

I. Accepting or rejecting
a. These are the two forms of acting on the Law
b. In Post-modern era, its about how to further or escape these ideas.
II. The two ideas come from two different sources.
a. Originates in Greece in the 4
th
centry BCAristotle
b. Other in the Sinai peninsulaMoses
III. Law is a practical reason for action.Aristotle
a. Book 1- Politics
i. Pg 31This nomos is more than _____ it is norms of the
community e.g. tradition.
1. This is important in relation to common law tradition.
a. Law is not only posited, but it is worked out by
tradition
ii. Pg. 32Summary of aristotles idea
iii. 113-14Excerpt of Knowledge
1. Distinction between speculative Knowledge and
practical Reason.
a. Speculative--Attempt to understand realities as
they are.
i. These can also be practical.
b. Practicalthose facets of knowledge upon which
you act.
i. Practical reason makes things REAL.
ii. Youre not certain about everything,
youre certain about the first principles of
reasoning.Aristotle
1. Understanding is more accurate
than intuitive.
2. The particular applications of the
first principles is not always self-
evident. That comes about in
certain ways.
3. These require practical wisdom.
Very few possess it. Those who are
virtuous, and those with
experience have it.
iv. 38the State is not a community; it is a species of
communities.
1. It is the highest of community ideals.
2. When he says that the state is prior to the family, he is
not contradicting. These are two different priorities.
a. A thing is caused by its ultimate end.
i. The ultimate end to community is the
state.
ii. You cannot have a state without villages,
villages without families, families without
a productive union: e.g. mama and a
daddy.
v. The man, who is outside of community, is either a beast or a
god. Either way he is not a just being.
b. What is Virtue? The Ethics.
i. Justice comes in two partsVirtue and Political
1. Virtue: The capacity of Human nature.
a. Is the mean between two vices.
b. The highest of all virtues is Justice. It governs our
dealings with everyone else. Its vices are
unfairness and unlawfulness.
c. A law is just to the extent that it promotes
flourishing. This implies the conversea law can
be unjust.
2. Political: What is required
a. Two other categories
i. DistributiveThe equality concerned
here is proportionality. He says awards
should be according to merit.
ii. CommutativeBecause it does not
merely create compensation for wrongs,
it applies to all transactions.
1. No one should make an unjust gain
at the expense of another.
2. A man acts unjustly when he acts
voluntarily. Incidental actions are
not just, nor unjust. Mens rea has
its foundation here.
3. Suicide is a crime against the State,
because it destroys the good in a
community.
c. Without voluntariness, an act is not unjust; What about an
involuntary suicide?
d. Aristotle questions whether a person can be unjust to himself or
herself.
i. You can exercise authority and reason over yourself. In doing
so, you can become a full human being.
IV. Book VI
a. How can one become good? Practical wisdom.
i. By looking at people who have it.
V. Law is a command, by God, revealed to man
a.