Aristotle and Natural Law lays out a new theoretical approach which distinguishes between the notions of 'interpretation,' 'appropriation,' 'negotiation' and 'reconstruction' of the meaning of texts and their component concepts. These categories are then deployed in an examination of the role which the concept of natural law is used by Aristotle in a number of key texts. The book argues that Aristotle appropriated the concept of natural law, first formulated by the defenders of naturalism in the 'nature versus convention debate' in classical Athens. Thereby he contributed to the emergence and historical evolution of the meaning of one of the most important concept in the lexicon of Western political thought. Aristotle and Natural Law argues that Aristotle's ethics is best seen as a certain type of natural law theory which does not allow for the possibility that individuals might appeal to natural law in order to criticize existing laws and institutions. Rather its function is to provide them with a philosophical justification from the standpoint of Aristotle's metaphysics.
The book presents a new focus on the legal philosophical texts of Aristotle, which offers a much richer frame for the understanding of practical thought, legal reasoning and political experience. It allows understanding how human beings interact in a complex world, and how extensive the complexity is which results from humans’ own power of self-construction and autonomy. The Aristotelian approach recognizes the limits of rationality and the inevitable and constitutive contingency in Law. All this offers a helpful instrument to understand the changes globalisation imposes to legal experience today. The contributions in this collection do not merely pay attention to private virtues, but focus primarily on public virtues. They deal with the fact that law is dependent on political power and that a person can never be sure about the facts of a case or about the right way to act. They explore the assumption that a detailed knowledge of Aristotle's epistemology is necessary, because of the direct connection between Enlightened reasoning and legal positivism. They pay attention to the concept of proportionality, which can be seen as a precondition to discuss liberalism.
In this book, experts from the fields of law and philosophy explore the works of Aristotle to illuminate the much-debated and fascinating relationship between emotions and justice. Emotions matter in connection with democracy and equity – they are relevant to the judicial enforcement of rights, legal argumentation, and decision-making processes in legislative bodies and courts. The decisive role that emotions, feelings and passions play in these processes cannot be ignored – not even by those who believe that emotions have no legitimate place in the public sphere. A growing body of literature on these topics recognizes the seminal insights contributed by Aristotle. This book offers a comprehensive analysis of his thinking in this context, as well as proposals for inspiring dialogues between his works and those written by a selection of modern and contemporary thinkers. As such, the book offers a valuable resource for students of law, philosophy, rhetoric, politics, ethics and history, but also for readers interested in the ongoing debate about legal positivism and the relevance of emotions for legal and political life in today’s world.
Aristotle offers a conception of the private and its relationship to the public that suggests a remedy to the limitations of liberalism today, according to Judith A. Swanson. In this fresh and lucid interpretation of Aristotle's political philosophy, Swanson challenges the dominant view that he regards the private as a mere precondition to the public. She argues, rather, that for Aristotle private activity develops virtue and is thus essential both to individual freedom and happiness and to the well-being of the political order. Swanson presents an innovative reading of The Politics which revises our understanding of Aristotle's political economy and his views on women and the family, slavery, and the relation between friendship and civic solidarity. She examines the private activities Aristotle considers necessary to a complete human life—maintaining a household, transacting business, sustaining friendships, and philosophizing. Focusing on ways Aristotle's public invests in the private through law, rule, and education, she shows how the public can foster a morally and intellectually virtuous citizenry. In contrast to classical liberal theory, which presents privacy as a shield of rights protecting individuals from one another and from the state, for Aristotle a regime can attain self-sufficiency only by bringing about a dynamic equilibrium between the public and the private. The Public and the Private in Aristotle's Political Philosophy will be essential reading for scholars and students of political philosophy, political theory, classics, intellectual history, and the history of women.
This book provides a critical examination of the major doctrines in Aristotle's Politics, as well as other works, such as the Nicomachean Ethics, that are relevant to political thought.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and other Marxist regimes around the world seems to have left liberal democracy as the only surviving ideology, and yet many scholars of political thought still find liberal democracy objectionable, using Aristotle's Politics to support their views. In this detailed analysis of Book 3 of Aristotle's work, Clifford Angell Bates, Jr., challenges these scholars, demonstrating that Aristotle was actually a defender of democracy. Proving the relevance of classical political philosophy to modern democratic problems, Bates argues that Aristotle not only defends popular rule but suggests that democracy, restrained by the rule of law, is the best form of government. According to Aristotle, because human beings are naturally sociable, democracy is the regime that best helps man reach his potential; and because of human nature, it is inevitable democracies will prevail. Bates explains why Aristotle's is a sound position between two extremes -- participatory democracy, which romanticizes the people, and elite theory, which underrates them. Aristotle, he shows, sees the people as they really are and nevertheless believes their self-rule, under law, is ultimately better than all competing forms. However, the philosopher does not believe democracy should be imposed universally. It must arise out of the given cultural, environmental, and historical traditions of a people or its will fall into tyranny. Bates's fresh interpretation rests on innovative approaches to reading Book 3 -- which he deems vital to understanding all of Aristotle's Politics. Examining the work in the original Greek as well as in translation, he addresses questions about the historical Aristotle versus the posited Aristotle, the genre and structure of the text, and both the theoretical and the dialogic nature of the work. Carting Aristotle's rhetorical strategies, Bates shows that Book 3 is not simply a treatise but a series of dialogues that develop a nuanced defense of democratic rule. Bates's accessible and faithful exposition of Aristotle's work confirms that the philosopher's teachings are not merely of historical interest but speak directly to liberal democracy's current crisis of self-understanding.
The Laws is Plato's last, longest, and perhaps, most famous work. It presents a conversation on political philosophy between three elderly men: an unnamed Athenian, a Spartan named Megillus, and a Cretan named Clinias. They worked to create a constitution for Magnesia, a new Cretan colony that would make all of its citizens happy and virtuous. In this work, Plato combines political philosophy with applied legislation, going into great detail concerning what laws and procedures should be in the state. For example, they consider whether drunkenness should be allowed in the city, how citizens should hunt, and how to punish suicide. The principles of this book have entered the legislation of many modern countries and provoke a great interest of philosophers even in the 21st century.
This book contains the first-time English translation of the main work of Paul Scholten, the General Method of Private Law. The introductory article analyzes Scholten’s view in contrast with a particular combination of Comte’s centralizing optimization program and Neo-Kantian Idealism, which is still dominant in political philosophy. Comte’s sociology and Scholten’s Jurisprudentialism are not presented here in the well-known opposition of Sein and Sollen, but by showing how their different views on scientific method are grounded in opposite views on the philosophical, political and ethical meaning of human action. Neo-Kantianism adheres to Comte’s view, while Scholten adheres to the Aristotelian view, as it had developed in Christianity and had provided the protestant foundation of the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century. Comte attacks Aristotelian Protestantism, which he characterizes as the metaphysical stage of the Western development of state: negative, protestant, constitutional and juridical. Scholten’s views oppose the inherent trend towards centralization in Comte’s program to cover all aspects of optimization for the best of all, ever better. That branch of political philosophy not only has shaky foundations in scientific method but also has reached its boundaries of operational applicability. Scholten’s views oppose the emphasis in Comte’s program on a unified general will and stress the need for accepting the existence of deeply conflicting philosophies of life in society. This has consequences for the organization of democracy regarding independence of specialized agencies, the role of civil society and the voting system. It not just holds for the state level but also for Unions and supranational organizations. The legal system plays a key role in this development. Scholten’s views and activities have had great posthumous impact for the reconstruction of society and politics in the first years after World War II. They contributed to the collaboration between the different denominations in the Protestant church, opened up the social-democratic party to different denominations and helped develop the cooperation of different Christian parties, leaving the cleavages of the pre-war political spectre behind. Authors and open reviewers who have contributed to the DPSP project, have a broad international background, apart from the Netherlands: Finland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Brazil, United States and Indonesia. Indonesia plays a substantial role in the book, as Scholten played a main role in setting up the legal education system in what was then the Netherlands Indies. Chapters 1. Paul Scholten, Aristotelian Protestantism in Dutch Legal Philosophy. Liesbeth Huppes-Cluysenaer (p.1) 2. Paul Scholten’s Life. Rogier Chorus, Liesbeth Huppes-Cluysenaer, Jacqueline Schoonheim (p.28) 3. General Method of Private Law. English translation of the First Chapter of the General Volume of the Asser-serie on Dutch Civil Law, written by Paul Scholten. Liesbeth Huppes-Cluysenaer, Marjanne Termorshuizen-Arts, Cassandra Steer, Paul Scholten (p.37) 4. Jumping Judges, Judicial Discovery of Law. Niels van Manen (p.225) 5. From a Legal Order to a Legal System, Scholten’s Contribution to a Theory of Legal Change. Jean-Louis Halpérin (p.249) 6. Law and Context, Scholten’s Open System of Law and Legal Harmonisation. Jaakko Husa (261) 7. Case-Based Reasoning and Formulary Procedure, A Guard against Individual Emotions. Marco Gardini (p.287) 8. Kelsen and Scholten on Reason and Emotion in Solving Cases. Nuno M.M.S. Coelho (p.315) 9. Trembling Necessity and Analogy, Juridical Reason as Judgment by the Similar. Luciano de Camargo Penteado (p.334) 10. Paul Scholten and the Founding of the Batavia Rechtshogeschool. Upik Djalins (p.354) 11. In Search of Scholten’s Legacy, The Meaning of the Method of Rechtsvinding for the Current Indonesian Legal Discourse. Shidarta (p.396) 12. Scholten’s Reflections on Judge’s Practices, An Apology of the Mystery of the Legal Craft. Robert Knegt (p.443) 13. The Reception of the Work of Paul Scholten in the Netherlands. Marjanne Termorshuizen-Arts (p.465) 14. Re-Appraising Paul Scholten, His Influence on the Development of a National Legal System in Indonesia. Tristam P. Moeliono (p.495)