Law, philosophy of law. --- .This section is about philosophy of law. Topics include: --- 1/24/2006
Law, philosophy of law. --- (1) The metaphysical world view of the lawmakers (factual knowledge). (2) The epistemological development of the lawmakers (reasoning). (3) The ethical development of the lawmakers (justice). --- 11/30/1997
Law, philosophy of law. --- (1) Universalism. Natural law: gods law, natures law, universal principles. (2) Relativism: case by case, society by society. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- A lot of law boils down to (1) Metaphysics: how do they categorize subjects? (2) Epistemology: what is their proof, arguments and reasons? (3) Ethics: what's their ethical position? (4) Cases that set current, important, national precedents for above. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Define law and all associated terms. What is the purpose, function, and importance of law? --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Epistemology and law. (1) Legal reasoning: logic. (2) Evidence: types, weights (comparative, hierarchies). (3) Proof: irrefutable. (4) Doubt vs. certainty. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Epistemology and law. Science of law. Observe actual systems. Experiment, adjust. Measure. Explain. Theories vs. facts. Historical vs. comparative methods. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethical analysis of all parts of law, as it is and as it should be. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethical aspects of law. (1) Law vs. justice, for individual or for society. (2) Freedoms, rights, obligations, and duties. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethical issues involved in law. Power. Order, control, and conformity through regulation vs. rights and freedoms. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethical skeleton, applied to what subjects, what goals, by who, how (strategies and tactics), when, where, and why (reasons). --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. (1) Justice of a legal system. (2) Justice of a law in general. (3) Justice of a law applied to a specific situation. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. (1) Stuff: who owns it, who can use it. (1) Actions: rights vs. responsibilities, obligations. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. (1) What should be: ethics. (2) What should law be: jurisprudence. (3) What should decision be: lawyering, practice of law. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. (1) Who will law serve (ends)? (2) How will the law serve them: procedure (means)? --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Can do vs. can't do ( freedoms vs. limits). Have to do vs. don't (duty and rights). --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Current precedents: cases, statue, and constitutional clause. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Does an individual's knowledge of society's laws affect the individual's development of morality? Yes. As we grow up we are socialized, and we learn the laws of society, which in turn shapes our notion of right and wrong, and furthers our ethical development. But can we, and must we, also transcend, rise above, or move beyond the letter of the law? Yes. --- 08/17/1997
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Doing something illegal. When is breaking the law moral? When the law is immoral? See: criminology. See: human rights. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Freedom of individual vs. protection of society. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Good law (just, healthy) vs. bad law (unjust, unhealthy), for who or what. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Laws (better and worse) vs. acts (better and worse). --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Obligations of lawyer to client and to society. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Order vs. disorder. Right vs. wrong. Rights vs. duties. Freedoms vs. obligations. Justice vs. injustice. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Precedent: legal reasoning on applied ethics. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Precedent. (1) Why do decisions stick? (A) They are just vs. (B) they are unjust but obscure. There is no current problem in society to challenge it. (2) Why do decisions get overturned (changed), and to what degree? (A) They are unjust. (B) Situation changes. (C) Overturners are powerful but unjust. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Primary ethical questions. What type and degree of ethical relation (duty, freedom, etc.) should be made into law and why? vs. What should remain merely a moral norm? --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Principles of laws. If a law says: don't do x, or must do x, it really says: we feel this way about this subject. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Which laws are more just or less just, and why? What do we mean by justice (a purely ethical system)? --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Ethics and law. Wrong?: ethics. Legal wrong?: jurisprudence. Reaction?: reward, neutral, sanction. Why? --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- History of philosophy of law by chronological development. Grotius (international law), Pound, Hart, Ayer. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Philosophy of law, or jurisprudence. (1) Metaphysics: what is law? (2) Epistemology: legal reasoning, legal proof. (3) Ethics: what should the laws be, and not, and why? (4) Aesthetics. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Schools of jurisprudence. (1) Logical analysis: legal reasoning. (2) Language analysis: determine meanings of words, semantics. (3) Literary criticism: interpreting constitution, and judges rulings, etc. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Schools of jurisprudence. (1) Natural law: metaphysical. (2) Sociological jurisprudence: sociological, political, economic, and psychological relationships. (3) Analytical jurisprudence: logical analysis, linguistic analysis. (4) Legal positivism: scientific analysis of existing system. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Science of law. (1) Comparative, historical. (2) Methods to observe. (3) What conclusions can we draw? --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Society's perception of the philosophical status of any thing, begets the legal status of the thing in that society. --- 12/30/1992
Law, philosophy of law. --- Where humans are concerned, everything has an ethical dimension to it. And everything has a legal dimension to it. Either it is covered under the law, to either regulate it or guarantee its freedom, or else it has been decided that we will not cover it under law. Law deals with musts and must nots. Law does not deal with oughts or ought nots. --- 03/31/1997