Exam (elaborations)
LJU4801 Notes
- Course
- LJU4801
- Institution
- University Of South Africa
LJU4801 NOTES 100% TRUSTED workings with detailed Answers for A+ Grade.
[Show more]
Content preview
LJU4801NOTES
,Pre-Modern Legal Philosophies
What is the meaning of natural law?
•The idea that there is a real, pre-political set of rules that provide the yardstick
against which human laws can be measured
•Natural law is a metaphysical concept (not something physical)
•Cannot be touched, seen or measured
What is the meaning of the common good?
•Here the assumption is that the community is more important than the individual
•Terms such as “human rights” are inappropriate for this type of thinking
•Idea of individual rights being in conflict with the interests of the group is
unthinkable
What is the meaning metaphysics?
•Metaphysical assumptions led to the development of the theory of natural law
•Metaphysical ideas include beliefs in ghosts, devils and Gods
•Ideas of reality beyond the physical meant a separate set of laws exist metaphysically
What is the meaning of natural order?
•There is a natural order or natural harmony that applies to social life and the law
•In legal thinking, the hierarchical structure of these societies were never questioned
and were justified (Nazi’s, Apartheid)
•This meant that laws were often regarded as being beyond criticism
•If your laws are from natural order and your order comes from God, then criticism of
laws is indirect criticism of God
The Greek philosophers
Plato
•Ideas on law and nature of justice are linked to his theory of knowledge
•He wanted to understand how we tell what is true and what is false
•His famous story of the cave : Imagine a group of prisoners tied up in a cave in a way that
they can only look at the wall in front of them
•Behind them a fire is burning
•Between them and the fire things are moving fast creating shadows on the walls
, •Therefore prisoners only see the shadows, they do not see the “real things”
•Everything we see are the shadows of real things (ideas/ideologies)
•He thought our senses were not always reliable (sometimes we think something happened,
but was just a dream)
•He believed we could not trust our subjective senses - sight, smell and touch
•According to him, political power should be exclusive to philosophers because only they
know the eternal idea of good
•Important for everyone to have a specific role in the state
•You were either a philosopher-king, a warrior or a worker
•If you were born a worker, you never became anything else, your role in society and within
the state was set down for eternity
•This is because your station in life was determined by the natural order and no one could
argue with that
•Was even worse for women : expected to bare children and obey
•His ideas of predetermined rules and laws meant change and transformation was not
possible
•He equated change with chaos and decay
•He thought that there had to be something that never changes
•This is the reason of Eternal Forms in Plato’s theory- in the metaphysical world of forms
nothing ever changes
•Tried to give us a fixed, unchanging set of rules by which we can measure whether a specific
law is a good law or not (this gave a sense of certainty in the world)
•Plato’s theory of the ideals can be seen in the hierarchical nature of his ideal city
•Essentialism : the viewpoint that objects or ideas have an innate, unchanging core of meaning
•For example, “justice” means exactly the same in 21st century Africa as it did in Greece more
than 2 thousand years ago
•Evident Plato developed a natural law theory in which ideals form the natural law
•This form of natural law is known as idealism
•What is idealism? The idea that human laws should be measured against ideals of justice
(which is universal and absolute standard)
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through EFT, credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying this summary from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller StudyStore. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy this summary for R51,28. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
69052 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy summaries for 15 years now