Untitled Deck Flashcards
(72 cards)
What is law?
A set of statutes that individuals within a society are governed by and are compelled to follow
Made in the house of commons and taken from Britain
What is a statute?
A law passed by the government
Define jurisprudence.
Knowledge or skill in the law; the science that deals with the investigation of concepts, notions, and principles of legal thought
What does jurisprudence enable us to do?
- Explore the nature of the origins of law and legal institutions
- Clarify the principles upon which they were founded
- Understand court decisions and legal statutes
- Understand society’s attitude towards the law
- Predict the future path of legal thinking
What is the right to a fair trial?
The right to have one’s case adjudicated fairly by a judge or jury
What is justice in the context of law?
The belief that an accused has the right to present their case to a judge or jury, with decisions based on reasoned judgment on the law and evidence
What does due process refer to?
A fair proceeding under the law
What is the functional purpose of law?
To state which rights and obligations society has in the course of legal proceedings
Define philosophy in the context of law.
The process of critical inquiry into the concepts of a particular branch of knowledge through the use of logic and reason
What method did Greek philosophers introduce for developing human thinking?
The Socratic method, which involves a process of question and answer
What are the two fundamental legal traditions in legal philosophy?
- Natural law
- Positive law
Define natural law.
The theory that law has some higher or divine origin; a set of ideals that are universal and absolute
What is positive law?
Law in which human authority has its origin.
the theory that is derived from the belief that law is simply what the political authority or lawmaker commands.
Law and justice are not 2 different entities as natural law claims.
Therefore, the condition of human law is not confirmed to certain standards of mortality and justice
The only human morality is the obedience to the law
What did Plato believe about laws?
All laws should reflect certain universal, absolute, and eternal truths and virtues.
Plato believed that humans could never fully achieve these truths, but that their laws nevertheless should attempt to do so.
Laws needed to reflect a universal good
Plato believed that it is worse to commit an injustice than to suffer one and be punished because an injustice destroys one’s soul.
All laws should reflect certain universal absolute and eternal truths and virtues
What was Aristotle’s contribution to natural law?
Founded contemporary thinking on natural law, believing justice is within the grasp of humans
Who was Cicero and what was his belief regarding civil law?
Wrote during the Roman era; believed in a notion of universal and unchanging natural law and proposed civil disobedience against unjust laws
What did St. Thomas Aquinas believe about laws?
Laws were created by the natural world and known to humans through reasoning and divine revelation
What are ‘right acts’ according to Aquinas?
Actions that follow natural law
What is the ‘Is-Ought Problem’ as stated by David Hume?
Just because something is a certain way in nature doesn’t mean that’s how it should be
What are the core principles that Natural Law Theorists agree on?
- Unchanging principles of law exist in nature
- These principles are accessible through reason
- They apply to all men at all times
- Man-made laws are just only if derived from principles of law in nature
What does it mean for natural laws to be ‘self-evident’?
They can be understood through reason without needing proof
What did Cicero advocate for regarding unjust laws?
He believed people should not follow laws that conflict with natural law
What is Hobbes’ view on the law of nature?
It is a dictate discovered through human reasoning
What did Charles Rice argue about laws and God?
It’s not possible to pass laws without God, as natural law ultimately comes from Him