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tortures, oaths.
First, then, let us take laws and see how they are to be used in persuasion
and dissuasion, in accusation and defence. If the written law tells against our
case, clearly we must appeal to the universal law, and insist on its greater
equity and justice. We must argue that the jurorâs oath âI will give my verdict
according to honest opinionâ means that one will not simply follow the letter
of the written law. We must urge that the principles of equity are permanent
and changeless, and that the universal law does not change either, for it is the
law of nature, whereas written laws often do change. This is the bearing the
lines in Sophoclesâ Antigone, where Antigone pleads that in burying her
brother she had broken Creonâs law, but not the unwritten law:
Not of to-day or yesterday they are,
But live eternal: (none can date their birth.)
Not I would fear the wrath of any man
(And brave Godâs vengeance) for defying these.
We shall argue that justice indeed is true and profitable, but that sham
justice is not, and that consequently the written law is not, because it does not
fulfil the true purpose of law. Or that justice is like silver, and must be assayed
by the judges, if the genuine is to be distinguished from the counterfeit. Or
that the better a man is, the more he will follow and abide by the unwritten
law in preference to the written. Or perhaps that the law in question
contradicts some other highly-esteemed law, or even contradicts itself. Thus it
may be that one law will enact that all contracts must be held binding, while
another forbids us ever to make illegal contracts. Or if a law is ambiguous, we
shall turn it about and consider which construction best fits the interests of
justice or utility, and then follow that way of looking at it. Or if, though the
law still exists, the situation to meet which it was passed exists no longer, we
must do our best to prove this and to combat the law thereby. If however the
written law supports our case, we must urge that the oath âto give my verdict
according to my honest opinionâ not meant to make the judges give a verdict
that is contrary to the law, but to save them from the guilt of perjury if they
misunderstand what the law really means. Or that no one chooses what is
absolutely good, but every one what is good for himself. Or that not to use the
laws is as ahas to have no laws at all. Or that, as in the other arts, it does not
pay to try to be cleverer than the doctor: for less harm comes from the
doctorâs mistakes than from the growing habit of disobeying authority. Or that
trying to be cleverer than the laws is just what is forbidden by those codes of
law that are accounted best.-So far as the laws are concerned, the above
discussion is probably sufficient.
2202
zurĂŒck zum
Buch The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Titel
- The Complete Aristotle
- Autor
- Aristotle
- Datum
- ~322 B.C.
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 2328
- Schlagwörter
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Kategorien
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156