Questions tagged [philosophy-of-law]
The philosophy-of-law tag has no usage guidance.
134
questions
-1
votes
1
answer
58
views
do courts or judges ever have an ethical responsibility to interpret a law a certain way?
assuming courts have the power to interpret a law as they see fit (subject to removal of judges through various procedures) do they have an ethical responsibility to interpret a law a certain way even ...
- 9
4
votes
5
answers
920
views
Can non-agents be moral or immoral?
Human children and non-human animals are denied moral status or equal consideration with human adults due to their lack of consciousness, reason or autonomy
They are not moral agents or subjects of ...
- 1,641
0
votes
4
answers
71
views
(philosophy of law) how broadly can statutes be interpreted by courts? [closed]
In constitutions and legal systems like that of America , Australia and India (and other states with separation of powers), if a statute has more than one possible interpretation, then can and should ...
- 9
1
vote
6
answers
887
views
Why is consent important?
We cannot see or feel consent. Why is it important when its existence cannot be proven?
The importance of consent seems to rely on the principle of respect for autonomy or self-determination; for one ...
- 1,641
0
votes
2
answers
94
views
What do atheists (atheistic philosophers) think about the Spirit of Law? [closed]
I thought that spirit is something belongs to the god's nature or to God. How I should to understand the existence of the Spirit of Law? Are the laws the documents, rules and instructions written on ...
- 480
5
votes
5
answers
161
views
Why is the rule of the law so easily damaged or broken?
Why is the rule of law so difficult to keep once established? Is it because of the limitation of law, or something to do with human emotions and behavior? We cannot break laws of nature, but law made ...
- 672
5
votes
4
answers
98
views
what does "universal experience of a transcendental subject" mean?
I've been reading Bourdieu, P. (1986). The force of law: Toward a sociology of the juridical field. Hastings LJ, 38, 805. and encountered the concept on page 819.
The tendency to conceive of the ...
- 51
0
votes
1
answer
58
views
How have successful governments legislated morality?
In what ways has law fostered a culture of clear morality? Are there objective measurements to state what would be beneficial to the people which laws are meant for? I'm very interested in ways that ...
- 11
2
votes
2
answers
199
views
Has there ever been a society with merged ethics and law?
The so-called ethics-law divide is pervasive in most cultures nowadays. Not all unethical acts are punishable by the state or defined in its positive law, and occasionally societies formally ban ...
- 211
1
vote
3
answers
138
views
Should our morals be encoded in laws, and if not, what should?
Laws, to some degree, encode what society finds acceptable and moral(?).
Personal ethical values however often conflict with each other - take as example the topic of abortion in the US, and the topic ...
- 2,036
-1
votes
2
answers
103
views
Are crimes worse just because they are crimes (with an example from sexual assault)
I apologise if this needs a TRIGGER WARNING,
I in no way whatsoever wish to trivialise anyone's experiences or moral guilt.
Clearly, not every law is moral and not every moral obligation is legally ...
user62133
0
votes
1
answer
50
views
How do proponents of the New Natural Law Theory (NNLT), such as John Finnis & Germain Grisez, define natural law?
I looked in the main books of NNLT, namely Natural Law and Natural Rights by John Finnis and The Way of the Lord Jesus by Germain Grisez, but I did not find a definition of natural law.
- 11
0
votes
8
answers
179
views
Objectiv requirements for human rights/natural rights
Some ethical problems I've run into while writing a story set in a near future where general artificial intelligence, mind upload and radical genetic engineering are a thing.
If you could scan someone'...
- 157
0
votes
0
answers
52
views
Formal definition of "natural" and "naturalness" for the ethics and moral philosophy of "natural law"?
Every object is the combinatorial combination of atoms (or quarks/gluons/leptons if we dive deeper to the elements). Is there formal definition which combinations of atoms are "natural" and ...
- 179
0
votes
1
answer
34
views
In which part of his treatise on law does Thomas Aquinas provide rules for ranking basic goods?
I know that it provides such rules as I read it in an article but there was no reference to this statement.
- 11
2
votes
1
answer
417
views
Fallacy of division in an old book
I have identified a fallacy of division in an old book written in Spanish and I would like you to confirm if it is indeed a logical fallacy. The underlined part of the image contains the argument that ...
2
votes
4
answers
217
views
Are 'fearless' people a threat to society?
In childhood we are all told legends and myths about different heroes. Most of the time they are portrayed as fearless characters who doesn’t fear anything and sacrifice themselves for their people ...
- 39
3
votes
2
answers
216
views
When consent changes: can "consent" after the fact be valid?
There are many avenues of exploring consent in philosophy. For instance, in the philosophy of sexuality (IEP), consent is tremendously important. So too, in the intersection of morality and bioethics (...
- 1,641
3
votes
1
answer
350
views
What are the "crimes of passion and crimes of logic"?
There are crimes of passion and crimes of logic. The boundary between them is not clearly defined.
Albert Camus
What does Albert Camus mean by "crimes of passion and crimes of logic" in his
...
- 249
2
votes
4
answers
293
views
If Free Will Is Proven Illusory, Is There a Case for Suppressing the Finding?
NOTE: This question does not assume the existence or non-existence of free will.
Dan Dennett, Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, states that when "...neuroscientists who've been going ...
- 3,352
5
votes
6
answers
211
views
Is Group Suffering Worse than Individual Suffering?
There are two jails. Both employ torture of prisoners as a means to gain confessions.
Jail A has one prisoner. One guard tortures him.
Jail B has 1000 prisoners, all of whom are also tortured, each ...
- 3,352
1
vote
2
answers
199
views
Is there a philosophical justification for the dichotomy in discimination law?
In the UK, and in many other countries, it is illegal to discriminate on certain personal characteristics in many circumstances, including employment and accommodation. These characteristics include ...
- 127
3
votes
2
answers
138
views
In a Just Society, are there any Moral, Illegal Actions
Imagine a perfect legal system, whatever that looks like to you. I don't care what it is, just put it in your head.
There are plenty of examples of moral, legal action that can happen under this ...
- 961
-1
votes
1
answer
168
views
Comparing Albert Camus and Karl Marx
My brother is lawyer. He likes reading philosophy and writing about law. He wants to find a source about a conflict ideas of revolution as you know Albert Camus and Karl Marx have. He wants to write ...
- 109
1
vote
0
answers
62
views
"Inference to the Best Explanation if the Best is Sufficiently Good"
The reliability of Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE) is sometimes contested because it may end up recommending the best of a bad lot, which might require a modification of IBE (e.g. contra ...
- 290
-1
votes
2
answers
212
views
How would an philosopher and scientist solve the following kidnapping - scenario?
I would like to hear your opinion as philosophers and scientists regarding how you would solve the problem of proof in the following scenario:
"Plato" who has dementia and a damaged left ...
1
vote
3
answers
393
views
Do penalties keep people from committing crimes?
Do Penalties Keep People from Committing Crimes?
I'm very skeptical about the statement that penalties prevent people from committing crimes. There are obviously no facts to back this up (or are ...
1
vote
3
answers
139
views
If a crime physically cannot be committed again, would applying "Reform instead of Punishment" be necessary?
I think there are 3 main arguments for the imprisonment of criminals:
A) criminals can be locked away for a temporary or indefinite amount of time so they cannot commit another crime again
B) ...
- 111
1
vote
2
answers
188
views
How is Socrates's daimon related to one of Aquinas's laws/views of virtue and justice
In Plato's Apology of Socrates, Socrates talks about having a daimon, a divine being/voice that tells him of things not to do. For Aquinas, what would this be?
- 11
1
vote
2
answers
205
views
Why can community benefit if its individuals be free to act selfishly?
I never studied philosophy. Can someone kindly explain like I'm 5 the emboldened sentences below? What does "the defendant may benefit from considerations such as the effect on the community if ...
user8572
2
votes
2
answers
116
views
Why do the moral constraints upon law exculpate, not inculpate?
Why "blame without legal judgment", but "no judgment without blame"? What do these even mean? I never studied philosophy. Can someone kindly explain like I'm 5 the emboldened ...
user8572
1
vote
1
answer
268
views
What does "disposition" mean in a philosophical context?
I'm reading two criminal law theory papers and one of them is written by Heidi M. Hurd – University of Illinois College of Law who is a philosopher.
Professor Hurd received a B.A. (Hon.) from Queen’s ...
user8572
0
votes
2
answers
130
views
What is wrong in the reasoning that someone's accidental death is justified by his troubled past? [closed]
It seems to challenge the idea of the justice system, but in a very subtle way. Are there other flaws with this reasoning?
Is the confusion between the idea of a greater power's justice (law of nature,...
2
votes
2
answers
83
views
Formal logic on rightfulness
Is there a kind of logic that could easily formulate this kind of statement: X has the right to do Y?
Or more generally: An object that has the property X (or in a set X) could also choose to have ...
- 199
0
votes
0
answers
145
views
Analogy of Set and Subset and Contracts in abstracto and Marriage in concreto/in particular
I had a talk with a professor of family law and we are frequently told that there are general ordinances for contracts in general and particular ordinances for marriage.
I am problematised by the ...
- 290
3
votes
6
answers
486
views
Innocent until proven guilty [duplicate]
Why is it right?
And why is guilty until proven innocent wrong?
I think I have some kind of basic understanding but hopefully can learn more from your contributions.
- 59
0
votes
2
answers
116
views
Is a well-considered democratic decision good even though bad people have voted for this good decision?
Imagine the following situation:
A new law is voted in a parliament. The overwhelming majority of the population consider this new law to be very good. However, in the first voting-round there is ...
- 109
-1
votes
3
answers
260
views
Why think that retributive justice has an intrinsic value?
Obviously, punishment itself can have an extrinsic value: it may encourage fewer people to offend. But how has anyone argued for the intrinsic, rather than extrinsic, value of retributive justice?
I ...
user38026
1
vote
2
answers
136
views
Who writes the natural laws of a constitution?
If we say that the natural law of a constitution in a democratic government has to protect the minority from the majority, by whom is it written?
If the majority writes it, it might not protect the ...
- 19
1
vote
2
answers
101
views
How can I "fail to attend to reasons that are yours to conform to, even though I cannot be accused of failing to conform to them myself"?
Herring, Criminal Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (8 edn, 2018). p. 851.
The distinction between principals and accomplices, as we discovered, is embedded in
the structure of rational agency. As ...
user8572
0
votes
1
answer
106
views
Can responsibility or the lack thereof justify self-defence?
Ryan Cheyney argues that when an innocent Victim defends himself against an Aggressor by killing the Aggressor, he can justify his killing the Aggressor by saying he was not responsible for killing ...
- 113
1
vote
1
answer
149
views
Why does the ethical doctrine of double effect presume "the bad consequence is not a means to the good consequence"?
I trust it's obvious why this presumption looks as it is supposed to - "the bad consequence IS a means to the good consequence"?
Consider Herring's example on p. 169 with the surgeon. If the bad ...
user8572
1
vote
1
answer
75
views
How does denying existence of moral reasons to achieve results, also deny the existence of (normal) moral reasons to try to achieve them?
How does [1] imply [2]? Consider antinatalists. They have moral reasons TO TRY accomplish antinatalism ("AN"). But they don't have moral reasons to accomplish AN, because they probably won't ...
user8572
2
votes
2
answers
151
views
How are positive duties morally less powerful than negative ones?
I don't ken the emboldening. The positive duty for pro-abortionists is to make abortion accessible, free, legal, and a universal human right. This positive duty is obviously MORE (not "less") ...
user8572
7
votes
7
answers
3k
views
What is to be understood by the phrase "Israel's right to exist"? [closed]
As someone who is interested in the Israeli-Palestinian question one phrase that comes up in the pro-Israeli position is the insistence that the Palestinians recognise '"Israel's right to exist". (In ...
2
votes
1
answer
113
views
Philosophy of Law, Ethics and Visualization
Slides
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wO4BUZGp09UGPVoSyrHZKt3KDyJFUwg12KXZiyRW76s/edit?usp=sharing
Can anyone provide authors or references to material on Ethics, Philosophy of Law or Logic ...
- 73
44
votes
6
answers
15k
views
Is there a term for the belief that "if it's legal, it's moral"?
Sometimes I hear arguments that seem to appeal to the fact that something is morally permissible because it is legally permitted. For example:
Abortion is moral because it's legally permitted. ...
- 589
1
vote
1
answer
161
views
Do people tend to immorality like every Abrahamic religion told? [closed]
In many sentences of the Quran and other Abrahamic religious books, we are told about many different people who were immoral (thieves, corruption, adultery, etc.) until prophets come and help them ...
- 19
1
vote
3
answers
228
views
Is constitution of a country simply a set of axioms?
Is it valid to think of a constitution or law in general as an axiomatic system?
Because what they do is actually stating some rules one-by-one which we just accept. This means we accept also all ...
- 304
1
vote
1
answer
258
views
Are we facing a new form of social prejudice and discrimination? [closed]
How is it different from previous forms of social injustice? Why is this a new kind of systematic prejudice and discrimination? - Firstly, the "old" way was entrenched in law and custom, ...
- 2,373