Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Arts and Humanities Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Philosophy

Selected Works

2009

Jurisprudence

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Aristotle, Law And Justice: The Tragic Hero, Eric A. Engle Jan 2009

Aristotle, Law And Justice: The Tragic Hero, Eric A. Engle

Eric A. Engle

Aristotle was the greatest scientist in western history. He established the scientific paradigm and the instruments thereof (materialism and logic). His work covered all basic sciences: Astronomy, Botany, Logic, Mathematics, Meteorology Philosophy, Psychology and Political Science. Aristotle's conception of justice pervades the law and heavily influenced the Anglo-Saxon court system to this day. Yet, the mark of a hero in Greek tragedy is his tragic flaw. Aristotle was not only a great scientist. He was also racist, sexist and homophobic - he thought slavery was natural and good. This tragic flaw in Aristotle's work has distorted all of western thought …


Ontology, Epistemology, Axiology: Bases For A Comprehensive Theory Of Law, Eric A. Engle Jan 2009

Ontology, Epistemology, Axiology: Bases For A Comprehensive Theory Of Law, Eric A. Engle

Eric A. Engle

This article presents a comprehensive theory of law founded on correct ontological, epistemological and axiological bases and proposes that monism materialism and holism will have greater explanatory and predictive power than dualist, atomist and realist International Relations (IR) theory have had. The theory, though focussed on IR theory, is applicable to domestic law as well. Western thought has long been predicated on either an ontological materialism (matter determines mind) or an ontological idealism (eidetic realism: mind determines matter). Normally, the materialist view is also monist (reality is fundamentally unitary), whereas the idealist view is generally presented as dualist (reality is …


Exploring The Foundations Of Dworkin's Empire: The Discovery Of An Underground Positivist, Brian M. Mccall Dec 2008

Exploring The Foundations Of Dworkin's Empire: The Discovery Of An Underground Positivist, Brian M. Mccall

Brian M McCall

This review essay examines the jurisprudence of Ronald Dworkin as presented in the anthology: Exploring Law's Empire: The Jurisprudence of Ronald Dworkin, edited by Scott Hershovitz. Notwithstanding the influence Dworkin's jurisprudence has had on the reconsideration of moral reasoning within legal reasoning, the essay concludes that at its foundation Dworkin's jurisprudence is based upon Legal Positivist principles. The essay first summarizes the jurisprudence of Dworkin and then contrasts his jurisprudence with traditional Natural Law Legal Theory and finally exposes the Positivist foundations of Dworkin's Legal Empire.