Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
- Publication
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Legal History
Self-Defense In Asian Religions, David B. Kopel
Self-Defense In Asian Religions, David B. Kopel
David B Kopel
This Article investigates the attitudes of six Far Eastern religions - Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism - towards the legitimacy of the use of force in individual and collective contexts. Self-defense is strongly legitimated in the theory and practice of the major Far Eastern religions. The finding is consistent with natural law theory that some aspects of the human personality, including the self-defense instinct, are inherent in human nature, rather than being entirely determined by culture.
Armed Resistance To The Holocaust, David B. Kopel
Armed Resistance To The Holocaust, David B. Kopel
David B Kopel
Contrary to myth of Jewish passivity, many Jews did fight back during the Holocaust. They shut down the extermination camp at Sobibor, rose up in the Warsaw Ghetto, and fought in the woods and swamps all over Eastern Europe. Indeed, Jews resisted at a higher rate than did any other population under Nazi rule. The experience of the Holocaust shows why Jews, and all people of good will, should support the right of potential genocide victims to possess defensive arms, and refutes the notion that violence is necessarily immoral.
The Status Of Classical Natural Law: Plato And The Parochialism Of Modern Theory, Eric Heinze
The Status Of Classical Natural Law: Plato And The Parochialism Of Modern Theory, Eric Heinze
Prof. Eric Heinze, Queen Mary University of London
The concept of modernity has long been central to legal theory. It is an intrinsically temporal concept, expressly or implicitly defined in contrast to pre-modernity.
Legal theorists sometimes draw comparisons between, on the one hand, various post-Renaissance positivist, liberal, realist or critical theories, and, on the other hand, the classical natural law or justice theories of antiquity or the middle ages, including such figures as Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine or Aquinas. Many theorists, however, while acknowledging superficial differences among the various classical theories, fail to appreciate the variety and complexity of pre-modern thought. Unduly simplifying pre-modern understandings of law, they end …
Epinomia: Plato And The First Legal Theory, Eric Heinze
Epinomia: Plato And The First Legal Theory, Eric Heinze
Prof. Eric Heinze, Queen Mary University of London
In comparison to Aristotle, Plato’s general understanding of law receives little attention in legal theory, due in part to ongoing perceptions of him as a mystic or a totalitarian. However, some of the critical or communitarian themes that have guided theorists since Aristotle already find strong expression in Plato’s work. More than any thinker until the 19th and 20th centuries, Plato rejects the rank individualism and self-interest which, in his view, emerge within democratic legal culture. He rejects schisms between legal norms and community values, institutional separation of law from morals, intricate regimes of legislation and adjudication, and a culture …
Foreword: A Symposium Exploring The Modern Legacy Of William Jennings Bryan, Susan Franck
Foreword: A Symposium Exploring The Modern Legacy Of William Jennings Bryan, Susan Franck
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
William Jennings Bryan, known as "The Great Commoner," is one of the most controversial lawyers to hail from Nebraska.' While he may be best-known as a failed three-time Democratic nominee for U.S. President and the legal defender of creationism at the Scopes Monkey Trial, fundamental aspects of Bryan's life have been overlooked.
In a new biography, A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan, Professor Michael Kazin re-evaluates Bryan's legacy and charges us to consider the profound impact Bryan had upon the political, economic and legal reality of the United States. The book has been the subject of controversy. …