PHIL 456GLegal Theory in Greece & Rome

Catalog

"Western" Legal Theory may be traced back to the Code of Hammurabi (around 1750 BCE), Egyptian legal practices - far earlier, but appropriate texts have not survived, and Hebrew legal codes embodied in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, written in their present form around 600 BCE. Also around 600 BCE, Solon formulated and reformed the laws of Athens. In the Greek world, philosophers often called attention to theoretical issues with law - what is the source of law? The source of its authority? What is the relationship between law and morality? What justifies punishment? We will find some early Greek philosophical comments on law and turn to the writings of Plato (Crito, parts of the Republic, and Laws) and Aristotle (parts of the Ethics, Politics, and Rhetoric). Philosophical consideration of law continued in the Hellenistic and Roman periods; a good synopsis of those discussions occurs in Cicero De Legibus. We will find connections between ancient, modern, and contemporary philosophies of law.