Overview

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Effects and Ends of Law: Effects and Ends of Law:
Justice Wisdom and Law as
Heuristic
 Significance of Justice  What is Wisdom
 Aristotle on Justice  Plato’s view of law and
wisdom
 Other definitions of
Justice  Law as heuristic
 Justice as obedience to
higher law
 Social Justice
Effects and Ends of Law:
Justice
 “
The light of men is Justice.
No light can compare with
the light of Justice.

- Baha’u’llah

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 Significance of Justice
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The primary significance of Justice according to
Nicolai Hartmann:
Its tendency to counteract the crude egoism
of the individual
 Aristotle on Justice
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For Aristotle, Justice is…
- Giving everyone his due
- An intermediate between acting unjustly and being
unjustly treated
 Other definitions of Justice
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Encyclopedia Britannica defines Justice as:

The concept of a proper proportion between a

person’s deserts (what is merited) and the good and
bad things that befall or are allotted to him or her.
 Other definitions of Justice
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Daniel Maguire, author of A New
American Justice, defines Justice as:

The first assault upon egoism…Justice is

thus the elementary manifestation of the other –
regarding character of moral and political
existence.
 Justice as Obedience to a Higher Law
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For Cicero, the origin of Justice is to be

found in Law. Law, in this sense, being that
“supreme Law which had its origin ages before
any written law existed, or any State had been
established.
 Social Justice
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Social justice is a concept of fair and just

relations between the individual and society. This
is measured by the explicit and tacit terms for the
distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal
activity, and social privileges.
 Social Justice
10
Calalang v. Williams, GR 47800, 02 December
1940
Social justice is "neither communism, nor
despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy," but the
humanization of laws and the equalization of social
and economic forces by the State so that justice in its
rational and objectively secular conception may at
least be approximated.
Effects and Ends of Law:
Wisdom and Law as Heuristic
 “
I hope our wisdom will grow
with our power, and teach
us, that the less we use our
power the greater it will be.

- Thomas Jefferson

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 What is Wisdom
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An ancient concept, Wisdom has been

historically considered to be the pinnacle of
human development.
 What is Wisdom
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Wise people are presumed to possess may

positive qualities, e.g.:

◈ Matured and integrated personality

◈ Superior judgment skills in difficult life matters
◈ Able to cope with the vicissitudes of life
 Plato’s view of Law and Wisdom
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For Plato, law has its limits. Human

institutions, therefore, must aim for Wisdom
because law does not perfectly comprehend what
is noblest and most just for all and thus cannot
enforce what is best.
 Plato’s view of Law and Wisdom
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Plato's notion of wisdom is also rooted on

his writing, The Allegory of the Cave.
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 Law as Heuristic
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Heuristic or heuretic is that branch of logic

dealing with discovery and finding out.

It is a method that provides assistance in

discovering (or in presenting) a truth or solving a
problem.
 Law as Heuristic
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Heuristic is a model or useful hypothesis

that leads to a solution that is more or less near
the best possible answer.
 Law as Heuristic
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Law as heuristic, therefore, means law is

viewed as a rule of thumb or a general principle
which is true in most cases but neither accurate
nor reliable in all cases.