POLI 347 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Practical Reason, Natural Justice, Immanence
Document Summary
Topic 2 (sept 9 & 11) the rule of law and the idea of constitutionalism as the second best: plato"s philosopher-ruler and. Reading/s shirley letwin, on the history of the idea of law, pp. Plato:pp 9-20 defines a tyrant as a ruler who is at liberty to do what he pleases, to kill, to exile, to follow his own pleasure in every act, and he condemns tyranny in a number of different contexts. Legal enactments, once put into writing, remainalways on record. Law must be distinguished from custom. law replaces custom; law makes a definitive selection out of a variety of conflicting customs. Once its members cease to subscribe to the law, the polis ceases to exist: if citizens disobey the law, they would thereby destroy the polis. Therefore law is the second best answer; first would be a ruler filled with a world of wisdom.
