And just like that, the saluted pillar of Western civilisation called Rome got exposed for a malignant force that it was/is. I‘m left wondering if Athens and Jerusalem be standing strong for long, once hon‘ble McConkey gets around to dismantling these two at next stop 😜
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💬 no returning militia could enter the city gates until it had disbanded outside
↑↑ Here’s why Caesar’s Rubicon was such a big deal 😊
So it looks like Roman law prefigured moral voluntarism and divine command theory (from Ockham to Hobbes, for example, whose conception of law was as created, not as a reflection of nature) and the favoring of individualist consent over natural law (e.g. Locke's conception of individual rights).
Speaking of Roman law, I was looking forward to this post! Not disappointed. I had in mind these bits from Ponerology (pages 10-13):
"Rome was too vital and practical to reflect profoundly upon the Greek thoughts it had appropriated. In this imperial civilization, administrative needs and juridical developments imposed practical priorities. For the Romans, the role of philosophy was more didactic, helping to develop the thinking process which would later be utilized for the discharge of administrative functions and the exercise of policy. The Greek reflective influence softened Roman customs, which had a salutary effect on the development of the empire.
"However, for any imperial civilization, the complex problems of human nature are seen as troublesome factors complicating the legal regulations of public affairs and administrative functions. This begets a tendency to dismiss such matters of a more subtle nature and to develop a concept of human personality simplified enough to serve the purposes of law and administration. Roman citizens could thus achieve their goals and develop their personal attitudes within the framework set by fate and legal principles, which determined an individual’s situation based on premises having little to do with their actual psychological properties. The spiritual life of people lacking the rights of citizenship was not an appropriate subject of deeper studies. Thus, psychological understanding remained barren, a condition which always produces moral decline at both the individual and public levels."
"The symptoms of decay in sensitivity and psychological comprehension, as well as the Roman imperial tendency to impose extrinsic patterns upon human beings, can be observed as early as the end of the fourth century A.D."
"...Christianity inherited Roman habits of legal thinking, including its schemes for simplifying the human personality and its indifference to human nature and its variety."
"This [Western] civilization developed formulations in the area of law, whether national, civil, criminal, or finally canon, which were conceived for invented and simplified beings—the philosophical “card- board cut-outs” of humanity."
And just like that, the saluted pillar of Western civilisation called Rome got exposed for a malignant force that it was/is. I‘m left wondering if Athens and Jerusalem be standing strong for long, once hon‘ble McConkey gets around to dismantling these two at next stop 😜
--
💬 no returning militia could enter the city gates until it had disbanded outside
↑↑ Here’s why Caesar’s Rubicon was such a big deal 😊
So it looks like Roman law prefigured moral voluntarism and divine command theory (from Ockham to Hobbes, for example, whose conception of law was as created, not as a reflection of nature) and the favoring of individualist consent over natural law (e.g. Locke's conception of individual rights).
Speaking of Roman law, I was looking forward to this post! Not disappointed. I had in mind these bits from Ponerology (pages 10-13):
"Rome was too vital and practical to reflect profoundly upon the Greek thoughts it had appropriated. In this imperial civilization, administrative needs and juridical developments imposed practical priorities. For the Romans, the role of philosophy was more didactic, helping to develop the thinking process which would later be utilized for the discharge of administrative functions and the exercise of policy. The Greek reflective influence softened Roman customs, which had a salutary effect on the development of the empire.
"However, for any imperial civilization, the complex problems of human nature are seen as troublesome factors complicating the legal regulations of public affairs and administrative functions. This begets a tendency to dismiss such matters of a more subtle nature and to develop a concept of human personality simplified enough to serve the purposes of law and administration. Roman citizens could thus achieve their goals and develop their personal attitudes within the framework set by fate and legal principles, which determined an individual’s situation based on premises having little to do with their actual psychological properties. The spiritual life of people lacking the rights of citizenship was not an appropriate subject of deeper studies. Thus, psychological understanding remained barren, a condition which always produces moral decline at both the individual and public levels."
"The symptoms of decay in sensitivity and psychological comprehension, as well as the Roman imperial tendency to impose extrinsic patterns upon human beings, can be observed as early as the end of the fourth century A.D."
"...Christianity inherited Roman habits of legal thinking, including its schemes for simplifying the human personality and its indifference to human nature and its variety."
"This [Western] civilization developed formulations in the area of law, whether national, civil, criminal, or finally canon, which were conceived for invented and simplified beings—the philosophical “card- board cut-outs” of humanity."
Interesting article...so much I do not know. You have an extra "F" in your subhead you will want to purge. Many thanks.