A Philosophical Perspective on the Regulation of Business ABSTRACT: The paper compares the Anglo-American and continental legal systems in parallel with a comparison of the philosophical foundations for each. The defining philosophical distinction between the two legal traditions (viz., the Anglo-American system is predicated on idealism and the continental system on materialism) is shown to influence the way in which criminal justice is handled by the two systems as applied to citizens, and how this influence is carried across to the regulation of business as applied to corporations. The idealistic (possibly theological) worldview inherent in the Anglo-American legal system explains its moral presumptions regarding human freedom, dignity, and responsibility, while the materialist worldview inherent in the continental legal systems explains its amoral assumptions about human motivations and behavior. I suggest that while the Anglo-American legal system may be justified in its moral philosophical presumptions as applied to citizens, the continental legal system, with its amoral assumptions, more accurately reflects corporations than citizens. Understanding how the philosophy behind the two legal systems influences the application of law in modern society can lead to improvements in public policy. There is an effort underway in the automotive sector of the ever-expanding global economy to harmonize motor vehicle regulations world-wide. This micro-experiment in world democracy (along with others like it in different economic sectors) differs from more prominent examples of negotiating international law in that it deals with the amoral realm of business, rather than the moral/immoral realm of international conflict and criminal ... ... middle of paper ... ... To rationalize is not to justify; harsh punishment does tend to result from moral outrage, but this tendency merely betrays self-righteousness on the part of the morally outraged, and as such is an immoral influence (this is the blame-wraith of moral judgment). (8) This is not to say that the analogy between a corporation and a person is completely baseless (corporations are made up of persons, after all), but the human motivations behind corporate activity, the overriding goal of which is monetary profit, and the human aspirations behind leading of an ethical life in civil society, are fundamentally different, and therefore may well warrant different legal/regulatory approaches. (9) In spite of the practical (in the Aristotelian sense) nature of public policy, it requires moral justification (in the Platonic sense) in order to escape this derisive connotation.
In legal theory, there is a great debate over whether or not law should be used to enforce morality. The sides of the debate can be presented as a continuum. At one end, there is the libertarian view, which holds that morality is an individual belief and that the state should not interfere in the affairs of the individual. According to this view, a democracy cannot limit or enforce morality. At the other end, there is the communitarian position, which justifies the community as a whole deciding what moral values are, and hence justifies using the law to enforce community values. For libertarians, judges should play a prominent role in limiting the state, while for communitarians, judges should have as small a role as possible. In between these two extremes sit the liberal egalitarians, who attempt to reconcile democratic decision-making about moral values with liberalism. The problem is made more complex when one considers that both law and morality are contested concepts. Two recent cases where this continuum can be illustrated are Canada [Attorney-General] vs. Mossap, and Egan vs. Canada. In this essay, I will attempt to explore some of the issues produced in these two cases. I will begin with a summary each case, followed by an analysis of the major themes involved. I will then place the issues in a larger, democratic framework, and explore the role of law in enforcing morality in a democracy. I will then prove how the communitarian position - as articulated by Patrick Devlin - supports the decisions given in Mossap and Egan, and how even the great proponents of libertarianism - Mill and von Hayek - would agree that the decisions were just. A conclusion will then follow.
In the context of his experience on the bench and his interest in the general theoretical approach of "Law and Economics," Richard Posner has developed an important empirical theory about judicial behavior which has significant national and international implications. In the economic analysis of law, economics, understood roughly as capitalism, is taken as fundamental to the understanding and application of law. Posner's theory is presented as a further development of the general progra...
Grenberg, Bruce L. "Fitzgerald's 'Figured Curtain': Personality and History in Tender Is the Night." In Critical Essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night, ed. Milton R. Stern. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1986.
This essay focuses on the progression of women in Disney movies as feminist movements thrived and gender equality grew. To assess the extent to which the characters changed over the course of history, the investigation compares the personality traits and behavior of the lead characters in the Disney movies “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Beauty and the Beast” and “Mulan.” Within this investigation, connections are drawn between the growth of independence in real-life women and that of Disney characters. Over the course of the 20th century the feminist revolution took charge and the gender gap began to close. This investigation identifies the parallels between the Disney character and the women of the time period in which it was produced.
...aligning to stereotypical gender roles. Women’s representation in film and media is perceived to only be a woman’s problem, but it is everyones. We are all responsible for the conditions of the world based on what we do or not do. It is that engagement or lack of engagements that sets the stage and tone of the debate.
Many of us grew up with the whimsical and romantic princess tales brought to life through Disney’s animation. Anyone paying close attention would realize that there are a great number of similarities and differences between the classic Disney princess movies, which include Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, and the more modern Disney princess movies.
In conclusion, Fry and Poole made great arguments for Kubrick’s movie. While I have seen this movie several times as a child in the 1970s and early 1980s, the articles have me looking forward to seeing 2001 again. I look forward to this ‘visual’ story.
Stanley Kubrick is one of the most influential and daring filmmakers to ever put his mark on the silver screen. He has created a large body of very influential works spanning several decades and many genres. Throughout his whole collection there are many elements which are repeatedly used to enhance the viewer's experience. There are also many recurring themes in Kubrick's works that are commented on both by the context in which they are brought forth and the techniques used to expound upon those themes.
The American court system came to be through the Judiciary Act of 1789 which was signed by President George Washington on September 24, 1789. The constitution had established the Supreme Court, but reserved the authority for Congress to create lower federal courts. This act set the structure and the jurisdiction of such courts and generated the position for Attorney General. The Act also organized the United States into circuits and districts, which formed thirteen district courts, one for each state. Before the modern era, the justice court system used different principles to punish criminals and solve disputes. During the American colonial times, religion was an important influence when the time for a verdict by the court came into play. They would use the principle of “Actus Reas”, meaning guilty act, and “Mens Rea”, meaning guilty mind. They believed that all men are sinners and therefore be punished as such. Sir William Blackstone established and influenced new, but similar, principles that were all biblical-origin and similar to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Today, the court system is broken d...
Professor Lawrence Krauss claims that, “In our galaxy, there are over 100 billion stars alone.” (“Extreme”). Each one of those stars is a factory which slowly builds the materials for the foundations of the universe (“Stars”). Stars are as varied as people. While they are all born the same way, they do not all die the same way. Some stars live fast and die young; others die slowly and quietly (“Extreme”). The life cycle of a star is violent, they churn, pulsate, and sometimes explode, but the products of its life are invaluable building blocks for the Universe. There is a process to the life cycle of a star.
Beginning with a star’s birth, a star could either be low or high in mass. A star is born from a giant cloud of dust known as a nebula. The mass of the star is determined by the amount of matter present in the nebula. High-mass stars will have more matter present in the nebula for them to accrete in comparison to low-mass stars who have less mater in their nebula. Interestingly, while both stars may be of substantially different masses they share majority of the same stellar lifecycle phases.
Stanley Kubrick is a name that has remained relevant throughout the years. Movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and many others have made an impact on how films are made, but more importantly, the thematic elements of Kubrick’s films is what translated so well to the screen. Kubrick developed stylistic innovations in his films such as one-point perspective, realistic lighting, and distinctive dialogue. All of these stylistic strategies served to amplify the common themes found in his films that dealt with enduring issues like war, which Kubrick argued is part of human nature. Not only was Kubrick a film director who made an impact on filmmaking history, but his innovative ideas have also made an impact on society
Our Sun is a perfect example of a star, and there is an incredible amount of stars in the Universe. It is a star among hundreds of billions of stars within our Milky Way Galaxy, and our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies in the universe. Stars live for a very long time; millions, billions, or tens of billions of years so we can never really observe the life of a star; its birth, life, and death. In determining the life cycle of a star, astronomers observe many of the billions of stars around us and see them at different stages of life, therefore piecing together a star's evolution.
Corporate ethics are slightly different, there are already a countless number of laws that exist setting a basic standard for ethics in the professional community. Now there are certain ethics that have completely shifted in the business world starting mostly in the 1960s. For example, businesses also began embracing social responsibility at a level not previously seen; the 1960s saw companies trumpet environmental friendliness for the first time and find new ways to give back to their communities (). Today ethical challenges for corporate has almost completely shifted from what it was 20 years
The central aim of this essay will be to support the legal-positivist that law and morality are strictly separable. In its simplest form many understand legal positivism to be the existence and content of law, which depends on social facts, and not on its merits. I will engage closely with the work of John Austin and his concept of law, which offered a developed and progressive piece of work from Bentham, focusing on Austin’s The Province of Jurisprudence Determined (1832) in order to demonstrate one of the earlier accounts of legal positivism. By exploring Austin’s theory of sovereignty, in which he outlines that in every state there exists an authority to which a large mass of citizens show compliance, I will address the consideration that